Hooray! Super sweet stevia giveaway!
August 4th, 2010
Sugar is a topic I could go on and on about (and sometimes I do). Taking sugar out of my diet has been the best thing I’ve ever done for my health. Period. And I see the same effect in anyone who undertakes the same challenge.
Take my detox participants, for instance. Last spring, they hated my guts for the first sugar-free week. But after that, they were true believers – full of energy and amazed at the lack of brain fog. I’m anticipating a similar response from those of you who sign up for September!
But it’s more than just white sugar. It’s brown sugar. It’s Sugar in the Raw. It’s corn syrup. It’s Sweet-n-Low. It’s Splenda.
This inevitably raises a torrent of questions:
- What about agave nectar?
- Which is a better choice, sugar or Splenda?
- I heard maple syrup is ok, is it?
Sure, I prefer natural sweeteners over processed. I eat tons of fruit and will use a bit of pure maple syrup any day over the white stuff. I abhor artificial sweeteners.
But that’s not the point. The point is, the more sweet stuff you taste, the more sweet stuff you’ll want. It’s an endless cycle. Breaking free means you’ll turn down the volume on your tastebuds. You’ll actually appreciate the sweet flavor of carrots and butternut squash instead having your tastebuds blown out by the top-volume sweet flavor of orange soda.
So why, oh why, would I agree to try and review NuNaturals stevia products?
Because I’m human. Jeesh, right? I mean, just like you, I’m hoping for an all-natural, whole food to deliver miraculous sweetness! Plus, I get a ton of questions about stevia and to be honest I’d never really given it a fair shake.
So, what is stevia? Well it’s a plant. A green plant with very sweet leaves. You could grow it, and eat the leaves. But since most of us prefer our sweetener in white, powdery form, that’s how manufacturers process it to look. Stevia has no calories, won’t raise your blood sugar, and has been used for a very, very long time in Japan. So far so good!
A few caveats: I’m not sure that stevia has ever been used in “American” quantities the way it is lately – in sodas and such. And there were some old studies that claim reproductive issues in hamsters from large quantities of stevia. But I feel that stevia, in moderation, is preferable to sugar and other sugar substitutes.
The first thing I noticed about NuNaturals was how many versions of stevia they sent me! You’ve got your Pure White Stevia Extract, Clear Stevia, White Stevia NoCarbs, Vanilla Stevia liquid, Stevia Baking Blend and maybe 5 other varieties. Whew!
So I tried these suckers with an open mind and I find they fall squarely and happily into a category I would call “transition” food. That’s right. I’m not recommending that you buy 100 lbs. of stevia to eat by the handful every day. But I am recommending you buy stevia as a perfect transition food when you are working to wean yourself off sugar.
I think my very favorite NuNaturals product was the vanilla liquid – it was delicious in my chocolate flavored teas and my husband even liked it in his coffee. I also tried the baking blend, but noticed that a lot of the recommended recipes used it alongside naturally sweet flavors, like bananas or pumpkin. I tried it by adding to a breakfast bar recipe I’m currently obsessed with (pictured at the top of this post) and it was a success. The bars went from something I liked to something my husband also really liked with the added boost of sweetness.
Banana Breakfast Bars
2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1 Tbl. ground flax seed
2 ripe bananas
1/4 cup milk
optional: 2 tsp. Stevia Baking Blend
Preheat oven to 350F. Mix all ingredients and press into a pie plate, 9×9 baking dish or silicone muffin tin. Bake for 30 minutes. When cool, slice into bars. If you used a muffin tin, simply pop your round ‘bars’ out.
Want to try for yourself?
Try NuNaturals stevia for yourself for 15% off by entering the code BLG930 at checkout. You’ll also get free shipping on orders over $35. This offer is good until 9/30/10. Thanks NuNaturals!
Or, even better – enter to win!
Four (4!!!) lucky readers will win a box of NuNaturals White Stevia Powder AND a bottle of my favorite Vanilla Stevia Liquid. Here’s how to earn entries to win (US residents only):
- Leave a comment on this post with your most pressing sugar-related question
- Subscribe to my newsletter
- Subscribe to my RSS feed
- Follow me on Twitter
- Retweet this contest on Twitter
- Like my Facebook fan page
Leave a comment letting me know which entries you’ve completed and 4 of you will be chosen randomly to win on August 31, 2010.
Good luck!
