What You Should Know
KAL Stevia is an all-natural sweetener without the healthy concerns associated with artificial sweeteners. Stevia is derived from a cactus. For many years, stevia was not approved for use as a food product. It could be used as a natural supplement, but companies could not promote the sweetening benefits of the cactus. The FDA finally approved stevia as a food product and the market was flooded with stevia supplements and products. KAL Stevia is a powdered supplement. The canister comes with a scoop. There are more than 2,000 servings in one container of KAL Stevia.
List of Ingredients
Stevia Rebaudiana Leaf Extract.
Product Features
Stevia is considered one of the healthiest all-natural sweeteners on the market. One serving of KAL Stevia has a sweetness level up to 300 times that of sugar so the dieter can use 300 times less for the same effect. The product description for KAL Stevia claims the sweetener does not impact blood glucose. This may be slightly incorrect. Most powdered sweeteners include maltodextrin or another carbohydrate powder to keep the sweetener in powdered form without sticking. This is why artificial sweetener packets contain one carbohydrate per packet. The product label for KAL Stevia does not list calories per scoop, so the dieter has no idea what the true impact is on blood glucose. Liquid forms of stevia and other artificial sweeteners do not contain carbohydrates so the impact on blood glucose is minimal.
Stevia has been the subject of many clinical trials. The natural extract may be beneficial is reversing diabetes and stopping the effects of metabolic syndrome. There is also evidence that products like KAL Stevia will reduce blood pressure.
Advantages
- May reduce blood pressure.
- May help improve insulin sensitivity.
- May reverse metabolic disorder.
- May reverse diabetes.
- Does not have an impact on blood sugar in liquid form.
Disadvantages
- More expensive than artificial sweeteners.
- Powdered varieties have carbohydrates and will impact blood glucose.
- May not taste as good as sugar.
- Will not directly promote weight loss.
- Will not increase metabolism.
- Will not suppress hunger.
Conclusion
In 2008, the Food and Drug Administration reviewed all clinical studies on stevia and decided to finally approve the supplement as a food additive. Today, there are multiple brands of stevia supplements and sweeteners like KAL Stevia. Most of these products are much more expensive than sugar and artificial sweeteners.
While stevia is not associated with increased weight loss or metabolism, it can cut out the calories consumed via sugar. If the dieter replaces sugar with stevia, it could impact weight drastically, depending on sugar intake before dieting. Sugar also causes blood glucose to rise, so changing to KAL Stevia could reduce hunger and cravings.
