If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you may recall that I used quite a bit of stevia back in the day. I used it in chocolate milkshakes, my morning tea, sugar-free desserts, and even my salad dressings. I basically used it all day, everyday.
You may have noticed that I don’t use stevia in my recipes or daily routine anymore, so I thought I’d take a moment to share why.
Why I Started Using Stevia
First, let’s talk about why I tried stevia in the first place. I embarked on my first Candida Cleanse in 2011, following the protocol laid out in Natalia Rose’s book, Detox 4 Women.
While following the program, I cut out nearly all sugar (even the natural sugar found in fruit) and satisfied my sweet tooth using stevia instead, because it is marketed as an all-natural, zero-calorie sweetener that isn’t supposed to impact your blood sugar or feed yeast overgrowth. (And killing off yeast overgrowth is the goal of a Candida cleanse.)
I followed this protocol strictly for 30 days, and then stuck with the general guidelines for several months afterwards before incorporating more fruit, grains and cooked starches, and animal protein into my diet again. Even when I returned to a more “standard” diet, I continued to use stevia because it was such an easy way to sweeten things throughout the day. I carried a bottle in my purse at all times!
However, I started to notice a few things after using stevia for several months, even long after my diet returned to normal:
- I craved more sweetness. At first, it took a while for my taste buds to adjust to the flavor of stevia– I actually didn’t like it right away. But once my taste buds adjusted, I couldn’t get enough of it. I started using it in everything, and I noticed that the more I used stevia, the more I wanted it. At one point, just 2-3 drops of liquid stevia was enough to satisfy my sweet tooth in a mug of tea or over a salad, but as time went on I found myself adding much more than that to my drinks and meals to get the same satisfaction. In a way, it felt like the sweetener was skewing my taste buds and I needed everything to taste sweeter to enjoy it. I also found myself craving desserts all day long, and when once a small piece of dark chocolate would satisfy my evening sweet tooth, I soon needed to eat the whole bar to feel the same sense of satisfaction.
- I lost my period. The real tipping point for me was the fact that I lost my period while using this much stevia. Though some people could write off a missing period as a sign that the body is “detoxing,” it was a big red flag for me– particularly because I wanted to get pregnant in the near future and hadn’t had a period for nearly 6 months at that point. I was willing to do anything to regulate my cycle again, so I decided to give up stevia completely, to see what would happen. My period returned within 4 weeks, and I was overjoyed! I actually tried adding stevia back into my diet again, just to see if my cycle was affected (and because I was a total stevia addict) and my period disappeared for another 2 months… so that’s when I decided to give it up for good. Of course, I can’t say for sure that it wasn’t something else that caused my cycle to be out of whack, but because pregnancy was my priority at the time, I wasn’t willing to take chances. (On an anecdotal note, two of my close friends also had issues with their cycles and recently decided to give up stevia as an experiment, even though they didn’t use it frequently– and they both saw their periods return within a month.)
- My gut-instinct told me to stop using it. Most zero-calorie sweeteners, even natural ones, have always had a “too good to be true” feeling to me, and my gut instinct has always been to NOT use them. My mom is actually allergic to aspartame, so I’ve always steered clear of the mainstream artificial sweeteners to be on the safe side, but I’m not totally convinced that all zero-calorie sweeteners (even natural ones) don’t still contribute to excess insulin being released into the body. The body is programmed to release insulin when your mouth tastes “sweetness,” so if there is no sugar for the insulin to metabolize, I’d worry that it would remain in the blood stream and potentially lead to hypoglycemia, which comes with side effects of anxiety and hunger.
I also find it interesting that Elaine Gotschall, author of Breaking the Vicious Cycle, has deemed stevia “illegal” on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). She notes that stevia’s molecular structure resembles that of a steroid, and therefore it probably has physiological effects on mammals– it’s just hard to tell whether those effects are good or bad. And while stevia is marketed to have zero impact on blood sugar, my mother (who is Type 2 Diabetic) has found that stevia does, in fact, spike her blood sugar similarly to any other sweetener. So, I take all claims with a grain of salt!
It’s also worth noting that some cultures may have once considered stevia a form of birth control. I was advised by a mentor to stop using it before I wanted to get pregnant, which is what led me to even consider that it might be affecting my cycle in the first place. If it can affect my hormones to the point that it might be affecting my fertility, I don’t feel that it should have a regular place in my diet. (However, I do know several women who have gotten pregnant while using stevia liberally– so it definitely shouldn’t be considered a form of birth control, as it doesn’t affect everyone the same way.)
