Recent trends have put sugar on the chopping block and it’s not looking good. We’ve all been reared to stay away from sugar, but we keep coming back for it anyway because it’s an important ingredient to the food that we eat. Over the years, we’ve learned how sugar affects the body in several negative ways; these include obesity and decay of tooth enamel, as well as more severe illnesses like diabetes and premature aging. In the US alone, we consume around 150 – 200 pounds of sugar each year. From milkshakes to doughnuts, cakes, candies, soda, and even to the most basic items like bread, milk, and the like, sugar seems out to get all of us.

Sugar Alternatives
There are many “sugar alternatives” in the market today, and most are produced with a lower calorie count than sugar. As a substitute, they do provide almost the same function as a normal sugar. The only downside is that these sugar alternatives remain “artificial”. These sugar alternatives simply aren’t the wholesome sweeteners that the health-conscious people are looking for, as these products are highly-processed and contain aspartame and are high in fructose content.

There’s one alternative that health buffs have been buzzing about recently. Finally, a natural alternative to sugar AND those artificial substitutes has been named. “Stevia” is an herb that is native to South and Central America, and most of the related literature point specifically to both Brazil and Paraguay. There are even those that reveal Japan is also using this herb for their food preparation. Though this is a recent discovery in our shores, it has been used as a sweetening agent for a long time, especially for the people where the herb originates.

Low-Carb, Low-Sugar, No Calories!
Stevia is an extremely sweet substance and it boast being 300 times sweeter than sugar itself. It’s no wonder that the natives refer it as “sweet-leaf” or “sugar-leaf”! Because of its quality, Stevia is rising in popularity, and is being propelled even more into fame spearheaded by companies and groups who want a low-carb, low-sugar, no-calorie sugar substitute for their health products.

Research has shown benefits of using Stevia instead of sugar or other artificial sweeteners in the market. It may just be the solution to anti-obesity, blood glucose problems, and most of all is heaven-sent to people on a calorie and carbohydrate controlled diet. There are also recent studies that display result on how using stevia can help people who have Type 2 Diabetes.

What’s In It
This truly natural and healthy sugar substitute owes its extreme sweetness to its stevioside molecular composition where you can find both glucose and steviol, along with rebaudioside compounds. The natural taste of stevia has a different flavor to normal sugar, or artifical sweeteners for that matter. It’s “almost-sugary” because though it’s sweeter than sugar, there’s a slight aftertaste which you may have to acquire to truly appreciate. In other countries, stevia extracts are currently being used to sweeten food: used in sweet soy sauce, diet Coke or Coke Zero-Sugar, Vitamin Water, as well as other products. Morning cups of coffees are being made using stevia as sweetners, or used to sweeten a particular low-calorie snack.

It is not hard to incorporate stevia, especially knowing its natural, healthy benefits compared to using other sweeteners. Stevia might be the very thing that will help us stop denying ourselves of our sweet-food cravings soon!