Print What We’re Reading: Splenda vs. Stevia

This week, we’d like to direct your attention to this post at www.mydiabetescentral.com entitled “Splenda or Stevia?” This blog entry is written by David Mendosa, a medical writer with Type 2 diabetes, and details his reasons for switching back and forth between the two noncaloric sweeteners.

For more information about various sweeteners on the market, check out dietitian Amy Campbell’s blog entries on “Satisfying Your Sweet Tooth With Low-Calorie Sweeteners”: Part 1 and Part 2.

Comments:

Splenda vs Stevia?? Here's my take on it:
Splenda = 95% Maltodextrin and Dextrose. Sucralose, their high intensity chemical sweetneer, accounts for about 5% of the product. Sucralose "is made by patented process that substitutes three of the hydrogen-oxygen groups in sugar with three chlorine atoms". That is a direct quote from a Splenda representative admitting that Sucralose is sugar modified with chlorine. Glycemic indes = 80.
STEVIA = Zero Carbs - Zero Glycemic Index - Zero Calories. Completely natural - Derived from a plant - Zero Chemicals. What is Stevia?
Stevia is one of the most health restoring plants on earth. What whole leaf Stevia does both inside the body and on the skin is incredible. Native to Paraguay, it is a small green plant bearing leaves which have a delicious and refreshing taste that can be 30 times sweeter than sugar. Besides the intensely sweet glycosides (Steviosides, Rebaudiosides and a Dulcoside), various studies have found the leaf to contain proteins, fiber, carbohydrates, iron, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, zinc, rutin (a flavonoid), true vitamin A, Vitamin C and an oil which contains 53 other constituents. Quality Stevia leaves and whole leaf concentrate are nutritious, natural dietary supplements offering numerous health benefits.
The choice is yours :-)

Posted by: SweetLucee | May 21, 2008 03:37 PM

The comments about Syevia vs.slenda are interesting. On my Vegan diet, I use fructose{very little} or honey,especially for baking. I allow 1 carb per serving generally ,sometimes more

according to the recipes nutritional recommendations. On my cereal I allow 1 tsp. fructose. This seems to give me the control over my blood sugar that I need as my reading this morning was 85.Also I've reduced my insulin from 64 units of Lancet to 22 units. I feel better on this diet Less hunger. I eat 9 to 10 carbs a day with each carb measuring 15 grams of carbohydrates.The rest are vegetables, nuts and grains. I tried tofu in soup tonight. It was very good.

Posted by: Sally Mettler | Aug 29, 2008 05:56 AM

When I posted my note on Aug.29 I was still taking insulin. I now am off insulin. I still take Metformin 2 times a day. However,I hope to reduce this also. I also reduced my blood pressure meds by 1/3. The Vegan diet, I believe, attributed to this. My blood sugar runs around 100 usually. My doctor told me to run it a little higher so I would not face hypoglycemia.This requires checking it several times a day. My doctor checked my nutrient levels, also. Everything was normal including protein, B12,and D. I was concerned about the protein, but I must be eating enough.

Posted by: Sally Mettler | Oct 20, 2008 05:35 AM

FYI - honey is an animal product and therefore not vegan.

Posted by: Shelbyrue | Feb 05, 2009 04:39 PM

Be careful with Stevia as with any other herb. I used it for a while, but developed severe migraines. As soon as I stopped the Stevia, the headaches stopped.

Posted by: KGHall | Feb 24, 2010 06:58 PM

I gave up Splenda three-mos ago, and went straight to stevia. I mix it w/ bottled, unsweetened lemon-concentrate, and bottled spring-water, for an ice-cold lemonade 'to go'. You can also mix a proper, lemon-water 'mix' w/ decaf sun-teas -- that is a super alternative too. The key 'gain' here, besides the usual concern re the chlorinated-compounds in Splenda, is the avoidance of a negative-skew of one's gut-flora ecology. When you consider the incredibly-dependant function of one's immune system vis 'a vis their "GI-bacterial balance", one can't entertain (for even a nanosecond) the idea of using Splenda.

Posted by: Phil Gilmore | Jul 01, 2011 12:58 AM

sorry, a bee is not an animal. bees are insects, bees make honey. honey is vegan

Posted by: Susan | Dec 08, 2012 10:44 AM

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