One of the comments I hear from people when I tell them that I use stevia as a sweetener is, “Ewwww, I hate stevia! I tried it once, but I just couldn’t use it. It tasted so bitter (or metallic, or awful, or [insert distasteful adjective here]).
For me, it’s been so long now that I don’t even remember whether or not I initially found the taste of stevia off-putting. If I did, I clearly got over it. Stevia is, hands down, my favorite sweetener, and I use it pretty much daily.
I love the health benefits of stevia and am personally not overly concerned about the so-called negative attributes (which generally trace back to a single study done on rats).
I talk more about why I love stevia in today’s video, but more importantly, how I work with it to ensure that there is NO BITTER (or metallic, or awful, or [insert distasteful adjective here]) aftertaste when using it. Really!
If you think you don’t like stevia, this video is a must-watch.
Are you a fan–or a foe–of stevia? Why? What’s your experience been like with it? Share in the comments!
Video Highlights and mentions:
- What stevia is, and how it’s different from other zero-calorie sweeteners
- Some great health benefits of stevia
- Different reasons why people steer clear of stevia
- My four tips for ensuring your treats made with stevia taste GREAT
- NuNaturals liquid stevia
- NuNaturals pure stevia powder
- SweetLeaf stevia
- NOW stevia
- Organic Traditions Pure Stevia Leaf Powder
Resources:
- FREE Celebrate Stevia Ebook
- Subscribe to my YouTube channel
- Candida Kick-Start program
- Stevia helps lower blood pressure
- Stevia helps kill cancer cells
- Stevia and fertility studies (updated info)
- Low Carb Canada (to order stevia in Canada)
- The Sweet Life Health Club for ongoing support
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Hi! I'm Ricki, cookbook author, professional recipe developer, holistic nutritionist and anti-candida crusader. Let me show you how easy it is to eat plant-based, sugar-free, gluten free food that tastes great! 
You might want to see this latest research study done on stevia (and other sweeteners)… stevia can be toxic to our DNA. http://nutritionfacts.org/2013/05/07/is-there-a-safe-low-calorie-sweetener/
Thanks, Nancy. Again, as I said, it’s a matter of degree. I don’t think anyone should be consuming three or more stevia-sweetened items per day, so I agree with Greiger.
I started using stevia when I started the anti candida diet. Chocolate tasted a bit bitter,but I’ve found using Sweet Drops Vanilla Cream stevia solved it. I also like Sweet Drops English Toffee in vanilla flavored things. As always, thanks Ricki for all your help and encouragement to get through this condition and stick with good tasting food recipes!!
Ginia
I like that brand, too, Ginia, and LOVE the English Toffee flavor! And it’s my sincere pleasure–I am SO glad the diet has helped and you’re doing great! 😀
To me stevia is not only nauseating (yes even in very small doses) but also gives me gas and colics. Don’t care about theory, I don’t agree with it.
I’d be surprised if there were ever a single food (or piece of furniture, or painting, or dress, etc) that everyone liked equally. If you don’t like/don’t care about stevia, by all means, please don’t eat it. 🙂
Hi Ricki, Thank you so much for the great info. My 7 year old daughter had a bout of candida, as do I, and we went in the anti candida diet, which helped. So my daughter is sugar free now, not easy for a kid! She’s going to a friends Bday party Sat with cupcakes. Do you have a sugar free cupcake and frosting recipe you could send me? I would appreciate it so much. Thank you! PS I’m a little concerned about what the other person said, about stevia being toxic to DNA. I’ll study up more, because when it comes to children I must be safe. I can’t imagine a few drops for a party now and then could be harmful. Any thoughts?
There’s a sugar-free lemon-blueberry muffin here on the blog; you could try that one as a cupcake, and use something like the frosting from this recipe. That said, I don’t know if you’re entirely sweetener-free or just refined sugar-free. If the latter, then this is my favorite frosting recipe. Re: the stevia, from what I have read, the studies that show it’s toxic used large doses of stevia that would likely never be consumed by a single human. So I tend to feel the way you do–that a few drops here and there wouldn’t be harmful (especially when I know it’s been used safely in other countries for many years). But that’s just my own opinion! 🙂