Stevia vs Raw Agave

[GoingtoRAW]

I had been using raw agave in my smoothies to sweeten them up a bit. After reading so many negative things about agave, plus feeling a little "if it tastes so good it couldn't be good for you" guilt I decided to switch to Stevia. I had used Stevia in the past, probably more than 10 years ago, and I absolutely hated it. It tasted just "ok" going down but then left this horrible aftertaste in my mouth. Several people told me that Stevia has a different taste now than it had in the past and that it is really good. Well I bought some and decided to try it in my smoothie yesterday - no, no, no! It was not good. Not only did it taste funny in my smoothie but it left that same horrible aftertaste in my mouth that it did before.

What is up with Stevia? Is there anything, anything else out there other than raw agave and stevia for adding a little sweetness to my smoothie? I even tried ginger for a while but got a little tired of the taste of ginger every day. HELP!:confused:

[katacykls]

I feel the same way about Stevia. It leaves a disgusting aftertaste on my tongue and mouth and I just rather not use it (I have the liquid form of it).

Aside of using Agave you can soak raisins, apricots, or dates and either use the soak water (which will be sweet) from these fruits or you can blend them together and create a sweet paste in your smoothie from them. Throw everything in the blender with your dry dates or apricots or raisins and or goji berries et voila. Two medium or 1 large date is usually enough to impart that sweet flavor on fruit that isn't just that sweet :)

[GoingtoRAW]

Thanks for the reply. I am drinking a smoothie right now made with that hideous stevia because I don't have anything else I can use right now. I really don't know how anyone can tolerate this stuff. I guess everybody's tastes are different.

Now I know what having too much of raisins in my tummy does - if you know what I mean. I'm OK eating them in small quantities but not every day. Will dates have the same affect? I think I will probably try the raisins first because they are the least expensive. I don't know how much to add - do you have any suggestions? Also, do they have to be soaked? For how long?

[Bananna]

Dates taste AMAZING in smoothies...although I don't have the greatest blender so my smoothies will have some little chunky, sweet, chewable blessings here and there, lol.

Really nice taste though, and yes you only need one or two.

Also, I think I've heard of something involving cane that is actually raw, but it escapes me what it is, and if it's truly raw...it was in a raw chocolate that I ordered online somewhere....cane syrup? I don't know...anyone?

[oceanluv]

if your fruit is ripe enough, you shouldn't need a sweetener for your smoothies. just add an extra banana

[rawstrength]

I like stevia tea. Order whole stevia leaves, add warm water to make a tea, let it steep, strain, and use it in smoothies. It is not as refined as the white powder or the liquid stuff, so it tastes better, more natural.

Raw honey is great stuff, too, if you can find a local organic bee keeper who treats the bees well.

[GoingtoRAW]

if your fruit is ripe enough, you shouldn't need a sweetener for your smoothies. just add an extra banana

That would work great if all of the fruit is equally sweet. If the strawberries are sweet, then the berries aren't that sweet, if the oranges are sweet, then maybe the strawberries aren't sweet enough. I have also tried adding extra banana -nothing helps. I even let the bananas get go ripe and sweet that the peel is almost falling off and that doesn't help or helps very little. They are not all ever equally sweet. I am trying to ween myself from adding any kind of sweetner to my smoothies but I have not been able to make that work. I want to continue drinking them because they make me feel really good, physically and emotionally. I just have to figure this out. :confused:

[SmilingRawDancer]

Maybe I'm a freak but I love stevia. It definitely takes getting used to, but not THAT much. What kind are you using, btw? Are you using stevia extract mixed with fillers, or the pure powder INTENSE form that comes with a little scoop? Or drops? Read the ingredients. The new "popular" brands like truvia etc are mixed with other sugar alcohols.

[marissa_al1]

I'm actually very confused about stevia. Is it raw? I use the one from whole foods, in the little paper packages like sugar. I haven't really found a lot of information on it. Since I don't know if it is raw or not, I almost never use it, but the other day I soaked some pumpkin seeds for a while, I drained them, added two packs of stevia, some ground ginger and salt. Then I dehydrate them overnight and they were amazingly delicious. The stevia worked better than agave because it didn't make the seeds sticky.

And about the smoothies, what ratio of greens/fruit are you using?

