xylitol/ stevia

how 'natural' are xylitol and stevia? they at the health food store assure me that it's natural :) sounds so artificial! tastes okay. i'm off glucose and sucrose for a couple weeks. this is to help restore some balance in my gut microbia. and it's working by the way!

i must have my cup of tea! in fact it was the ONLY thing i looked forward to in the day, for a few dark months back there... weird huh.

is one any better than the other?  

[Paxiled]

Stevia is just a plant that happens to be sweet -- very sweet.  Xylitol is a sugar alcohol.  While it's naturally found in small amounts in the body and in some plants, it isn't as natural as stevia in the sense that it must be processed from tree bark.  Still, the body recognizes it.  It's antibacterial and breaks down so slowly that it doesn't really contribute to blood sugar problems, except in dogs.  So if you're a dog, I'd avoid it.  While both are sweet, don't expect them to taste like sugar, but they're much healthier and non-toxic.  As for better, stevia isn't sugar at all, so technically it's better as far as sugar metabolism, but it also has a stronger taste.  You're more likely to like the taste of xylitol, since it's been flavoring sugarless gum since WWII.  Both take getting used to.  Xylitol actually might promote balance in the gut, and it helps prevent cavities.  Stevia probably is better in tea, though -- works really well that way for some reason.  

[gymdandee]

just remember even though these are natural they are processed

[acker]

woof woof... thanks! very helpful  :)

it just looks so suss (processed as mentioned) so whitened! ??

[Paxiled]

Actually, stevia doesn't have to be processed at all.  You can just take the herb and put it in your tea and walla! sweet tea.  The powder is just crushed stevia.  Xylitol does have to be processed, but not anywhere near the amount white sugar is.  There are a lot of sweeteners like stevia around where it's just a sweet plant.  We just wouldn't really think of them as sweeteners because they have a stronger and different taste than sucrose.  Licorice and cinnamon, for example, are considered sweeteners historically.  There's a Chinese plant called mimordica that is another sweet plant that is good for blood sugar.  The world is full of strange things.

[acker]

too funny - absolutely right - the stevia did take some 'getting used to' - i mean - yuck. but i will give it a fair go and maybe just use a smaller amount of it. different indeed!
cane sugar - just can't be beat, i reckon we should just be consuming far less of it than we are...

i now use very little sugar. i've gotten used to xylitol, and feel better just knowing the good it's doing to be mostly off sugar...

[allmymarbles]

My husband is diabetic and uses stevia. Yes, it is natural. The other one I believe is garnered from a variety of plants so maybe more processing is involved. But I don't know for sure.

[FurballsMom]

The other problem with Xylitol is that it is often made from birch trees.  Anyone with a true birch tree allergy should simply avoid xylitol all together just to be on the safe side.  That is one of my true allergies, so I simply avoid xylitol.  I have some dried stevia herb, so it's not the white powder.  The store I bought it from sells stevia powder that is super finely ground stevia leaves, and it's GREEN, as should be expected from an UN-PROCESSED ingredient.  Not the easiest to find, but definitely much better for anyone looking for unprocessed and natural at the same time.

[acker]

the green powder - yes - and it still didn't catch on! but ive found it ok in cooking - it's sort of cinnamony. i anticipate this jar of stevia's going to last a long time!!
today, in a chicken soup, in a sparing amount.