Clearly, what’s right for me might not be what’s right for anyone else, but I did want to address why I no longer use stevia in any more of my recipes, and why I don’t offer modifications using stevia. I do think using stevia leaves, from a fresh plant, might be a totally different story, since the sweetness wouldn’t be nearly as concentrated as using the commercial liquid drops and powders– which are processed to an extent. I can only speak to my experience with using the liquid drops, which as far as I can tell, are fairly concentrated.
For those of you who do still want to use stevia, you can still find some of my older recipes here.
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Reader Feedback: Have you tried stevia and if so, do you still enjoy using it?
I got ptsd symptoms from stevia.
I don’t use it anymore either.
How long did it take for symptoms to go away when you stopped using it?
Yes, I use stevia still normally in my morning cup of coffee and enjoy the occasional Zevia. My doctors is very pleased with the drop in my blood sugar level and I am no longer pediabetic as I was before I started using stevia. I only use pure syevia products however,not the artificially sweetened blended variety that is the vast majority of available products, which my doctor has green lighted for me. No problems so far.
Just cause your not liking this and you had a bad time doesn’t mean it is not good for others. I have been using it since 2000 and it is now 2020 and yet i have not had a problem with it.I use it in everything as well.
You should be saying it works differently for others as everyone body is different.in the world thing are different and may work for them.
I am 76 years old and have used Stevia for at least 25 years or more. I went through early menopause and stopped my period when I was only 43 years old. I am convinced it was because of the Stevia. For at least the last five years I can no longer eat fruit at night without it keeping me awake. I cannot eat anything sweet even fruit or any caffeine after 3 o’clock in the afternoon or I do not sleep. Wish I would’ve known this about Stevia a long time ago. Will start weaning myself off and see if my body will adjust as I used to love eating fruit before I went to bed and feel it was one of the healthy things I did for myself.
I’m so sorry to hear that. Thank you for sharing your experience.
So is three anything you can use for sweetener in tea or recipes ?
I use dates, honey, and maple syrup, mostly. This is the tea I drink almost every day, that’s date-sweetened: https://detoxinista.com/london-fog/
The first time I tasted stevia,my taste buds said “garbage this is not good, don’t swallow it” so I didn’t. When we treat non edibles like food, many of us notice right away and spit it out. It’s like putting cleaning products or rotten food or rancid or chemicals in our mouths. It’s good to have that reflex that tells you, spit it out” stevia,like the first diet sweeteners will be deemed not edible. Just eat less cane sugar or honey..period. just because stevia is natural doesn’t mean you eat it. You don’t eat dirt or uranium or coal. If it tastes horrible, that’s nature’s warning.
Hello, I’m just here to share my experience with stevia. I’m a young women in her early twenties that exercises regularly, eats very clean, and has no prior hormonal issues other than a bad past experience with birth control that caused horrible cystic acne all over, severe depression, and excess body hair growth. Not fun stuff, but that was years ago. Over the past four months, I have been obsessed with this one tea brand that puts stevia leaf in all their teas. I’ve noticed these unwanted symptoms I experienced when I was on birth control have suddenly come back. I did some googling and found that other women were experiencing the same thing and saw a correlation to stevia consumption, but no one knew why. I found a clinical research study that also suggest stevia is an endocrine disruptor be boosting progesterone in both males and females. I do not care about the source of these artificial sweeteners. Just because something is plant deprived or “natural” do not mean is harmless. It best to stay away from such things until there’s more research of the long term effects.
What an interesting experience. I have been using stevia for over 20 years with no ill effects. I first discovered stevia in the bulk spice section of a local health food store. Back then, all you could get were the actual dried leaves. Then, the FDA stepped in and it became illegal to sell as anything other than a supplement which drove up the processing and price. At the time, the head of the FDA had also been deeply involved in the creation of nutrasweet (neotame). So, the move felt economically driven. Stevia didn’t become legal as “food” again until Coca-cola wanted it for the heavily processed sweetener we now know as Truvia. Nearly all stevia available today is heavily processed with additions. I suspect it is the ingredients it is processed with that are causing the issues. I go out of my way to buy stevia that doesn’t have anything else added. I just recently gave up all added sugar and aspartame which was causing me migraines. My sugar cravings and migraines have vanished and my palate has become more sensitive. The stevia I have in my morning tea has not effected this. Nor have I ever missed a period. I realize ever person’s experience is different but I am very curious to know where the stevia came from that was consumed by all these folks who missed their periods, experienced insulin spikes, and had cravings. I have no doubt these experiences are real but I suspect they are the fault of our processed food industry, not nature.
