Stevia and Agave: Healthy Sweeteners
If you haven't yet tried stevia or agave, now is the time! In contrast to the chemically created aspartame and sucralose, stevia and agave are natural.
Stevia is a very strong sweetener that comes from the stevia plant leaf. Stevia has no calories. In my opinion, stevia has a slight aftertaste of licorice, so you licorice fans will love it.
Agave is a sweet syrup (a little bit sweeter than sugar) that comes from agave cacti (the same place tequila comes from). Agave has the same calories as sugar, but you can use slightly less of it in a recipe because it is sweeter than sugar. Also, it's very low on the glycemic index, so it won't cause "sugar spikes."
Both sweeteners are good for regulating blood sugar levels. Stevia is good for calorie control. Agave is good for recipes where stevia can't work (because of its lack of bulk- 1 tsp equals a cup of sugar!). Using agave in recipes will only slightly reduce the calorie count, but has the added bonus that you're less likely to over-eat agave-sweetened foods. This is due to the lack of a "sugar high/sugar low."
Stevia is sold in a few forms: concentrated powder, bulked-up powder, and liquid. Also, it is sometimes combined with sugar in packets for sweetening beverages, etc.
The concentrated powder is very, very, strong. 1 teaspoon of concentrated stevia powder is as sweet as an entire cup of sugar. So, to use this to sweeten a beverage, it's recommended that you dip a dry toothpick into the stevia and then stir it into your drink.
The bulked-up powder has fillers so that you can add a packet to a drink.
The liquid stevia is my favorite. I like to add 6-8 drops to my hot cocoa. It is also delicious in smoothies! Try flavored liquid stevia. I love chocolate and vanilla flavors, but you can also get fruit flavors and flavors like "lemon drop." In my opinion, the best uses for stevia are to sweeten beverages, or to add to recipes in place of 1/2 the sugar. (In most recipes it will not work to completely replace sugar with stevia.) Also note that if you use too much stevia (more than is needed to lightly sweeten a recipe,) it may taste bitter or it may have a strong licorice taste.
Agave is a little bit sweeter than sugar. You can use 2/3 cup of agave for every 1 cup of sugar called for in a recipe. It is very low on the glycemic index, so it regulates blood sugar. It also doesn't cause sugar cravings.
With sugar, once you start to nosh it's hard to put on the brakes. It's much easier to enjoy just one treat if it's sweetened with agave. Still, desserts sweetened with agave taste just as great. Just be aware that agave is a liquid, so you may have to reduce the liquids in the recipe to balance it out. Also, agave does not crystallize like sugar when baking, so it may not work for the average cookie recipe.
Agave makes a delicious substitute for maple syrup on pancakes and waffles. Really, it does. I always use agave instead of maple syrup because it leaves me feeling better after breakfast. (No sugar rush.) Of course, that agave is going on homemade 100% whole wheat pancakes or waffles. See the Healthy Recipes section of your MyFitnessTrainer.com program for a pancake/waffle recipe.
Here are some great recipes made with stevia and/or agave:
Stevia and agave no-bake cookies
Stevia hot chocolate (optional: make with water instead of milk to really cut the calories)
Agave no-bake cookies (these have more calories than the version with stevia)
Baked Grapefruit
Agave Smoothie
You can buy agave and stevia here.
Also, members of MyFitnessTrainer.com (membership is free) have access to even more great recipes that use stevia and agave. Just sign in and then go to Member Menu- Misc.- Healthy Recipes.
Enjoy!
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