rubbish heap Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 First of all, I apologize for the long post. If you just want to know what stevia is, scroll down to the orange text below. Otherwise read on... I don't really know what prompted me to try to become healthier recently, maybe it was the last trip to the dentist when I was told that I had 12 cavities (all my life I've had relatively perfect teeth). But yeah, I've been focusing alot on nutrition and alternative health and shit like that lately, and maybe you guys know a couple things or are interested in that sort of thing, so naturally I decided to make a thread about it. So anyways, I thought I'd share a couple things I've researched. Most people know sugar is bad for you but a lot of them don't realize how much they're consuming daily. You know when you go to a restaurant like Denny's, and there's those little packets of sugar for your coffee? Each of those packages is one gram. When you drink a can of Coke it's exactly the same pouring THIRTY NINE of those packages into a bottle of carbonated water. Obviously you'd never pour 39 of those into your coffee. But yeah, that illustrates the point I'm trying to make. The presence of large amounts of sugar in the diet causes a gradual depletion of zinc in the body. As zinc levels decline, the sense of taste declines as well. As taste perception declines, there is a greater need to flavor the food in order to make it "taste good." Usually this means adding more sugar. This leads to a further reduction in body zinc levels, which further lowers the taste perception. As a result, a child heaps more sugar on top of his cereal. The cycle goes on and on. Food manufacturers were the first to discover that sugar consumption leads to a gradual loss of zinc, which in turn leads to a loss of taste perception. By marketing cereal high in sugar, they were able to create virtual addicts to their products. What parent has not heard screams of a toddler in the grocery store demanding his breakfast treat!" So yeah, sugar is addictive. Try going a day eating celery, water, rice and shit like that, see if you don't have cravings. Sugars lack the vitamins and minerals required for their own metabolism. To be metabolized, sugars must draw on our body's stores of these nutrients. The more sugars you eat, the more vitamins and minerals you need. It can leach B, C, D vitamins, and those minerals: calcium, phosphorous, iron, zinc etc. from our teeth, bones, and tissues. As these are depleted, our body becomes less able to carry out other functions that require minerals and vitamins to be present: to metabolize fats and cholesterol; to convert cholesterol into bile acids for removal from our body through the stool; or to burn-off excess fats as heat or increased activity. As a result , our cholesterol level rises; our metabolic rate goes down; fats burn more slowly; gall stones are crystallizing in or liver; we feel less like exercising, and our weight is increasing. We have already started walking our way to cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. So yeah that illustrates how sugar is bad for you as well. But there's a really fucking good alternative to sugar: Stevia. Stevia is this herb that they use to sweeten half of the things in Japan. It's 250-300 times sweeter than sugar, promotes weight loss, prevents diabetes, promotes healthy teeth and gums, and a whole lot of other shit that sugar doesn't. The only con I've noticed is that if you use too much it can have a licorice like aftertaste but I'm not even noticing that anymore. If you've ever tasted stevia, you know it's extremely sweet. In fact, this remarkable noncaloric herb, native to Paraguay, has been used as a sweetener and flavor enhancer for centuries. But this innocuous-looking plant has also been a focal point of intrigue in the United States in recent years because of actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The subject of searches and seizures, trade complaints and embargoes on importation, stevia has been handled at times by the FDA as if it were an illegal drug. Since the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), stevia can be sold legally in the United States, but only as a "dietary supplement." Even so, it can be found in many forms in most health-food stores, and is also incorporated into drinks, teas and other items (all labeled as "dietary supplements"). It cannot, however, be called a "sweetener" or even referred to as "sweet." To do so would render the product "adulterated," according to the FDA, and make it again subject to seizure. Applied to the skin, stevia treats acne and other skin ailments. It protects against premature aging. Known for its nourishing properties for the pancreas, stevia has been used by diabetes for centuries as a sweetener and as a method of controlling blood sugar levels. Stevia improves digestion and intestinal function, soothes an upset stomach and promotes quicker recovery from minor ailments. Studies have shown that stevia lowers high blood pressure without affecting normal blood pressure. Due to high beneficial mineral content and anti-bacterial properties, stevia is a wonderful additive to toothpaste or diluted as a mouthwash. Stevia contains no calories and actually reduces cravings for sweets and fatty foods. Studies have shown that it minimizes hunger sensations. It is most widely used as a non-sugar sweetener in food and drink, particularly because it does not appear to have any calories or affect on blood sugar like most natural sweeteners (like sugar or honey). The native peoples in South America used stevia primarily as a sweetener, a practice adopted by European colonists. The indigenous tribes also used stevia to treat diabetes. During World War II, stevia was grown in England as a sugar substitute. The greatest use of stevia as a sweetener today can be found in Japan. So basically I've stopped adding sugar to my coffee's and tea's, and add stevia now instead. Besides coffee and tea, water and milk are the only other things I really drink daily. But yeah, it's a good start and I'm feeling better already. So does anyone else know / use this shit / what do you think about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abracadabra Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 hippy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubbish heap Posted July 19, 2005 Author Share Posted July 19, 2005 true day nigga my citys full of em Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
