28 replies to this topic

[Momo]

I've been using stevia for years for my hot tea in the am. It is a little bitter to me but I got used to it.

Now they have a new product that is a mix of stevia and regular sugar. It is called Sun Crystals and I love it. It is about 4 or 5 calories in a packet that is enough to sweeten a beverage. Of course you probably can't make it at home. It is a little pricey, but I had a good coupon for it since it is a new product.

[Leah]

Snails love it, huh?
Hmm - I wonder if you could keep them low and bushy? Maybe I could try some inside, I usually
have good luck with house plants.
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I found this as I was hunting stevia information, perhaps it might help someone.
http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/SeedlistLI.htm
LIPPIA (LIP-ee-a)
VERBENACEAE. Tropical African and American herbs, shrubs, and trees, with small tubular flowers in spikes. Some are popular aromatic herbs.
NEW—Lippia dulcis. (=Phyla scaberrima) (b,g) LIPP-32. Packet: $3.00
'YERBA DULCE', 'AZTEC SWEET HERB', 'OROZUZ'. Tiny white flowers in daisy-like 1/2" heads. Small shrub to 1 - 2 feet, with 2" leaves. México. The leaves are intensely sweet when chewed, and are used as seasoning or tea. Roots licorice-flavored. "Much easier to grow than Stevia as it tolerates heat."—Baber. Germinates in 2 - 4 weeks.
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Found some more information, and 2 pictures. Looks rather like a mint plant to me.
http://www.mountainv...m/lipdulcis.htm

Edited by Leah, 02 October 2009 - 12:58 PM.

[ChristyK]

Just to update on my stevia, in case my experiences can be of any use to any one else.

My stevia plants have finished flowering. I took the flowers and hung them in a paper bag to dry; we'll see if the seed is any good or not next year.

I tried to root cuttings from the plants (I tried cuttings from both before and after they flowered), but it's been a dismal failure ~ none of them have grown roots, not even a sign of it.

As my plants are in a pot rather the ground I am going to bring them in for winter. They are very tall and 'leggy', so I cut one down to about 4 inches from the dirt to see what it would do ~ and it's putting out new shoots from the original stem! (The plant grows with those little 'section' things to the main stem, kind of like roses do, and the new growth is sprouting where the 'sections' meet, again like on my roses.)

Have to wait and see what they do over winter. I can't decide whether they'll need time in a cool, dark place to go dormant before letting them grow again or not... I may try it with one of them. Experimentation is sometimes the only way, right?

Edited by ChristyK, 04 October 2009 - 06:23 PM.

[Nermalina]

DH uses 1teaspoon of stevia (from Swansons) in his Kool-Aid. He's diabetic and artificial sweeteners make his fibro worse.

[themartianchick]

I had very poor luck growing stevia. My plants only reached about 5 inches long.

[Sarah]

Stepping in gingerly here...

"sweet water" is naturally (not by heat) dried (dessicated) stevia leaves, whole but crushed, put and brewed sun tea style, in a sun tea bottle. When brewed, transfer to another container, filtering through a coffee filter. Over steeping gives that 'yuck' taste. Not removing the leaves does that also. Leaves must be harvested pre or post bloom, not during. I do not have the tables handy on the days before or after, but it averages 14 days in this growth zone.

A light citrus taste, closer to mountain dew than sprite, very thirst quenching, but very mild. If you are used to sodas or southern sweet iced teas, you may not appreciate the mildness.

The trick is the dessication. You want to keep the oils, but they tend to 'cook off' first. I do mine in the dry sun tea bottles, sealed, letting the sun do the job. Some English friends do theirs in zip lock bag. Yuck.

A tidbit to the diabetics and EMTs here. Stevia contains natural glucocides, but in very small quantities. There is actually a sub species developed just for those glucocides. (Note: glucocies are not steviacides, steviacides are the false sweetnings.). There is a emergency use (very powerful) powdered form. They have yet to get the ratio of meter reading to quantity worked out consistently. It is NOT an insulin, but our EMTs will use it when a persons blood sugar is above 400 mg/dl, and they need to get that down in less than an hour. That is right, less than an hour. Normally 20 minutes. They have the syringes pre-prepped with 10 units (300 on the meter).

