How do I use stevia? (Herbs/Herbalism)

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My husband and I are trying to stay away from sugar. I have been hearing about stevia, so I bought some of the liquid. Unfortunately it didn't come with instructions. Could some of you that use it give me some tips. How much would you put in a cup of tea or a glass of unsweetened beverage? Can you put it in either hot or cold? How do you add it to foods? How do you cook with it? Any hints will be appreciated. Thanks, Dian

-- Dian in TN (rhoffman@nctc.com), October 19, 2001

Answers

We use stevia in beverages and baking. It's not heat sensitive. As far as how much to use, you'll just have to experiment. We use the liquid in beverages. The powder tends to clump up a little when you add it to liquid. My husband likes 4 drops in a large glass of tea, I like at least twice that much. I use the powdered extract in baking and it works fine. Again, I had to experiment to get a feel for how much to use.

-- Paula (chipp89@bellsouth.net), October 19, 2001.

Along the same lines, is stevia safe for diabetics and others who are restricted on sugar intake? My husband's grandfather is not allowed any sugar and would love to have sweet tea with something other than saccharin or aspartame in it, not to mention brownies and pies!

-- Christine in OK (cljford@aol.com), October 19, 2001.

Use it very sparingly at first. It's taste takes awhile to get used to. Too much does not taste good at all.

It is used extesively in Europe and Asia for diabetics and those on sugar restricted diets. I have also heard that it can be benificial to these people, but have no supporting evidence.

-- debbie jacobs (debjacobs8@cs.com), October 19, 2001.


My son is a juvenile diabetic, and we use stevia for a sweetner for him. I feel safer with it, and it sure tastes better than nutrasweet or equivalents! CJ

-- CJ (cjtinkle@getgoin.net), October 20, 2001.

is stevia a herb?

-- Lynnda (venus@zeelink.net), October 20, 2001.


Lynnda, yes. American herb, at that (South American, that is).

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), October 20, 2001.

Search the archive for stevia......we had an informative thread a while back.

-- Jason in S. Tenn (AJAMA5@netscape.net), October 20, 2001.

We buy it in powder form,tryed to grow it this summer no luck.My son is diabetic,we use it .My doc says it does not enter the blood stream.I hate the liquid though....There is a cookbook called the Stevia Cookbook.

-- teri (dnsmacbeth@aol.com), October 21, 2001.

Dian, I have been using stevia for years and I love the stuff. No, it does not raise blood sugar levels at all. Stevia needs to draw flavor from another source. It is very sweet but works best when used with dairy products and fruit. It makes an exceptional cheese cake. If you want to use it in baking you'll need to add fruit juice or dairy to the baked product otherwise it will not be sweet at all. For example, I make lemon muffins by using stevia with fresh lemon juice. I add stevia to my yogurt, lemonade, blueberry pancake syrup, applesauce, etc. It works well with nut butters and carob too. If you try to bake a cake with it that doesn't contain fruit juice or dairy ... well... YUCK!

-- Tiffani (cappello@alltel.net), October 26, 2001.

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