Emily gives us the low down on her favorite sweetener, Stevia!

Q. What is stevia?

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) is an alternative sweetener, safe for diabetics, dieters, and for anyone who wants to improve their eating habits, yet has a sweet tooth.

Originating from South America, the sweetness of this plant is completely natural, not artificially derived from chemicals. And it doesn’t cause cavities.

It is safe for children to eat as well!

Q. How much should I use and in what form?

Just a pinch of stevia is enough to sweeten your whole beverage! (note: a much smaller serving than using other types of sweeteners. Stevia contains steviol glycoside extracts which have up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar!).

Stevia can be purchased in liquid form or in white powder form in little packets.

It can have a slight aftertaste for some people, so some prefer the liquid form over the white powder (you only need to use one drop of liquid extract to sweeten a beverage, for example).

I personally love the vanilla or hazelnut liquid extract of Stevia. I carry it in my purse to sweeten any beverages or food item that I fancy.

Sources of stevia:

SweetLeaf sweet drops- liquid stevia

Stevia In The Raw – powered form in packets

Q. Can Stevia be used in cooking?

Yes!

Check out the cookbook: The Stevia Cookbook by Ray Sahelia, M.D.,, and Donna Gates.

Q. How come I’ve never heard about stevia?

In the 1990’s stevia was banned in the United States for fear of competition with  sugars and other non-calorie sweeteners.  Stevia was thus labeled as a “dietary supplement” and found in the vitamin section of health food markets. Therefore if you didn’t know about it, you wouldn’t be able to find it in the sweet aisle in the grocery store!

Stay tuned for other factoids and tidbits of other sweeteners!

Emily Farish is Atmanjai’s Resident Integrative Medical Practitioner. Her passion is healing – Acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Herbal Treatments. Oh, and pandas, she’s also passionate about pandas. Emily can be contacted at Atmanjai for consultations.