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Sugar Free Sunday & Stevia
Welcome to one of the sweetest weekly virtual potluck get-together ever! Yes indeed — it is Sugar Free Sunday! We host it every Sunday to exchange incredible sugar free recipes. Inspiration to start the week right? You bet!
I recently bought my very first bottle of Stevia. From everything I’m reading about it, it seems a bit of a miracle sweetener. Stevia is a natural sweetener which has ZERO calories. Normally when I read the words “zero calories” on any product, I quickly do a drop-and-run. But Stevia is all natural – in no way is it considered an “artificial sweetener”. It’s extracted from a small green plant whose leaves are actually sweet.
Since it occurs naturally, Stevia has been used for centuries in various parts of the world. In South America they have been drinking tea made from the leaves of the plant to treat heartburn, depression, obesity, high blood pressure and so many other things. Old folktales? Perhaps.. but check out some of these studies:
- A 2010 study compared the intake of stevia sweetened food to that which is sweetened with sugar. It showed that the participants did not increase the amount of food they ate despite the calorie difference. Sounds like a good way to help obesity if you ask me.
- A 2008 study found that stevia was a promising immunomodulating agent. My understanding is that this means that stevia could help normalize our immune system allowing it to have an optimal response. This is not saying that stevia helps boost immunity but rather could regulate it. If this is true, perhaps it could be used instead of the ever so popular immune suppressing drugs?
- A 2003 study did a two year long double-blind, placebo-controlled trial on 174 participants of various ages to see Stevia’s effect on mild hypertension. The result was that the patients taking Stevia showed “significantly decreased SBP and DBP”. (SBP – Systolic blood pressure, DBP – Diastolic blood pressure). There were also no adverse effect noted.
Wow – right? I’m pretty impressed. So far I’ve tried Stevia in my coffee and it’s definitely an acquired taste. It has a bit of an aftertaste that reminds me of a mixture of mint and licorice. But given the potential upside, I think I’ll be turning to my Stevia bottle more often.
Have you gotten a chance to use Stevia yet?
How do you participate in the virtual potluck?
- Link your recipe post (NOT your homepage) if it does not use refined sugar. Your blog does not have to be entirely sugar free, just the dish you’re sharing!
- Please link back to this get-together somewhere in your post’s text. It’s a great way to invite your readers to the fun!
- Want to make something sweet without using refined sugar? Just check out all the ways to satisfy your sweet tooth without refined sugar here.
- Your link doesn’t have to be to a sweet dish! We love to see your sugar free appetizers, entrees, soups, snacks — well — you get the idea!
- Please don’t link to carnivals or giveaways. This is a party; bring a dish to share!
- In the ‘Name’ field, please enter who you are and what you’re linking. For example Sonia would put: Bean Kale Pasta Soup [Sonia @ Flip Cookbook]
- It’s not a party if no one chats! Please join the conversation by leaving a message in the comments section below. Also make sure you have the ‘Notify Me’ checkbox selected so that you can listen as well!
- Sign up for free to our new venture Velvet Aroma. Shh.. it’s still under wraps but we’ll tell you this — it’ll take your cooking to a whole new level of fun!
We’re so excited to see what you’re cooking….. Sugar Free!
Click on the ‘Add your link’ button below to share.
Thank you for hosting! Your black bean and sweet potato soup looks interesting
Have a great weeks!
Hey Raj! Thank you for the blog comment! After looking at the gravy packet it has 1 gram of sugar in it! I would have never thought!!!!
It’s crazy how they sneak it in! Thanks for getting back to me about that.
[...] I am sharing this recipe at Full Plate Thursday, Frugal Food Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, World Food Thursday, Food Trip Friday, Fight Back Friday, Fresh Bites Friday, Frugal Friday, Feed Me, Tweet Me, Follow Me Home Friday, and Sugar Free Sunday. [...]
Hi Raj,
This week I shared my grilled grass fed Tri Tip Roast and two articles about grass fed beef!
[...] Follies, Pennywise Platter, Food Trip Friday, Fresh Bites Friday, Fight Back Friday, Foodie Friday, Sugar-Free Sunday, Melt in Mouth [...]
ahhhh i posted!
[...] post is linked to: Fresh Bites Friday, Food Trip Froday, Fight Back Friday, Foodie Friday, Sugar-free Sunday, Melt in Mouth Monday Confused about all the conflicting health information out there? Want [...]
[...] post is linked to: Seasonal Sunday, Sugar-free Sunday, Melt in Mouth Monday, Monday Mania, Mangia [...]
[...] for 12 – 15 minutes. For more refined-sugar free treats, check out Sugar-Free Sundays. For more allergy-friendly foods, Check out Allergy-Friendly [...]
Stevia has been my go-to sweetener for over a decade. I never really had to acquire a taste for it–it always tasted good to me! But beware that (a) with stevia, a little goes a long way (better to undersweeten than oversweeten, or you increase the chances of that aftertaste); and (b) the brand makes a difference. I like NuNaturals and NOW brands best. I use it in almost all my recipes an just love it.
Hi Ricki, I’ve only tried Sweet Leaf. What difference have you noticed between the brands?
[...] other sweet recipes with stevia at Sugar-Free Sundays, and healthier recipes at Amy’s Slightly Indulgent [...]
those kiwi mojito smoothies are looking awesome! I love cooking and baking without refined sugar and feel so much better because of it. thanks for the round up!