Imagine a plant leaf that’s many times sweeter than sugar, which has no carbohydrates, no calories and a zero rating on the glycemic index. In fact there are strong indications that it actively supports metabolic health. What’s more, it has a history of indigenous usage as a sweetener, stimulating tea beverage and folk medicine going back at least 1500 years.
If you can imagine that, then you probably won’t have any trouble imagining that its introduction into the United States has proceeded under a cloud cover of bad science, bureaucratic dysfunction and corporate manipulation, to wit, U.S. food politics as usual. Continue reading “Stevia, Wonder Sweetener?”