Comments on: Stevia Shoot-Out: Truvia vs. Stevia in the Raw vs. Splenda

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 18:16:15 +0000

Bitter = too much stevia.
Wait, too much? Yes! Stevia is about 300x sweeter than sugar. Try smaller amounts 1st and only then work your way up in quantity. You can see why the sugar and artificial sweetener companies are not happy with stevia! Plus, you can’t patent a natural plant, but you can the refining process (Truvia).

Try different brands as they all have a slightly different taste. I like Sweet Leaf.
It also is heat stable unlike the artificial sweeteners.
To use stevia in baking you need to bulk it up with drained unsweetened apple sauce. To drain simply use cheese cloth, a strainer, and a bowl underneath to catch the liquid overnight.

I personally don’t like Truvia or sugar alcohols, but that’s me.

By: Nette

Nette — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:25:11 +0000

Today, I just tried the Stevia in the raw for the first time. Two packets sweetend my 12 oz coffee pretty good and there was no real aftertaste. However, for my hot & cold tea – Splenda won hands down. As for cost, Splenda really is your best bet – of course if cost is no concern for you then Splenda is still a very good choice.

By: Sizzlechest

Sizzlechest — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:38:24 +0000

I’ve used sucralose in baking with great success. However, some recipes that require a lot of sweetener end up having a mild aftertaste. I used a 50/50 Truvia/Splenda mix and achieved great results. BTW, if you want to avoid carbs, buy a liquid Splenda product, like EZ-Sweetz.

By: Martin

Martin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:46:36 +0000

Just bought Truvia last night. It was suggested that I switch from Splenda to Truvia by a person I consult with on nutrition. I have not yet bought into or educated myself on any “dangers” of splenda due to good solid research. However, I have benefited greatly by following the advice of this nutritionist friend. After using Truvia in my coffee this morning, my experience was very similar, if not exact, to yours. It took more Truvia to equal the sweetness of Splenda and there is a very slight licorice taste which I only noticed after reading your comment while drinking my coffee. Not a big concern to me, especially if I didn’t notice it to begin with. But the Truvia has a smooth taste like raw sugar. I think I can adapt to it and right now the cost isn’t much of a factor since I’m primarily using it in my coffee. I will have to carry some around with me as it is not in the coffee shops. Q – do you have any genuinely researched info on Splenda that shows it is a concern?
Thanks for the taste test and posted results. Martin

By: Brad

Brad — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 05:07:34 +0000

Having tried all the sweetners listed above, Splenda in coffee is very good. but I found that the Stevia in the raw in my coffee is absolutely yummy! With Truvia I found that the after taste was rather strong. Iced tea is lousy with both Truvia and Stevia in the raw, Equal is not much better, Splenda is good, but my first choice for iced tea is always Sweet N Low. It dissolves instantly and works very well with the cold tea. The only hot tea I drink is at Chinese food and I use sugar for that.

By: Angela

Angela — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 14:47:59 +0000

Thank you for your hard work as a guinea pig! I would like to point out however the health benefits of stevia. Stevia has been used for years as an herbal supplement to help balance blood sugar. This can help with weight loss, and is paticularly beneficial if you, like many overweight individuals, have diabetes or high blood sugar. I have tried both truvia and sugar in the raw brand. I agree that truvia has a better mouth feel, but the sugar alcohol gave it a different, non-licorice, aftertaste. I will use it on toast or other items which I want a sugar texture for, but am sticking with sugar in the raw brand for my tea, oatmeal, etc.

By: Greg Bulmash

Greg Bulmash — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:19:36 +0000

Susan, welcome to America, the land of approximations and rounding errors. According to many claims in articles I've read (and this FDA document), products with under 5 calories can be (and may have to be) rounded down to zero on their labels. That means that Splenda, with approx. 3.3 calories per packet can be labeled as having 0 calories. But if you use two packs of splenda in 5 cups of coffee/tea a day, you're now over 33 calories and 8 grams of carbs from your zero-calorie, zero-carb sweetener. As for your second point, there's no evidence that the three chlorine atoms do anything significant in your system, particularly not if you're consuming low to moderate amounts of sucralose. The people who bring it up have no evidence from reputable studies to prove that its harmful. It just sounds harmful because it's chlorine.

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:24:22 +0000

Just wanted to point out a couple of things:

1. Printed right on the front of each little, green Stevia In The Raw packet are the words “Zero Calories”. On the back of the box there is nutritional information. It says 0 calories and “less than” one gram of carbohydrates.

2. The process of turning sugar into “Splenda” substitutes three atoms of chlorine in place of the naturally occuring hydrogen-oxygen groups in the sucrose molecule.

Thanks for your post. Anytime a new product hits the markets its important for the community to be aware that marketers are looking for profits and not our friends. Consumers have to stick together and share information that is otherwise difficult to discover.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 18:38:32 +0000

Thank you for your review of Splenda vs. Truvia. I have lost 30 lbs. after switching from sugar to Splenda. But have become slightly concerned with some of the reviews I’ve read about it’s safety. I was interested in learning about stevia based sweeteners. You’re review gave me all of the information that I wanted: a cost comparison and a taste comparison. Looks like I will continue to use Splenda unless more conclusive evidence convinces me otherwise. Thanks again.