Stevia

Those of you who know me, know that I love my stevia!! I love sweet tea and other sweet drinks, and stevia is what I use to quench my craving. Some of you have probably already tried stevia and noticed it had a bad aftertaste. Well, I would agree with you. Most brands have a bad aftertaste, but I've found one that has little to none! The brand is KAL. Whole foods and many other health food stores carry it. If not, you should be able to find it online. It's pretty expensive (around $12-15) for a small bottle, but this bottle has several hundred servings! Kal's stevia is so potent, it just takes the smallest pinch to sweeten a whole glass! They also make a vanilla syrup for coffee and recently I've even seen that they make packets for travel.
So why is stevia better than organic sugar, agave syrup, and other natural sweeteners?? Well, it's a natural sweetener with no calories, no sugar, and no glycemic index! It won't raise your blood sugar. And unlike nutrasweet and splenda, it doesn't have any negative side affects! Stevia has some medicinal benefits too. It helps balance glucose and also helps in lowering blood pressure.
A new product called Truvia is now on the market. It is not pure stevia, but is two compounds from stevia that have been isolated from the whole plant. There isn't a lot of research on how Truvia affects the body. In my opinion, when you try and "improve" on how God made something, it's going to be inferior in some way or another. Supposedly Coca Cola is going to start using this stevia compound in a new Diet Soda. I've personally tried Truvia and I still prefer my Kal Stevia.