“Conclusions: Stevia does not affect in acute glycemic and insulin responses to OGTT in obese patients. This findings need to be determined in longer duration of ingestion study.”
“Stevia has been found to increase insulin sensitivity in rodent models (Chang, Wu, Liu, & Cheng, 2005) and to have beneficial effects on blood glucose and insulin levels in human studies (Curi 1986; Gregersen, Jeppesen, Holst, & Hermansen, 2004), which suggests it may have a role in food intake regulation.”
All these (few) articles against stevia are unfounded and made by people projecting or thinking what it might be. 🙂 never any REAL proof or even close that it might be stevia
I didn’t start having problems till I used stevia. What works for one may not work for everybody. Just because it didn’t bother you, doesn’t mean it won’t bother someone else. The stevia I used was not blended. It could be something in the processing of stevia. I now have neuropathy. I wasn’t using anything different but stevia. The research I’ve been doing talks about kidney damage, neuropathy, and other issues.
I used stevia and now I have neuropathy in my right leg down to my foot. Sometimes can’t sleep at night because of the pain. Been off stevia almost 3 to 4 weeks and it still hurts. How do u get this out of my body? Do I need to detox it out? Sometimes my leg gets weak.
Too much of ANY sweetener is usually bad. Don’t confuse light use’s benefits with excessive use’s downsides. SMH.
I’m allergic to ragweed family. I never knew this about Stevia! I’ve been having wheezing more than usual lately. Not COVID19 related. I am going to try to stop using Stevia product to see if this changes. Thank you for sharing this information.
What about green leaf powder stevia?
it is basically the ground stevia leaves in
their purest form. Just wondering if the
processing has something to do with it…
Hmmm….thank you for this article. I too, have found that the more I use stevia the more I need to increase the amount of stevia that I am using. That Europe still bans the use of Stevia is a huge red flag. I am stopping my use of it today! Thank you!
I DISAGREE HERE. CAUSE EVEY ONE BODY ACT DIFFERENTLY AND NO ONE IS THE SAME. I HAVE BEEN USING IT FOR 21 YEARS NOW. i GROW IT AND I DRY IT AND USE IT IN MY COFFEES AND TEAS AND MORE. I MAKE LIQUID FROM THE STEMS AND USE IT AS WELL IN EVERYTHING WITH NO PROBLEMS. SO LIKE I SAD JUST CAUSE IT NOT GOOD FOR YOU DONT MEANT IT NOT FOR OTHERS. IF THIS DONT GET POSTED I CAN POST IT IN OTHER BLOGGS AND FACEBOOK AND OTHER SOCIAL Media THINK IF YOUR NOT HAPPYYOU SHOULD NOT FEED THE WORLD ABOUT WHAT DIDNT WORK FOR YOU. EVERYONE BODY IS DIFFERENT
I am so glad you shared this! I’ve been using stevia more, maybe not everyday, to avoid sugar and I have not had my period since getting off me plan on bc. It’s been about 10 months and I really want to be able to get pregnant again. I’m going to throw out my bottle and see what happens:)
Auto correct: “me plan on” is actually Nexplanon
This was an interesting experience to read about. I always say everything in moderation. The most I use stevia (powder form) is the single serve packets one time per day in my morning tea. Have been using it for a few years and it’s never made me crave more. I also occasionally have a Zevia (brand that uses stevia for “healthy” soda alternatives) but have more recently switched to OliPops as the flavors are superb. They use a combo of monk fruit and stevia. I have been pregnant twice while using stevia and all is well. Have regular periods too. Human bodies are so strange.
I have only been using stevia for a few months now. Along with other types of keto friendly sugars…I am 49 and entering menopause. I am beginning to believe perhaps these sugars have caused me to have my first period in almost a year as well as vaginal itching. Any thoughts?
Hey Megan!
