Morning All,
<blockquote><span style="color: #008080;"><strong>In today’s post I offer my opinion on the new wave of “healthy” food sweetening options which now bombard our shelves. You know the ones - “natural sweeteners” and a “healthy” alternative to refined sugar.</strong> </span></blockquote>
Thankfully, media interest over the last 2 years has highlighted the health dangers of continual consumption of refined sugar. Personally, I’d prefer a message angled more towards the health risks of highly processed unreal food in general – as opposed to just singling out sugar.
Let’s talk drink sweeteners.
Now, as big food business realised excessive sugar consumption caused ill-health....about..... 40 years ago, and ultimately knew that the sh&amp;t would eventually hit the fan, they introduced low cal, low sugar alternatives about 30 years ago. Sales for low cal - low sugar alternatives have now overtaken regular sugar options in recent years.
The main flavouring (sweetening) choice was aspartame, and as we now know, could very <a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/danger_aspartame_by_evil_fx.jpg"><img class="alignright wp-image-2404 size-medium" src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/danger_aspartame_by_evil_fx-300x214.jpg" alt="danger_aspartame_by_evil_fx" width="300" height="214" /></a>well cause more ill-health than sugar! These are a concoction of chemicals, featuring more numbers than Bradman’s scoring stats, and are solely designed to make us buy and consume MORE.....
As the public is now aware that not only refined sugar, but also ‘faux sugar’ options, like aspartame, offer a swag of health risks, big food business have tagged onto organic buzz options like stevia.
Stevia is a leaf that when ground, offers a “sugar-like” taste, but 20 times sweeter.
In health terms, the beauty of stevia is that a very small amount provides that great sweet taste, without the spike in blood sugar, and consequent insulin overload. It could be a <a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/1024px-Stevia_Dobrzyca_2013-07-08_17.46.39.jpg"><img class="alignright wp-image-2405 " src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/1024px-Stevia_Dobrzyca_2013-07-08_17.46.39-300x225.jpg" alt="1024px-Stevia,_Dobrzyca,_2013-07-08_17.46.39" width="187" height="140" /></a>diabetic’s best friend and equally great for our waistline!
Like most splendid natural options, it doesn’t take long till big business finds a way to fk it up.
So, is stevia good or bad for us? Like most things these days, the unfortunate answer is - “It depends”!!!
<blockquote><span style="color: #008080;"><strong>A major soft drink company is now heavily promoting a “green” healthy option – using “stevia” – well.... sort of.</strong> </span></blockquote>
If real (green leaf) stevia was used (purchased in health food stores – and twice as <a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/16078105860_2e52d6bb31_b.jpg"><img class="alignright wp-image-2403 size-medium" src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/16078105860_2e52d6bb31_b-300x199.jpg" alt="16078105860_2e52d6bb31_b" width="300" height="199" /></a>expensive as sugar) it wouldn’t be economically viable.
The “stevia-like” flavouring used is known as truvia. It goes through a 42 step processing model before it makes the bottle. It is 400 x sweeter than sugar. It requires GMO corn chemicals for production – and goodness knows what else.

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So, if you do choose to consume, I’d get in now, as I suspect it won’t be long before it is confirmed, once again, that there’s another product out there that makes us sick and it is rubbed out.
BP