Introduction to Stevia

[Guest guest]

Excerpt from " The Body Ecology Diet " by Donna Gates.]

 

Intorduction to Stevia

----------------------

 

Stevia is an extraordinarily sweet herb...200-300 times sweeter than

sugar. It has a slight licorice-like flavor that most of us with a

sweet tooth, and all the children we have ever met, love.

 

For some

people who only like the taste of real sugar it may take a little

getting used to, but it has such important medicinal value that it

is

well worth learning to love.Stevia is almost calorie-free, so weight

watchers love it. It is

ideal for children since it prevents cavities.

 

Unlike sugar, it does not trigger a rise in blood sugar. You won't

get a sudden burst of energy followed by fatigue and a need for

another " fix. "

 

Most imporantly for our purposes, it does not feed yeast or other

microorganisms, and it increases energy and aids digestion by

stimulating the pancreas.

 

Since artificial sweeteners are banned in Japan, the Japanese are

the greatest consumers of stevia.

 

A member of the chrysanthemum family (closely related to tarragon

and chamomile and distantly

related to lettuce, artichokes, safflower oil, and sunflower seeds

and oil), it is totally safe and has been used for centuries by the

Indians of South America where it grows wild.

 

Stevia is available in a number of forms, including a crude green

powder and a brownish liquid extract, which has a strong,

unpleasant,

licorice-like taste.

The white powder is used in our cookbook. If you have trouble

obtaining white stevia extract, please contact us at

1266 West Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta, GA 30327 or call (404) 352-

8048,

FAX (404) 352-3409.

 

Working with the white stevia powder (extract) is difficult, so we

usually recommend creating a liquid concentrate from the white

powder. We call this concentrate our Stevia Working Solution.

 

To make it, dissolve 1 tsp. white stevia powder into 3 Tbsp.

filtered

water. The white powder may stick to the spoon but will soon

dissolve. Pour this concentrate into a small bottle with a dropper

top and refrigerate it to increase its shelf life.

 

A tiny pinch of the powder is so potent that most people put in too

much and find that it is just too sweet for them.

 

That's why we recommend using the liquid and experimenting with a

few drops at a

time to find your own personal level of desired sweetness. One

teaspoon of liquid working solution will approximately equal on cup

of sugar.

 

With the exception of Nicolette Dumke, no one has worked more

extensively to develop recipes using stevia than our Body Ecology

staff.

 

In her book, " Allergy Cooking With Ease, " Nicolette gives

many recipes for carob cake and cookies that you may want to try if

you have children who need healthier cakes, especially for birthday

parties. She warns that stevia-sweetened baked goods do not brown

very much, so when baking, check them for doneness by touching and

not by color.

 

Stevia tastes strong in bland foods, but with stronger

flavors such as carob it disappears. It blends especially well with

citrus fluit flavors such as lemon and cranberry.

 

http://www.holisticmed.com/sweet/stv-cook.txt