Thank-you for writing this. I read it awhile back and just wasn’t ready to give up my beloved stevia. (Which I used alllll the time.) Then I started noticing how much hungrier I was when I used stevia and gave it up for awhile. I then noticed I could easily satisfy my sweet tooth with a little honey or a piece of fruit. I also noticed I wasn’t craving sweets nearly as much as before. I will never go back to using stevia. Thanks so much for your knowledge and fantastic recipes! 🙂
She’s just sharing her experience. I’m glad she did because her information helped me in realizing stevia wasn’t a good sweetener for me.
Hi Megan – this is a great article! Thank you so much! What do use in place of stevia now? Are your cookbooks up to date in regards to ‘no stevia’ in the recipes? It would be very helpful if you explained the quantities you substitute in recipes for ‘sugar’ or ‘stevia’ with whatever you use.
Thank you and best wishes.
Hi Janie! I use sweeteners that do have calories, like coconut sugar, maple syrup, honey, and dates. All of my 3 cookbooks reflect this, since I stopped using stevia before writing my first book. 🙂 Hope you’ll enjoy the recipes!
I had heart arythmia to. I was going to see a cardiologist intill I started noticing after I had stevia it occurred. I discontinued & it stopped completely. I would put it in my coffee then would drink stevia drinks like zero water. I will say daily use of stevia is not good for you. I really liked the flavor but I’ve found Splenda is sweeter with very little.
I have hypothyroidism and tend to steer clear of both gluten and sugar for an optimal feeling of good health. At the beginning of this year, I was introduced to Zevia, the soda that uses stevia as a sweetener. Like you, my tastebuds were not overjoyed initially but what I should have paid attention to is my stomach’s reaction, it didn’t like it, at all. After a mere four weeks of consuming 12 ounces of Zevia per day, every hormonal symptom I’ve ever had with my hypothyroidism came roaring back, including spotting between periods. I haven’t used stevia AT ALL since mid-February and am still experiencing estrogen dominance symptoms during and following ovulation. The first month was ROUGH, the second month unpleasant, I’m hoping by month three of being off it, things will be back to normal. Some might call all that coincidence but I’ve been paying close attention to what my body tells me regarding the food I eat for seven years now and it HATES stevia. Those of you who swear by the organic raw stuff can keep it, I’ll keep my health, thank you.
In 2010 I vowed not to ever use stevia. This was because of a researcher who is evaluating Stevia as to whether it was safe for people. Please for the first days when it was discovered. Well the statement that got me from this medical researcher about Stevia was that ,Stevia grows tumors on rats.” I bought some sugar-free drink and I was drinking it during work. I honestly assumed that it was sucralose in the drink. I only had it for about 3 days but everyday something kept falling on my face. I was talking on the phone and I was like “what is this to keep falling on my face?” I looked down at my desk finally and saw that it was my hair that was, falling, out. He created a bald spot on and on my right temple that I’m only just now filling in with bamboo shoot extract and other treatments 11 years later. It was disturbing because my hair is extremely thick and 4 ft long and I’ve had to wear a headband on my head ever since. I don’t know my hair fell out but maybe Stevia depletes the body of your B complex vitamins because when you are depleted of your B complex vitamins like B1 and B2 your hair falls out. I don’t care my family of crazy thick hair will instantly throw out anything that contain stevia. Side note I went back to Costco and complains about the stevia in the drink and the person who was passing it out as a sample got angry and she’s like “it doesn’t make your hair come out!” Then she took off her baseball cap that was part of her uniform and my child start shaking my arm and said, “Mommy look!” I turned around and looked at her while she had her head off and she had one hair for every quarter of an inch on her head you could see her red scalp I’ve never seen anything like that I seen thin hair but not that thin. That confirmed it for my whole entire family not to ever touch stevia. That’s just my experience.
I have been using Stevia and my blood pressure went low and had some heart palpitations so stopped using it.
I started using stevia about 2010, I think. I used it religiously for 12 years. I slowly started having issues. Bowls became loose over time, fiber didn’t seem to work, and the kicker was in 2020, I started having major panic attacks where my brain basically told me It’s time to hang it up. For 2 years, I struggled with diet, cutting out things I enjoyed and trying not to end up in the ER again. Doctors were predictably useless and their best advice was for me to get counseling and take anti-anxiety pills, even though I insisted it was something wrong with my gut. At this point, my heart was affected and my ears started ringing constantly. I started to give up hope and believe that maybe my gut was dying. I started reading about all the things I was consuming and what could be causing bad gut problems. Then I found it: a medical journal article on stevia where experiments showed it has a bacterial growth inhibitor effect and that it affected good and bad equally. And I stopped dead in my tracks. I had been dumping this poison into me. It’s been 2 months now and my bowls are becoming more solid, my heart feels normal again and i’ve been having more frequent feel-good days that I haven’t had in years. Stevia is the devil.
