Steviol Glucoside: What You Need to Know

Not everything delicious and sweet is evil for your health. There are healthy options provided by our good GOD and Creator.

Steviol Glycoside. This may be a new word for you and if you're looking for some easy no-diet slimming tips that allow you to enjoy sweets while getting fit, steviol glycoside may be it. It's supposed to be 150 times sweeter than table sugar--even more--but carries less calories. Finally, a good cheat for those who crave sweets and those who love sweet coffee. But you need to know some things about it.

Photo by Emre on Unsplash.

Let's start with the good news. Simply put, this sweetener is much better than white, refined sugar, or perhaps all the other sugars available. If you're diabetic, ask your doctor about it to be doubly safe, but a lot of studies and natural health experts say it's safe even for folks with blood sugar problems--because it's not sugar. It's a non-sugar sweetener. But we don't want to just take their word for it. Ask your medical diabetes expert. 

If you're simply watching your blood sugar levels and want to avoid spikes from what you eat, but otherwise you're healthy, you can try steviol glucosde as sweetener, but do not overuse it. It's not designed to be abused. Everything in excess is bad for the health. Don't get used to sweeteners, even with Stevia, that's including coco sugar and monk fruit. Use as little as possible and as seldom. Some people crave for sweets even with their coffee and fruit juices. DON'T. It's much better to tame your taste buds and train it to prefer unsweetened preferences. Drink pure unsweetened, black coffee now and then.

Even if you use stevia, the sweet sensation tickling your taste buds sends a signal to the brain which might detect it as "sugar" and cause some blood-sugar spike, though minimal. What we don't want is the body getting used to these spikes which may create inflammation. Use stevia or other natural sweeteners as little as possible. Or don't often use them. Better if you eliminate your need for sweet flavors. But again, we don't want you to sacrifice needlessly and forfeit yourself of the good life via good food. Use stevia now and then.

Here's the bad news. Stevia may cause side effects like diarrhea. So if you note watery changes in your stool, use it sparingly and not regularly. This is why I prefer unsweetened coffee. If I want some sweetness in my coffee and I'm out of the house, I use brown sugar to avoid emergencies to the restroom. Real dark brown sugar is organic and is considered healthy if you don't have blood sugar problems. Better if you have sugarcane jaggery or gur, which is unrefined, unprocessed but cooked, thick sugarcane juice, known locally as "panucha."

Better yet, make it a habit to drink fresh ginger tea to counteract your sweets intake. I put in some fresh turmeric, too. As I use steviol glycoside sparingly, I also love drinking ginger tea and green tea, sometimes a mix of both. They give you all sorts of health benefits, normal blood sugar and blood pressure levels among them. In the few times when I have to eat sweet food or desserts I follow up with ginger, turmeric and green tea later in the day, just to play safe.

BTW, steviol glycoside comes from stevia leaves which are dried and crushed into powder form. Aside from being a sweetener alternative and sugar replacement, it acts as an antioxidant and delays the degradation of your Vitamin C. Micro components of stevia also give anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor health effects, among others. Source

Here are guidelines to observe when disciplining your sugar consumption:

1. Train your tongue to forget its sweet cravings.
2. Get used to sour and bitter tastes and love them. I love pure kalamansi and ampalaya.
3. Bear in mind that white sugar is bad. It's not food and has no nutritional benefits.
4. If you must put sugar in your food or drink, use a small amount of real, dark brown sugar.
5. Don't get used to stevia, though it's a healthy alternative to sugar.
6. Never drink softdrinks or soda or unnatural fruit juices.
7. Seldom drink natural fruit juices. Except for berries, they're high in sugar.
8. Beware of food you didn't prepare yourself. Most foods are cooked with sugar, either for taste or as preservative. Adobo, for instance, is so good with vinegar and a little soy (soy sauce has sugar, by the way). But some folks add lots of sugar (though they always say, "add some sugar," you can be sure "some" there is really a lot). 
9. If you need dessert, opt for unsweetened jelly or those with less sugar, like guyabano fruit.
10. But don't be too strict. Treat yourself now and then to small slices of sweets. You have to enjoy life.

Always remember the no-diet slim rule: never overdo anything. Be balanced. Pray! Consult your doctor always before trying anything "healthy." And meditate God's Word in the bible. You won't go wrong. 

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