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Blood sugar and stevia
Hi, for treating and preventing diabetes, you might have heard of Stevia, a calorie-free sweetener. My uncle tried stevia extract and stevia leaves for years, and actually, his diabetes is well under control. Stevia is originated from South America, but it is mainly grown in China now. If you search
Oh, such a seemingly simple question... I've actually done quite a bit of baking experimentation; at the time I was diagnosed as diabetic one of my work responsibilities included overseeing a bakery operation... the bakers were enthusiastic about trying out 'diabetic' recipes (at first)... results were frustrating and mixed...
SHORT ANSWER:
bottom line, no dense flour-based baked good works well with any sugar-substitute, though many sugar substitutes work quite nicely with flourless tortes, chocolate and fruit based desserts, and lighter low-temp/shorter time baking recipes (angel food, etc)
LONG ANSWER:
Baking with Splenda:
Regular Splenda: YUCK! I agree with your experience.
"Granulated" Splenda for baking: not bad in terms of taste and consistency, but it raised my blood sugars as much as regular baked goods. Turns out the Splenda is "granulated" with maltodextrin (for my diabetic body, that's essentially sugar) which is derived from starch (corn, potato or wheat). So, granulated Splenda isn't a great sugar substitute to start with; you'd be better off just cutting the amount of sugar in half and probably having a better baking result anyhow.
Other sugar substitutes:
"Granulated" substitutes... same thing with all of them... they all are 'granulated'/fluffed (so they can be substituted 1:1 with regular sugar) with some form of actual sugar, so for this diabetic there's not much benefit.
Fructose doesn't seem to raise blood sugar, but results were mixed in terms of taste and consistency. [plus the medical literature suggests some negative long-term effects for diabetics consuming derived fructose]
Sugar alcohols: overall, no for high-temp or over 30-minute baking... inconsistent results, and when they did turn out well, they had a rather profound GI side-effect (gas, bloating, and laxative effect... ick!) plus they caused a delayed but significant rise in blood sugars.
*Except* erythritol which does not seem to effect my blood sugar and doesn't cause GI problems for me, and bakes well, but it's a bit tricky to substitute for sugar because it's SO sweet and you need so little you have to figure out what to substitute for volume.
Stevia: mixed results. Powder (white) forms are heat stable but tend to have a bitter after-taste in flour-based baked goods. The ground (green) form isn't as bitter when baked, but can add an unwanted green color and sometimes cause a granular consistency. Powder, ground, and liquid forms work well with non-flour baked goods like chocolate tortes and such.
Bottom line: for baked goods like cakes and pastries (any sweet flour-based baked good) I think you're better off just limiting your portion size or having a bite of someone else's so you can enjoy the real thing; plus, having just a bite or small portion makes you really notice and appreciate the flavor and experience.... or, better yet, have some fruit with some powdered stevia sprinkled on it. OR, experiment with low glycemic load / high-fiber flours... but that's another post entirely.
SHORT ANSWER:
bottom line, no dense flour-based baked good works well with any sugar-substitute, though many sugar substitutes work quite nicely with flourless tortes, chocolate and fruit based desserts, and lighter low-temp/shorter time baking recipes (angel food, etc)
LONG ANSWER:
Baking with Splenda:
Regular Splenda: YUCK! I agree with your experience.
"Granulated" Splenda for baking: not bad in terms of taste and consistency, but it raised my blood sugars as much as regular baked goods. Turns out the Splenda is "granulated" with maltodextrin (for my diabetic body, that's essentially sugar) which is derived from starch (corn, potato or wheat). So, granulated Splenda isn't a great sugar substitute to start with; you'd be better off just cutting the amount of sugar in half and probably having a better baking result anyhow.
Other sugar substitutes:
"Granulated" substitutes... same thing with all of them... they all are 'granulated'/fluffed (so they can be substituted 1:1 with regular sugar) with some form of actual sugar, so for this diabetic there's not much benefit.
Fructose doesn't seem to raise blood sugar, but results were mixed in terms of taste and consistency. [plus the medical literature suggests some negative long-term effects for diabetics consuming derived fructose]
Sugar alcohols: overall, no for high-temp or over 30-minute baking... inconsistent results, and when they did turn out well, they had a rather profound GI side-effect (gas, bloating, and laxative effect... ick!) plus they caused a delayed but significant rise in blood sugars.
*Except* erythritol which does not seem to effect my blood sugar and doesn't cause GI problems for me, and bakes well, but it's a bit tricky to substitute for sugar because it's SO sweet and you need so little you have to figure out what to substitute for volume.
Stevia: mixed results. Powder (white) forms are heat stable but tend to have a bitter after-taste in flour-based baked goods. The ground (green) form isn't as bitter when baked, but can add an unwanted green color and sometimes cause a granular consistency. Powder, ground, and liquid forms work well with non-flour baked goods like chocolate tortes and such.
