Craving sweets and don’t know where to turn? Here’s why you should re-evaluate stevia! Find out the health benefits of stevia and learn some tips for how to choose the best stevia from Body Ecology founder and stevia poineer, Donna Gates. |
Stevia is finding it’s way into the market in a variety of products these days, which I am very excited about.
But did you know that not all stevia products have the same quality or taste?
If you’ve sampled stevia before and found it to have an unpleasant taste, it may be time to give it another try again...here’s why...
So with all of the health benefits of stevia, what took so long for it to make a mark in the United States? Why are companies, like Coca-Cola, which relied on artificial sweeteners, now starting to use stevia?
The answer lies in stevia’s history.
Many years ago, in my quest to find an all-natural sugar substitute that would not feed candida, I came across stevia in Japan. At that time, stevia was known to just a few of us here in the US and was sold occasionally as a green herb. It was not very popular or appealing because of its licorice-like aftertaste. I learned of a delicious white powder that was developed by scientists in Japan who mastered the ability to extract the sweet-tasting elements in the crude leaf.
What we were eating here in the US were artificial sweeteners like aspartame (Equal and NutriSweet) and saccharin (Sweet and Low).
It was actually the manufacturers of artificial sweeteners that created the FDA ban on stevia, so they could leave an open playing field for their products.
So unfortunately, stevia was surrounded in controversy shortly after I arranged for a delicious blend of white powdered stevia to be brought into our country...developed by the Japanese...but actually made in an award-winning facility in China. I lead a grass roots movement and had literally tens of thousands of people safely enjoying the white powder (with many calling the FDA asking why it was not approved as a sweetener) when the FDA lifted the ban.
Immediately, stevia appeared on the shelves in the supplement section of health food stores labeled as a dietary supplement...but not as a sweetener.
Unfortunately, it was not very popular at first because it was new and no one knew how to use it. This new white powder tasted very sweet, but it was not like sugar, and there was a learning curve to using it. It was hard for consumers to grasp that only a tiny amount was needed so most everyone over-sweetened their food or drink on their first attempt to use it. You couldn’t bake with it either. Cakes and muffins didn’t brown well. They didn’t rise up and become light and fluffy either.
To help with the learning curve problem I wrote a cookbook called, Stevia: Cooking with Nature’s Calorie Free Sweetener with ”transitional” (not Body Ecology) recipes. That was later followed up by my popular cookbook, The Stevia Cookbook, which has over 100 taste-tempting recipes.
I wanted to show Americans how to use it in ice cream and cheesecake so they would stop using sugar and aspartame. Other recipe books appeared as well, but their recipes usually had additional sweeteners like fruit juice and date sugar.
The good news? Stevia survived and today there are many more options to choose from. So if you haven’t tried stevia lately, here’s what you need to know to get the best tasting product:
How sweet it is...Our Stevia is even sweeter than before with an enhanced filtering process that ensures all you get is sweetness, with none of the aftertaste! If you’ve been turned off by the taste of stevia in the past, taste the Body Ecology Stevia difference for a high quality, no-calorie, all natural sugar substitute that benefits your health! |
Body Ecology’s Commitment to SAFE Sweeteners
Body Ecology has always been about creating balance in your health and lifestyle. Having the sweet taste in your diet is part of honoring all six tastes (sweet, sour, pungent, bitter, astringent and sweet) that keep us feeling balanced.
But you also want and deserve to be healthy.
And at Body Ecology, we are committed to finding the best products to meet your need for a joyful, delicious eating experience!
This is why we have brought you another all-natural, zero calorie sugar substitute, Lakanto (great for baking and does not feed candida!). In fact, it was passion for helping our children that motivated me to find it for us. I felt so sad when mothers of our BEDROK group wrote on their postings how much they wished they could make a gluten-free, dairy free, sugar free birthday cake for their little ones so they could feel “normal” like other kids. And what you ask for you get. It already existed in Japan. Lakanto has been used for over 12 years in Japan and is recommended by the Japanese Ministry of Health for diabetes and obesity…not just approved. Served in over 10,000 hospitals, Lakanto is made from non-genetically modified erythritol, a fermented sugar alcohol, and the Chinese herb Lo Han Guo.
As you can probably see Body Ecology is committed to creating good health that honors your needs and Nature’s wisdom.
Look for our soon-to-be-released Lakanto Cookbook. For more recipes using stevia, definitely read: The Stevia Cookbook.