Hacker News Reader

Comment by standardUser | Hacker News Reader

My understanding is that Stevia does not negatively impact glucose levels, unlike most/all other sugar substitutes. But the WHO seems to be lumping it together with other, very different sugar alternatives. Is there compelling evidence to think that Stevia has a negative impact on health or weight control?

View on HN

Stevia (and many of these substitutes) are full of erythritol, which is recently in the news as questionable [0].

Some of them even market themselves as things like 'Monk Fruit'... but erythritol is the first ingredient [1].

[0] https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/27/health/zero-calorie-sweetener...

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Sweetener-Erythritol-Sugar-Fr...

Stevia is not full of erythritol. They are two distinct chemicals. The stevia packets you might put into your coffee, different story. You can read the ingredient label to understand more

Play on words there. Find me a 'stevia' solution without erythritol in it that I can buy off Amazon (this is the first result that comes up for me) [0]. Sure, doesn't have erythritol in it, but it has Dextrose, which is just corn sugar. We're back at square zero.

My whole point is that you have to look closely at the labels for everything sugar related at this point. All these companies are false advertising and it is a pathetic joke.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/Raw-Sugar-Substitute-Sugar-Free-Glute...

Here's a couple 100% pure Stevia leaf extract products I found with a quick search on Amazon... https://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Sweetener-Servings-BSL-BSw... https://www.amazon.com/Stevia-Select-Powder-Organic-Leaf-Per... I know of a couple others, too. I always check labels very carefully.

Zevia sodas.

The link you gave literally says “stevia blended with other sweeteners” as the first thing on the front of the label. Many wouldn’t call that false advertising.

Why do you feel the need to purchase and use powdered added sweetener products in your cooking? Can you live without them, since your requirements are so exacting (no sweetener besides stevia, no added sugar)? There are entire libraries of paleo and whole 30 cookbooks that are very good

> Zevia sodas.

I'm not asking for products with the stuff in there, I'm asking for the raw product. Interesting that company has Disney copyright at the bottom, oh, I see... marketing.

> “stevia blended with other sweeteners”

In small letters, of course. I'd argue that most people don't look past the headline of 'STEVIA IN THE RAW'.

> Why do you feel the need to purchase and use powdered added sweetener products in your cooking?

I personally don't add it, but the partner likes it. When I started to investigate what they were adding (mostly because it gives me a massive amount of flatulence), I found a whole lot of "truth in advertising" failure. We've since stopped and I've become a more aware of the reality of this stuff.

>I'm asking for the raw product.

You can't have stevia powder without some sort of filler/carrier. Undiluted stevia extract is too sweet to be usefully measurable in the typical kitchen. These makers aren't trying to be nefarious.

You can get SweetLeaf which uses inulin (fiber) instead of dextrose https://www.amazon.com/SweetLeaf-Natural-Stevia-Sweetener-70...

You can also get stevia in liquid form which is just in water, and there are a few different brands https://www.amazon.com/s?k=stevia+drops&crid=3TEZDE5EKSQZ1&s...

You can buy monk fruit sugar without erythritol. The addition is to make it seem more like sugar from a touch standpoint.

You can find it, but you literally have to look at every single label to find it and probably buy it online only. I was in a grocery store not too long ago and every single 'monk fruit' sugar they sold, had it in there. As a filler, it is everywhere.

My monk fruit drink (super coffee) doesn't have Eyrthritol (just some Stevia), but it does have 200mg of caffeine.

They say it is monk fruit, but how can you be sure that it is only monk fruit? That's the problem with this packaging.

You mean: how can I be sure they aren't lying? The packaging lists ingredients, I guess you are asking if they are leaving any ingredients out and are not being called out on it by anyone?

> I guess you are asking if they are leaving any ingredients out and are not being called out on it by anyone?

yes, how do you know?

living in Vietnam for 4 years... i really became a lot more sensitive to food safety, which is non-existent there.

i think we take it for granted a lot in the US because we've been conditioned to accept that we have enforced government regulations.

if you read things like KitchenConfidential [0], you start to realize that even if the food is safe... preparation might not be [1].

[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/KitchenConfidential/

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/KitchenConfidential/comments/10my22...

> unlike most/all other sugar substitutes

There are millions of type 1 diabetics who meticulously monitor their blood glucose levels that would disagree with this.

There may be some Pavlovian response to artificial sweeteners and insulin secretion (which would be blunted in T1 diabetics) but it's incredibly minor compared to actual carbohydrates.

Since the pandemic, food companies have cranked up the prices of anything that might be useful for someone wanting to avoid sugar. For example, pre-pandemic I could buy a box of low-carb cereal for $4. Now they're all in the $9 dollar and above range. Drink mixes that were a bit over $1 pre-pandemic are now double that at WalMart. I'd get a 12-pack of Coke Zero pre-pandemic for $3.50 to $4. Now it's $8.

If none of this is helpful, there are people throwing a lot of money down the drain.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com