Bottom line: for baked goods like cakes and pastries (any sweet flour-based baked good) I think you're better off just limiting your portion size or having a bite of someone else's so you can enjoy the real thing; plus, having just a bite or small portion makes you really notice and appreciate the flavor and experience.... or, better yet, have some fruit with some powdered stevia sprinkled on it. OR, experiment with low glycemic load / high-fiber flours... but that's another post entirely.
Thanks for the informative baking tips follow up. You saved me a tremendous amount of research time for now I can play around with "lighter low-temp/shorter time baking recipes (angel food, etc)".
One would think one or two bites of someones desert (cake, pie, ice cream) would be OK but not for me. Due to my anti-rejection medicine side affects, anything sugar related, including fructose, jacks my glucose way up.
One would think one or two bites of someones desert (cake, pie, ice cream) would be OK but not for me. Due to my anti-rejection medicine side affects, anything sugar related, including fructose, jacks my glucose way up.
Thanks for your comments on Stevia and Sweet Leaf. Have you or anyone you know tried baking with Sweet Leaf? Cakes? Cookies? Splenda does NOT coincide with the other active ingredients so cakes don't rise and cookies come out flat and hard. Nasty.
Hi. I'm type 2 diabetic and I've used stevia for several years and *love* it, and wish it were used in more products (it's starting to be, finally).
I started off growing it... I had a big garden space, liked growing new things, and randomly saw the plant seeds listed in a seed catalog and description said something along the lines of "leaves naturally extremely sweet, used for centuries as a sweetener" so I figured why not try it... and wow, they weren't kidding; if you pull a leaf off the plant and put it in your mouth and chew it, the natural sweetness is shocking, almost wierd... the plant looks like a scraggly weed, kind of like a tall daisy without flowers, something you'd chop down or pull out of your garden without giving it a second thought.
Anyway, I started researching it. Turned out it was being used extensively in Europe and Japan, including by Coca Cola and Pepsi because it was 'natural' and sweeter than sugar but had no carbs, no calories, and no known toxic side-effects. So why couldn't I find it in the USA? That remains a good question, and there are tons of conspiracy theories on the web about it [do a web search for "monsanto and stevia"], but not much of substance (meaning articles listing respectable research and authors) though the Wikipedia entry for Stevia has a nice summary of references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia
Stevia *is* available as a powder, as a liquid, and in packets, but can not be sold in the USA as a "sweetener," only as a "dietary supplement" so you can find it in vitamin stores and in the supplement sections of stores like Whole Foods, and online at Drugstore.com and Netrition.com
In my experience, pure stevia powder can be really bitter; the products that add a little sugar-alcohol (like erythritol) and especially for some reason some fiber (like inulin, which is just powdered chicory root) taste the best. Stevia has had *no* negative effect on my blood sugar, and it has been great to use to sweeten beverages and bland high-fiber cereal without having to use a chemical sweetener (you know, the blue packets, the yellow packets, or the pink packets)... give it a try. I personally like the "SweetLeaf" brand best.
I started off growing it... I had a big garden space, liked growing new things, and randomly saw the plant seeds listed in a seed catalog and description said something along the lines of "leaves naturally extremely sweet, used for centuries as a sweetener" so I figured why not try it... and wow, they weren't kidding; if you pull a leaf off the plant and put it in your mouth and chew it, the natural sweetness is shocking, almost wierd... the plant looks like a scraggly weed, kind of like a tall daisy without flowers, something you'd chop down or pull out of your garden without giving it a second thought.
Anyway, I started researching it. Turned out it was being used extensively in Europe and Japan, including by Coca Cola and Pepsi because it was 'natural' and sweeter than sugar but had no carbs, no calories, and no known toxic side-effects. So why couldn't I find it in the USA? That remains a good question, and there are tons of conspiracy theories on the web about it [do a web search for "monsanto and stevia"], but not much of substance (meaning articles listing respectable research and authors) though the Wikipedia entry for Stevia has a nice summary of references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia
Stevia *is* available as a powder, as a liquid, and in packets, but can not be sold in the USA as a "sweetener," only as a "dietary supplement" so you can find it in vitamin stores and in the supplement sections of stores like Whole Foods, and online at Drugstore.com and Netrition.com
In my experience, pure stevia powder can be really bitter; the products that add a little sugar-alcohol (like erythritol) and especially for some reason some fiber (like inulin, which is just powdered chicory root) taste the best. Stevia has had *no* negative effect on my blood sugar, and it has been great to use to sweeten beverages and bland high-fiber cereal without having to use a chemical sweetener (you know, the blue packets, the yellow packets, or the pink packets)... give it a try. I personally like the "SweetLeaf" brand best.
Some stores offer stevia in packets but the packets list (rice)maltodextrin or some other additive on the label too to give it bulk and diguise the bitter aftertaste Stevia has. Isn't rice maltodextrin defeating the purpose for diabetics?
I did try it in my tea at a friend's house, it didn't seem to sweeten very well and had a nasty after taste, but I think it was Stevia without additives.
Also, any study should have authors one can respect the conclusions of.
I did try it in my tea at a friend's house, it didn't seem to sweeten very well and had a nasty after taste, but I think it was Stevia without additives.
Also, any study should have authors one can respect the conclusions of.
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