[raweater]

How much stevia are you adding for you to be able to taste the aftertaste? The only way I can taste the after taste is if I take a drop straight, if it's blended with anything else it just tastes like sugar, don't forget it takes only a few drops to equal several spoonfuls of sugar, so maybe you're putting much to much.

Also try natural green stevia powder (ground stevia leaves) rather than the chemically refined liquid or white powder, it does not have the after taste.

[brownies]

I use stevia but only as half the sweetener in a recipe then I use agave or honey as the other half. It really helps with the taste to do it this way and I feel way better about consuming less sugar.

Actually I should say I cut the sweetener down by half then add only a sprinkle of stevia to replace the other half of the sweetener in a recipe.

[raweater]

I use stevia but only as half the sweetener in a recipe then I use agave or honey as the other half. It really helps with the taste to do it this way and I feel way better about consuming less sugar.

Actually I should say I cut the sweetener down by half then add only a sprinkle of stevia to replace the other half of the sweetener in a recipe.
I also do that sometimes.

[walnutty]

Like brownies, I use half and half. Half stevia and half agave. I don't taste any aftertaste.

[GoingtoRAW]

I am using the white powder form of Stevia from Whole Foods. I had to experiment as far as how much to use. I only use Stevia in my smoothies - nothing else. I started out using very little and I added as needed to get to a sweetness that worked - up to one pack for a 14 to 16 oz. smoothie, up to 2 packs for a 32 oz. smoothie and all that depends on how sweet the fruit is. Honestly the smoothies don't taste all that sweet after adding the Stevia plus I can't get past that funky taste. It makes the smoothies not so enjoyable for me to be truthful. I don't want to just add and add and add stevia to make the smoothie taste sweeter. I just can't tolerate that stuff. Then after I drink it I have that awful taste in my mouth probably way longer than it takes the smoothie to digest. So not worth it. I am going to try to raisins and dates as suggested. If that doesn't work I am going back to my raw agave.

[raweater]

I'd recommend trying natural stevia rather than the chemically refined white powder, those taste nothing like natural stevia. There is a huge variation in taste in the chemically refined ones between brands since they are very far from being natural.

[GoingtoRAW]

I'd recommend trying natural stevia rather than the chemically refined white powder, those taste nothing like natural stevia. There is a huge variation in taste in the chemically refined ones between brands since they are very far from being natural.

Can I find the natural stevia at Whole Foods?

[katacykls]

Hi Goingtoraw..you can soak the raisins, dates or apricots overnight..and then you can collect the liquid you covered them in as a sweetner for your smoothie.. this way you can also save the fruit for other recipes or add them to your smoothies for texture.

Also, do you brush your tongue well at night ? This has an impact on how we taste our food. Cleaning the palette allows one to taste sugars and salts more fully.;)

[GoingtoRAW]

Hi katacykls,

I do brush my tongue well at night - I just can't take that stevia. Not one to waste (can't afford to throw stuff away), I will use all of that awful stuff until the box is empty. I don't like it but it's not going to kill me. Luckily it's not a giant sized box. I finished my morning smoothie about 45 minutes ago and all I can taste is stevia. This morning I made my usual 32 oz. smoothie and I only used one packet of stevia (I usually use 1 packet with a 16 oz. smoothie), and still after 45 minutes all I can taste is stevia. Sorry, can't take the stuff. And on top of that it really doesn't sweeten that much!! I will try the raisins and dates and if that doesn't work I will go back to my raw agave thank you very much! I only use it for my smoothies anyway so I guess it won't kill me.:(

[katacykls]

The agave will def. not kill you. Try the soaked sweet water and see if that works at all for you ?

[raweater]

Again what you are using is not stevia, it's a chemically made extract, very similar to how drugs are made from plants. To say you don't like stevia when you're tasting a man made chemical is not accurate.

You need to try natural stevia leaf, it doesn't taste anything like the white chemical powder, not to mention all chemical stevia powders are made differently and all taste completely different from one brand to the other.

I got my natural stevia from www.herbaladvantage.com they sell it as whole dried stevia leaves and as ground stevia powder, but be careful as they also sell a chemically refined white stevia powder, only the green one is natural.

[GoingtoRAW]

I will try the sweet water and the real stevia leaves.:rolleyes:

Thanks beautiful raw people!:)

[Jehote]

Im totally down with Stevia! i like it in my lemon water.
J