**Dear Judy,
What is the caloric value of the natural plant sweetener Stevia?
— Jenny**
Dear Jenny,
Stevia contains no kilojoules at all. It is a native herb of South America, with leaves a hundred times sweeter than sugar!
While it can be used as a natural energy-free sweetener, it is so intensively sweet it takes a lot of practise to work out how little you need to achieve the same sweetness as sugar.
Stevia has not been approved by FDA and FSANZ (the American and Australian New Zealand food regulatory boards) and is therefore not found in manufactured diet foods. It is however an approved dietary supplement and is available from health food stores.
The South American native tribes have been using stevia for generations with no known adverse consequences. It has no effect on blood sugar levels and contains a number of protecting and disease-preventing phytochemicals.
— Judy
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