Believe it or not, I actually have moments when I try to choose healthy alternatives to the foods I consume. My husband and I love to drink sweet tea- black or green, it doesn’t matter. I don’t drink it as often as I’d like, simply because of the sugar we add to it. But I recently heard about Stevia, a natural, no-calorie sweetener.
Stevia is a plant-based sweetener that’s 300 times sweeter than sugar. The plant is native to Paraguay, and the Japanese have been using it since the 1970s to sweeten soft drinks, candy and other foods. Stevia also can be used for cooking and baking.
We made a stop at Chamberlin’s, the natural grocery store in Lakeland’s Grove Park Shopping Center (map) recently, in search of stevia and found it- along with more varieties of natural sweeteners than I ever knew existed.
Our first experiment was with iced green tea. It tasted great. That weekend, we used it in our coffee. Another success. The next week, we put it in black tea. Delicious.
What a great alternative to refined sugar and artificial sweeteners! I’ve used artificial sweeteners for years, but have always worried about their cancer-causing reputations. It’s awesome to have found a natural alternative.
My next test will be to replace sugar with stevia in a recipe. This is going to require some research, however, because stevia’s consistency resembles artificial sweeteners and using it instead of refined sugar will greatly reduce the bulk in say, a batch of cookie dough.
But for now at least, I can recommend stevia as an alternative to refined sugar in drinks. Try it. You’ll be amazed.
If you’d like to learn more about the perils of refined sugars, here’s a great article on the topic.
photo credit: waterlilysage
Bio: This is a creative outlet and soapbox for Lorrie Delk Walker where, at times, she has stuck her foot so far into her mouth, surely she has quashed any hopes of ever being elected to public office. Lorrie is a writer, avid recycler, small-time chicken farmer, SPCA foster parent and fan of all things Downtown Lakeland. Posts from Delk Walker's popular blog, Tales From the Delk Side, were added to the Lakeland Local archives and can be found here.
Chris Rohde
2 years ago
That is some outstanding news. I’ve been looking for both a sugar alternative *and* a natural grocery store… where is this place now?
Yeah I’ve lived in Lakeland for 2 years now, and still woefully uneducated in the district names (outside of dixieland, where I used to work).
Pati Mills
2 years ago
Great article,I bought mine(Stevia) from Health Chic in Haines City.Wendy traveled around in a mobile home and found organic solutions to health problems and wrote the book Health Chic. I’m not a health nut but love the alternatives for sugars. Thanx for researching and bringing up a valid point for living Healthier…Pati
Lorrie Delk Walker
2 years ago
Chris, Chamberlin’s is in the Grove Park Shopping Center, which is on Bartow Rd. in Lakeland. Coming from Downtown Lakeland, go south on Bartow Road and it’s past Michael Holley Chevrolet and Dunkin’ Donuts, just south of the N. Crystal Lake Drive intersection. I bought “Kal” brand stevia. I think it was $9.99 for the 1.3 oz bottle. Don’t think this is expensive. You use such a tiny bit, the bottle will last you a very long time. And don’t be fooled by the label, which says it is to be used as a dietary supplement. That’s some garbage the FDA came up with. It’s a sweetener. A super-sweet sweetener!