Stevia: Holy Grail in the fight against sugar (Dutch video)

Stevia is the latest alternative to sugar. Products with stevia retain their sweet taste, but contain up to 30 percent less sugar. Soda Giants add stevia to all their drinks. Coca-Cola recently introduced a version sweetened with stevia: Coca-Cola Life. Also Sprite is now sweetened with the natural sweetener. Before,  Coca-Cola did not want to add Stevia to its unique recipe. The new model has been given a green label and will be tested at this time in Argentina. Coca-Cola Life contains half the calories than the regular version.

Best Cheesecake Low Carbohydrate Recipe

picture: foodnetwork.com

There are many ways of lowering your carbohydrate intake, even when you crave deserts. Try this cheesecake recipe:

Best Cheesecake
Low Carbohydrate Recipe
Ingredients:
3/4 pound grated aged asiago cheese
1-1/4 pound cream cheese at room temperature
4 eggs
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon or 1 tablespoon fresh salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat asiago and cream cheese with a mixer until smooth.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add garlic and tarragon and combine well. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour into an 8 inch buttered spring form pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, checking after 45 minutes.
Cake should be golden and puffed, not loose in the center. Remove from the oven and let stand 30 minutes before cutting.

North Carolina to see fields of green

Bent Creek Institute, a nonprofit botanical research and sustainable economic development accelerator based at The North Carolina Arboretum, and MelStevia Inc., a Chinese-American grower and developer of nutraceutical-grade stevia products, have engaged to develop stevia in a vertical pipeline that includes horticultural research, commercial farming and bulk standardized extract manufacturing in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

"International herbal products companies are coming to North Carolina in greater numbers to source, grow and develop science-backed botanical products for human and animal wellness," said Greg Cumberford, president of Bent Creek Institute. "Bent Creek Institute exists to make western North Carolina a go-to region in the world for botanical natural products development, and the MelStevia project provides another example of North Carolina's real value at the interface between sustainable agriculture and global nutraceutical development."

Stevia Recipe: Oatmeal Rasin Cookies

Oatmeal Rasin Cookies;

1/2 cup raisins (packed) then diced
1 cup water
Zest of one orange
1 cup almond flour
1 tsp stevia
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs or 4 egg whites
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1 cup flour or 1 cup whey protein isolate, or ½ of each
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the raisins, orange zest, and water in a small pan and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Allow to cool. (This can be done a day ahead.)
In a mixing bowl, cream the almond flour into the softened butter (or margarine). Stir in the stevia, almond extract, vanilla, and egg.
Stir the raisins into the butter mixture. Add the oats.
In a separate bowl fold together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Stir / fold the flour into the other ingredients.
Drop onto oiled cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes. Makes approx 54 cookie
Calories 32 / Carbohydrates 3.4g / Sugars 1.1g / Protein 2.3g / Fat 1.3g

Source: Easy Stevia Recipes

Stevia buyers beware: There are some ‘awful’ extracts out there…

Stevia buyers beware: There are some ‘awful’ extracts out there…

While traders “jumping in and out of the stevia marketplace” are disrupting prices and standards by peddling some “awful” extracts, high-quality stevia suppliers in it for the long-haul will ultimately prosper, according to one leading player.

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Market/Stevia-buyers-beware-There-are-some-awful-extracts-out-there

Eating Desserts Regularly Helps You Lose Weight

Diet’s that deprive you of the foods you love are designed to FAIL.

The only way to actually stick to any diet long-term is to be able to SATISFY your cravings WITHOUT SABOTAGING your diet.

Because then your diet won’t actually feel like a diet at all!

But don’t just take my word for it…

Recent Scientific Study PROVES That Eating
Desserts Regularly Helps You Lose Weight

In the study, the researchers split 29 girls up into 2 groups: Group A ate a dessert of their choice once a week while Group B ate desserts 4 days/week.

At the end of 3 months, the group that ate desserts 4 days per week:

• Lost more weight
• Lowered their systolic blood pressure more (the top number)
• Had a lower fasting insulin level (the lower your fasting insulin, the more fat your body BURNS)
• Had better levels of a hormone called leptin, which suppresses appetite and is involved in fat burning

 here’s a link to the study to read for yourself.

How to grow stevia at home

Picture: sugarfreestevia.net

Growing of Stevia plants is not an easy task. But once you get your stevia started, it's one of the simplest herbs to grow. It has a reputation for repelling insects, which is great for your organic garden.

If you are growing stevia for the first time keep in mind that it does well in containers. If you are planning to grow it inside, surface sow seed 8 weeks before the last frost date.
Ensure that the last frost is past and soil temperatures are in the 60 degree F range before planting your stevia in the ground. Stevia plants pout in cold soil.
Stevia needs sandy loam or rich loamy soil. It also needs full sun.

Buy starter plants

It would be difficult, at best, to start a stevia patch from scratch — that is, by planting seeds. Even if you could get them to germinate, results might well prove disappointing, since stevioside levels can vary greatly in plants grown from seed. The recommended method is rather to buy garden-ready ‘starter’ plants, which given stevia’s ‘growing’ popularity, may well be obtainable from a nursery or herbalist in your area. Prepare beds by digging deeply in well-drained soil. Add a lot of compost or manure, and a handful of complete organic fertilizer for each plant.