The stevia plant has long been used as a sweetener in many countries, and is now just starting to appear on the US market. Marketed as Truvia, this “natural” sweetner is vying for your taste buds in a heated battle with the big three artificial sweetners – aspartame (Sweet and Low), sucralose (Splenda), and saccharin (Equal). Because stevia comes from a plant, companies can market it as a natural sweetener, hence its green packaging. However, this doesn’t come without a price – stevia needs to be extracted from a particular part of the leaf and then processed correctly in order to avoid an aftertaste of licorice and menthol. But what about any health risks? Despite hundreds of studies, none of the artificial sweeteners have been steadfastly linked to any medical conditions, but some beg to differ. For now stevia is safe for consumption, according to the FDA. But as stevia becomes more widely adopted, it will no doubt receive the same scrutiny as its pink, blue, and yellow counterparts.
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Tags: artificial sweetener, aspartame, saccharin, Splenda, stevia, sucralose, sugar, Sweet 'N Low, sweetener, Truvia
Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.
April 18th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Sweet and low is saccharin equal is aspartame
April 19th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Aspertame is poison! After giving it up totally, I have no more
joint pain. Too many comments from others will verify this. No
doubt.
April 24th, 2009 at 1:21 am
Xylitol is another great natural sugar substitute with less calories. It’s derived from birch trees, wood or maize. Though it’s in Europe, I hardly see in US. I can taste the difference in all of the other above sweeteners (yuck!), but xylitol tastes just like sugar.