Stevia

Tonight a plant was screaming at me. They tend to do that when I'm too busy to give them the attention that they want.

This little plant is a real sweetie and I mean that literally. Her name is Stevia and tonight she was trying to get my attention to show me some tiny white flowers. No wonder she wanted water. She isn't hard to grow in a pot sitting on a windowsill most of the time and she gives me a leaf or two all the time.

Stevia has a substance called Stevioside in it that is said to be as much as 250 times as sweet as sucrose and 50 times sweeter than sugar. Tests show that the Stevioside is heat stable, pH stable and non-fermentable. Looks like I will have to stick with regular sugar to make my dandelion wines.

There are about 250 plants in this genus or of this sunflower family. They are found growing all over South America, Central America and in the southern part of North America.

All studies repeat that she is safe for diabetics to use as she contains no sugar. She will not interfere with anyone dealing with Candida either.

In the past I have contacted the American Diabetes Association and asked why they recommend aspartame for diabetics and their response came in a letter. They said basically, "There continues to be unsubstantiated claims that the non-nutritive sweetener aspartame (Brand name NutraSweet) poses health risks to people with Diabetes." The letter continued but it told me a lot.

Most countries recognize this sweetener and in Japan it makes up 40% of their sweetener market.

The United States has restricted it to being labeled as a dietary supplement but not a food additive. Both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are producing a commercial product and hope to be able to get the "Food Additive" label approved by the government.

Dr. James Duke's Database showed me things that are contained in this plant and are known to be Cardioprotective and Cancer-preventive along with a whole lot more.

When I give a person a leaf to taste, I always take one myself so that they know it is safe to eat. Most people are surprised by the taste. First comes the sweet taste and then it is balanced out. Nature never over does what is needed.

Try two Stevia leaves for dessert tonight or plan to adopt a member of her family.