Ugh… autocorrect on phone… should be “bowels”
I was told to use Stevia in everything because of a diabetes type 2 diagnosis. I wasn’t happy to use and even pointed out that the stuff you buy in the supermarket isn’t natural. What they have done is identify the molecule that gives stevia its sweetness. From there it has been synthesised or man made.
Anyway in the U.K. we have a shop called M&S which sells clothing, housewares and food. Until recently M&S cordial contained no artificial sweeteners, colours or flavouring. It was just ordinary fruit sugars. I bought this because artificial sweeteners are pointless when you drink a glass you need another because of the bitter aftertaste and dry mouth. Not great for a diabetic.
Last week my career said that M&S had changed the packaging and the product now contained Stevia in what should be a cordial without sweeteners etc….l. The reason that the supermarkets and producers have put these sweeteners in is because of a sugar tax. The law was passed and a date was set when drinks would have lower sugar levels. However, what happened was not the sugar tax was meant to do. Instead of lowering sugar over a period of time so that by the time the tax officially became law then there should have been less sugar in the drinks. What did the supermarkets and producers do? Reduced the sugar and then top up the sweetness with artificial sweeteners. Aspartame being the worst offender. Sets off my asthma.
Some producers such as Coca Cola and M&S took the stance that the consumer had a choice and it was upto them to chose. M&S has now broken ranks with the stevia introduction.
Anyway I started to drink the cordial that afternoon and early evening with dinner. Within an hour I had erupted in hives all over my body. Initially I had assumed that it was something I ate or the antibiotic I was on for kidney stones. Anyway I did an exclusion diet to work out what had caused the hives. I stopped the antibiotic, excludes sugarsnap peas and any legumes from that family as I had eaten these with my meal that evening. Next day the hives were worse and got scratched to hell during the night. I thought that I had shingles, no wasn’t that. Then I thought it could be gutate psoriasis as it attacked the same areas I have arthritis with. But stevia rash is setting off a full body reaction and the joints are being affected because the white blood cells are also attacking the arthritis. I would steer clear of the ingredient glycerols of stevia because this is the manmade version of the sweetener.
The last thing was the cordial. As soon as I stopped drinking this the hives started to wane. On one arm the hives disappeared. This morning I am mostly free of hives.
I then read about ragwort sensitivity in which the body incorrectly assumes that you have ingested ragwort and the bodies little helpers go out of their way to get rid of the offending intruders. In the U.K. you can now find ragworts that have been introduced from north and South America.
My gripe is that if this was known why o why isn’t their a medical warning on the products that contain stevia and the other artificial sweeteners like you have with medications. I biologic I took didn’t mention at any point that this medication can cause cancers, make you seriously ill or it could kill you. After my brush with a serious infection that could have killed me, their is now a big sticker on it to say in capitals “THIS MEDICATION CAN KILL YOU”. Now it wasn’t because of my serious illness being reported to the medication regulator onmthr8r yellow book scheme. Apparently I wasn’t the only person to become seriously ill on this medication hence the change. I was left with damaged legs.
What I didn’t understand is that I have used xylitol for a long time no problems except it is very sweet.. nice on strawberries and ice cream. The diabetes nurse I should stay clear of xylitol and Erythritol. Both are natural sugar alcohols obtained from natural sources ie birch trees.
Thanks for your comment about Stevia.I’m menopausal so no worries in that are but I just don’t like the taste .The sweetners you now use seem more natural too me.And though I’m only one person your recipes and the sweetners you use are why I love your recipes.Got so tired of seeing so many recipes using the other sweetners.One page is called Sweetashoney but doesn’t use honey in the recipes??To each their own and like you said what works for some may not work for others. God bless
Nothing of what you have said in here is backed up by any medical claims or actual clinical trials, so I find it quite absurd what you are quoting. Example when you stopping bleeding could be a million and one things, none of which have to do with Stevia. Japanese (arguably the most healthy race in earth) have been using Stevia for over 10,000 years as a sweetener, with no documented side effects. Proper scientific clinical trials also have not replicated anything of what you have mentioned.