why write? Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 I LICK MY FINGER AND DIP IT IN THE SUGAR MORE THEN ONCE AT A TIME!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wAndEreR Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 AND 1 AND 2 AND 3 AND 4 AND GET THEM SIT UPZ RIGHT N TUCK YOUR TUMMY TIGHT AND DO YOUR CRUNCHEZ LIKE THIS..GIVE HEAD STOP BREATHE GET UP CHEK YOUR WEAVE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubbish heap Posted July 19, 2005 Author Share Posted July 19, 2005 Originally posted by why write?@Jul 18 2005, 11:06 PM I LICK MY FINGER AND DIP IT IN THE SUGAR MORE THEN ONCE AT A TIME!!! Quoted post pulled the same shit when i was 6/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubbish heap Posted July 19, 2005 Author Share Posted July 19, 2005 anyways yeah mods, maybe this should be in cross fire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiptInButter Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 DAMN, 39 GRAMS!!!!! fuck drinking soda, from now on nothing but water and horchata for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rental Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 apparently ampm sells horchata now. i was very surprised. mexican food joints takin over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Quickwood Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 interesting why was stevia banned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_El Mamerro Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Originally posted by DiptInButter@Jul 19 2005, 02:50 AM DAMN, 39 GRAMS!!!!! Quoted post Yup. About the same as a glass of orange juice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herbivore Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 i've been trying to eat healthier myself. i rarely ever eat anything sweet, but i eat (or used to eat) so much salt it was ridiculous. i'd have Mcdonalds 2-3 times a day during college and sausage/egg/cheese's from Dunkin Donuts every morning. luckily i had an amazing metabolism so i didn't gain a pound, but it did a number on my cholesterol and blood pressure. now i just need to start excercising because i'm starting to get a gut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAustin Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Originally posted by rubbish heap@Jul 19 2005, 12:55 AM But there's a really fucking good alternative to sugar: Stevia. Quoted post this sounds like a god awful pickup line I'd use when I was six beers beyond my functioning drunk level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TresOne Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 ^^ Hahahahha So does this Stevia stuff give your coffee or tea a wierd flavour? You mentioned something about a licorice aftertaste if you use too much.. Might have to look into this shit - I'm eating far too much fucking sugar lately.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubbish heap Posted July 19, 2005 Author Share Posted July 19, 2005 Originally posted by ARCEL@Jul 19 2005, 12:14 AM interesting why was stevia banned? Quoted post http://www.stevia.net/seasonings.htm So basically the people behind aspartame (which tastes like shit anyways) were lobbying to get it off the market, stevia being a business threat. So does this Stevia stuff give your coffee or tea a wierd flavour? You mentioned something about a licorice aftertaste if you use too much.. Might have to look into this shit - I'm eating far too much fucking sugar lately.. I've been drinking my tea's and coffee with stevia for 3 days now and I'm not noticing any weird flavor at all anymore; when I first tried the stuff I just ate it straight and that was the only time I really noticed that funny after taste. But I guess if you mix it up with other shit there's no aftertaste as long as you didn't put in way too much. It's kinda hard to over use the shit tho, it's so much sweeter than sugar so you use less in place of sugar. Just for reference I'm using a white extract which has more of the 'sweet' ingredients. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TresOne Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 interesting.. if i can find the shit, i'll have to give it a shot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiptInButter Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 so where can i obtain some of this stevia? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumy Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 seriously Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubbish heap Posted July 20, 2005 Author Share Posted July 20, 2005 health food stores, or maybe in the health aisle of your regular grocery store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanity Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 what a coincidence.. you can order it from the site for the low price of $16.95 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanity Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 to lessen the cynicism.. they DO have instructions on growing it (just to be fair) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomadawhat Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Originally posted by rental@Jul 18 2005, 11:56 PM apparently ampm sells horchata now. i was very surprised. mexican food joints takin over... Quoted post "mmmm, horchata. gotta get me some of that horchata." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wAndEreR Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 HELL YEA HORCHATAS THE SHI !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theGOON Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 you can find it in any whole foods--it will be in their nutrition department. it can be sold as a nutritional supplement, not as a sweetener. as i apply to everything: MODERATION. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavyLox Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 im sweet enough not to need to ever add sugar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtorder Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 hoo cares. well, i do, i guess. i brush my teeth mad regular, and after i drink a soda at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubbish heap Posted July 21, 2005 Author Share Posted July 21, 2005 word that's cool. i always forgot to brush mine and i have most of my life, i usually just do it after i shave. i've been drinking a lot of green tea which is good for your teeth / mouth. sweetened with stevia, it tastes like a warm gatorade/sobe to me... while i'm on the subject of green tea by the way Japan, which has one of the highest rates of smokers, also has one of the lowest rates of lung cancer among developed countries due to their consumption of green tea / it's anti-cancer properties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubsface Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Dont over endulged in any fake sweetners, esp those in sugarless gums and diet sodas (before splenda.) I used to get straight seizures from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAL Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Why on earth would you add anything to coffee or tea? You ruin it that way. Don't be a fucking pussy and quit adding sweeteners to everything. Even regular lagers taste too sweet to me now after switching to dark beer. That shit will set you straight. I shit you not, I used to know a kid in high school that would add two sugar packets to his little half pints of milk every day at lunch. That's fucking disgusting. i should have killed him to prevent him from breeding when I had the chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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