What I have yet to work out is long term storage of the dessicated leaves. I am experimenting with tinctures and the like.

Another tidbit for the poster who said their family has issues with stevia. In these parts we have a lot of folks genetically prone to sudden onset 'grand mal' type 1 diabetes. These people often (greater than 80%, but do not have a tested/approved figure) have a allergy like reaction to stevia. To this person I say to check out 'MSS', Mennonite Somatype Syndrome, (but not just for them, Native Americans are also documented) and at their next check, have the blood work done to see if they are having retention issues with potassium, phosphorus, and perhaps magnesium. That is MSS. It will cause a hard type 1 grand mal diabetes onset if not treated with supplements. Here the doctors will normally prescribe "PHOS-NaK' in a hospital environment, but not prescribe outside such a facility, as each packet is 10% rda of potassium, and 10% over can be fatal.

Sarah

[Andrea]

Sarah, thank you so much for this information! I actually really like stevia and gave it another try in the flower bed this year. I managed to dry 2- 1qt jars of whole leaves. I think I posted earlier that I steep a leaf or two when I'm making iced tea, but I hadn't thought about making sweet water! What a great idea! How long will it last in the fridge? Sweet water would work so much better in things like hot cereal and lemonade.

Also great to know about the connection with diabetics. I'm going to try again to get my Dad to use this stuff instead of splenda. And maybe "sweet water" would help with this!

THANK YOU!!!

[Daylily]

Stepping in gingerly here...

"sweet water" is naturally (not by heat) dried (dessicated) stevia leaves, whole but crushed, put and brewed sun tea style, in a sun tea bottle. When brewed, transfer to another container, filtering through a coffee filter. Over steeping gives that 'yuck' taste. Not removing the leaves does that also. Leaves must be harvested pre or post bloom, not during. I do not have the tables handy on the days before or after, but it averages 14 days in this growth zone.

A light citrus taste, closer to mountain dew than sprite, very thirst quenching, but very mild. If you are used to sodas or southern sweet iced teas, you may not appreciate the mildness.

The trick is the dessication. You want to keep the oils, but they tend to 'cook off' first. I do mine in the dry sun tea bottles, sealed, letting the sun do the job. Some English friends do theirs in zip lock bag. Yuck.

A tidbit to the diabetics and EMTs here. Stevia contains natural glucocides, but in very small quantities. There is actually a sub species developed just for those glucocides. (Note: glucocies are not steviacides, steviacides are the false sweetnings.). There is a emergency use (very powerful) powdered form. They have yet to get the ratio of meter reading to quantity worked out consistently. It is NOT an insulin, but our EMTs will use it when a persons blood sugar is above 400 mg/dl, and they need to get that down in less than an hour. That is right, less than an hour. Normally 20 minutes. They have the syringes pre-prepped with 10 units (300 on the meter).

What I have yet to work out is long term storage of the dessicated leaves. I am experimenting with tinctures and the like.

Another tidbit for the poster who said their family has issues with stevia. In these parts we have a lot of folks genetically prone to sudden onset 'grand mal' type 1 diabetes. These people often (greater than 80%, but do not have a tested/approved figure) have a allergy like reaction to stevia. To this person I say to check out 'MSS', Mennonite Somatype Syndrome, (but not just for them, Native Americans are also documented) and at their next check, have the blood work done to see if they are having retention issues with potassium, phosphorus, and perhaps magnesium. That is MSS. It will cause a hard type 1 grand mal diabetes onset if not treated with supplements. Here the doctors will normally prescribe "PHOS-NaK' in a hospital environment, but not prescribe outside such a facility, as each packet is 10% rda of potassium, and 10% over can be fatal.

Sarah

Sarah, I'm trying to comprehend all this. When you say "grand mal" type 1 diabetes, are you saying that it is accompanied by seizures or just comparing a very sudden onset?

[themartianchick]

Okay... I'm willing to give stevia another try this year...