Hi everybody this is Monica Reinagel the nutrition diva here with your quick and dirty

tips for eating well and feeling fabulous a couple of months ago I did an episode on the pros and cons of artificial

sweeteners like equal and splenda and since then I've gotten a lot of

listener questions about Stevia another zero calorie sweetener that's gotten a lot of buzz lately.

So is Stevia the penalty free sweetener we've all been waiting for?

Although some new Stevia-based sweeteners have just come onto the market.

Stevia's actually been around for quite a while, for eons actually.

Stevia is an herb that hails from South America.

Its leaves taste very sweet, but they contain virtually no calories. Although Stevie leaves were

used as a sweetener by indigenous South American since pre-Columbian times it was

discovered by Europeans in the early 20th century and since then it's been cultivated

and used as an alternative sweetener particularly in Asia. The Japanese first

identified the several chemical compounds that give Stevia that sweet taste and pioneered the extraction

and purification of these compounds.

And it's been used in Japan for decades to sweeten beverages, condiments, candies, gums, toothpaste, mouthwash, that kind of thing.

It's been slower to catch on in America, but late last year, the FDA approved a couple of

Stevia-based sweeteners for use by food manufacturers and now some new

Stevia sweetened foods and beverages as well as a couple of new sugar substitutes

like Truvia and Purevia are being rolled out with a lot of fanfare. One of the things you hear about these

Stevia-based sweeteners is that they are natural. Now if you were to crush some fresh or

dried Stevia leaves into your tea, you'd have a truly natural

zero calorie sweetener. And if you'd like to try that, you can buy green powdered

...