Stevia is an herb commonly used as a sweetener. Native to South America, stevia is used around the world as a food and beverage sweetener. Stevia’s glycosides are much sweeter than sugar, and so they are needed in much smaller amounts to improve a food or beverage. The small amounts allow for improved flavour with fewer calories.

Stevia is great for people that want to enjoy great flavour without the added calories. Since it’s a natural sweetener, stevia is a much better option than other artificial sweeteners that contain harmful ingredients like aspartame and saccharin. Another great benefit of stevia is its compatibility with diabetes and hypoglycaemia, as stevia causes no spikes in blood sugar.

Stevia is also a stable stubstance that remains intact through high temperature, unlike aspartame and saccharin. Because of this, stevia is more resilient, and can therefore be used in a wider range of recipes. People suffering from candida/yeast overgrowth can also benefit from stevia, as sucrose should be avoided so as to not feed the yeast. For this reason, though, stevia is a workable substitute for sucrose in bread.

Although stevia is becoming more popular as a natural sweetener, some issues with the product need to be resolved. The drawbacks of stevia start with the costs involved in production, which makes food manufacturers weary of using the beneficial sweetener. Stevia can be found in liquid, powdered, fresh, dried, or ground forms. Some powdered forms of stevia have limited sweetness compared to other forms of stevia, but they are still much sweeter than sugar.

Certain health concerns have been documented relating to stevia. Some studies suggest that stevia can cause cancer, disrupt carbohydrate metabolism, and potentially interfere with reproductive functions. These results have not been confirmed in human studies, and they are considered inconclusive. Nevertheless, as with most sweeteners, stevia should be consumed in moderation.