Cheat'N Low

How to live the Sweet Life

Adding sugar back into ones diet is daunting.  I knew the awful affects that the artificial sweeteners were having on my body, yet I wasn’t ready to add sugar into my diet.  After all, the whole dilemma starts with the desire to eat right and loose weight.  Also my intense love for coffee – sweetened coffee that is, will never subside.  I was depressed at the thought of wiping out all sweet treats.

This all until I discovered a miracle.

Stevia

Stevia is the cure to all of this drama. 

What is Stevia? Wikepedia says this:

Stevia is a genus of about 150 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family (Asteraceae), native to subtropical and tropical South America and Central America. The species Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, commonly known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf, sugarleaf, or simply stevia, is widely grown for its sweet leaves. As a sugar substitute, stevia's taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, although some of its extracts may have a bitter or liquorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations.

With its extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, stevia has garnered attention with the rise in demand for low-carbohydrate, low-sugar food alternatives. Stevia also has shown promise in medical research for treating such conditions as obesity and high blood pressure. Stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose, even enhancing glucose tolerance, therefore it is attractive as a natural sweetener to diabetics and others on carbohydrate-controlled diets.

Like I said- it is a miracle.  Stevia is natural and doesn’t add harsh man make chemicals to the body.  It comes in powder form like that other sugar substitutes as well as in liquid.  I prefer the liquid because of the taste.  I carry a small bottle of it in my purse and use it in my coffee and iced tea.  I have been successful with using Stevia when baking too! 

Stevia is sold at most health food stores and vitamin stores as well as the well known Whole Foods and Trader Joes.