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Diabetics have a raw deal when it comes to sweet food cravings. Sugar intake puts blood sugar on a rollercoaster. Artificial sweeteners, like aspartame, increase the craving for sweet foods. This leads to further blood sugar problems as well as weight gain: a major contributory factor to diabetes.
Diabetics suffer with plenty of symptoms because of their diabetes. These include obesity, slow healing wounds, and decreased sexual function. No wonder diabetics also commonly suffer with hypertension (which, by the way, aspartame is also attributed to).
In studies aspartame is attributed as causing infertility and DNA damage (Dr HJ Roberts Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, published 2001; Aspartame and Infertility, Dr Madelon Price; Testimony to Congress by Dr Louis Elsas), whereas Stevia was judged to show no ill-effects in people who had been using the natural sweetener for two decades and more.
Changing to stevia
Some diabetics report foods tasting bitter when sweetened with stevia products for the first time. This can be attributed to use of sub-standard products or raw stevia, which has a natural bitterness.
How to use stevia
Stevia products, like powder or liquid drops, should be added very slowly. The exact taste desired will be achieved by testing as drops are added. Raw stevia can be anything between 250 and 450 times sweeter than sugar.
Choice of product will depend upon individual taste and the content of stevia in the product. For example, our Naturally Sweet Blend is, as the name suggests, a blended product, and is approximately 10 times sweeter than sugar so it is easier to use than raw stevia and tastes as close as possible to sugar; our high quality and organic ‘pure’ stevia, by itself, is a little harder to use because of its intensity and may not be suitable for some people’s palate
We all get sugar cravings now and again, and there is no reason why diabetics shouldn’t satisfy them. By using stevia, foods and drinks will be as sweet as wished for without doing the damage of artificial sweeteners such as aspartame.
In home-baking, stevia will add in the sweetness needed, though cakes and cookies might need extra bulk added with extra fresh fruit or ground nuts. Puddings and pies can be served every day of the week when baked from scratch with stevia instead of sugars.
Smoothies made fresh can be sweetened with stevia, as can lemonades, teas, coffee, and hot chocolates.
And
liquid stevia or
stevia tablets can be taken anywhere, to add to that impromptu coffee while out and about.
If you’re a diabetic, there is no need to live a sweet-free life, while others around are enjoying delicious food. Eat the foods you want, and have the foods you enjoy: all made with stevia to sweeten. Just ensure that your stevia is pure, and not cut with sugar.