I myself have been taking Stevia for 10 years as has my partner with zero side effects as well.
Coming from a medical background the things you have mentioned (as well as your mother) can be so so many other things it is very VERY unlikely to be Stevia.
The ONLY thing I would caution your mother on is having a meal high or even moderate in carbohydrates does not work well when taken with artificial or natural non sugar sweeteners, as the body does get confused how to process this getting sweet (but non insulation spiking sweeteners, artificial or natural) with carbohydrates and does hinder the way it can process them, that may be why your mother is getting those issues, that said it could be a load of other things.
My friend who is a type 1 diabetic (so a lot worse than type 2) has no issues with Stevia. My partners mother is a type 2 diabetic and has Stevia also no problems.
So on a personal level and a medical one there is just no evidence of what you are quoting to be correct or true.
Yes, I too fear that the sweetness causes an insulin reaction despite no actual sugars being present. My tastebuds have also adjusted to the higher level of sweetness as I use it daily (12 drops!) in my plain yogurt. I have suuuuch a sweet tooth and fear diabetes. I’d hoped this was a way to find a happy middle, but I had that same thought about insulin. My mom always used lots of artificial sweetener and now has diabetes. I don’t know how much actual sugar she ate as well (suppose I could ask) but correlation, if not causation is there.
It hasn’t affected my period, which seems like a red flag even if you don’t want kids.
Ugh, why are there no easy solutions when it comes to health and nutrition?
I love this article, it’s super informative. My husband first noticed that when he had Stevia his kidneys started hurting. After paying closer attention I noticed the same thing. I stopped using it and the pain went away. We’ve I googled it I found a testimony of someone who had horrible kidney stones with no history by simply adding stevia to their tea and even they made the connection and cut it out and all kidney issues went away! So, needless to say I avoid it completely now.
my understanding is that all sweeteners contain sugar – they lie to us all about everything – they can say whatever they want on labels especially if they do not use 100% of something they can call it something different
I know this post is old, but I just found it and I have a question!
Did you experience any “stevia withdrawal symptoms”?
Because I think I am!
I developed frequent urination and chronic UTIs after consuming stevia for 3 years. I have stopped and my bladder health is better. I now just use natural sweeteners.
i never liked stevia or even monk fruit they all taste gross
I use dry stevia leaf recently . I took a few dry leaves and put hot water in it only. I realise my period still coming but my sugar level drop. I am a diabetic type 2 patient. It does help in controlling my sugar level. So wondering you are using fresh or dry? But of cos i don’t take everyday. I only took 2 to 3 days per week.
My husband (whit auto immune desease) my daughter (16 years old with Hashioto) and I, we have been following a non inflammatory diet (no sugar, no gluten, no milk, no bad fats, only fresh one ingedient foods) for four years now. My daughter and I included stevia inour diet it has been now two years or more. We felt safe so we just increased its use with time. I have been having tremors and internal vibrations for more than a year, checked for Parkinson, diagnosed with an Essential Tremor and advised to get into betablockers just to find that cutting stevia from my diet stopped the tremors in two days.
My daughter had lost her period we just did not know why and got them back after 4 days out of stevia.
I wonder how can i completely detox from stevia.
This rise in blood glucose causes insulin to be released from the pancreas so glucose can move inside the cells and be used.
I KNOW THIS FEED IS OLD, BUT HERE WE GO, STEVIA, ITS 500 TIMES SWEETER THAN SUGAR AND WOMEN, WHITE MOSTLY, ARE USING IT IN AMOUNTS EQUAL TO SUGAR. THATS TERRIBLE, ALSO REPORTS ARE ACTUALLY TRUE THAT IT IS USED TO STOP HAVING BABIES. OMG WHAT ELSE CAN IT DO?
Thank you for sharing this. Stevia but me in the hospital with an intestinal blockage. Avoid it at all costs. I had never had digestive issues in the past and to this day, if I accidentally consume something with Stevia in it (many low calorie items have been swapping out sucralose for stevia) I begin bloating within an hour. Stevia was originally categorized by the FDA as an unsafe food additive. Only the purest, most processed form of it is cleared by the FDA, but for me, it’s a huge no.
I would like to thank the author and people in the comment section. This explains some strange things that have been happening. Hopefully honey will make a great white sugar replacement.