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Stevia and sugar are both sweeteners found in many foods and beverages. While sugar comes from sugar beet or sugar cane, stevia comes from the Stevia rebaudiana plant and is much sweeter. Stevia has no calories and does not cause blood glucose spikes, making it a good option for diabetics and those on low-carb diets.
Stevia and sugar are two types of nutritional sweeteners found in sodas and other sweet beverages, baked goods, and many processed and packaged foods. While sugar, also known as sucrose or table sugar, comes from the sugar beet or sugar cane plant and has long been used as a sweetener, stevia is relatively new to the market. It is sold under several brand names, comes from the Stevia rebaudiana plant, and is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar. Both are marketed as natural sweeteners since both are made from plants, but the effects of stevia and sugar on the body may not be identical.
Sugar is used as a food additive or occurs naturally in foods in many forms. Sucrose, dextrose, fructose, maltodextrin and high fructose corn syrup are just a few examples. Sucrose is a discharide, meaning it is made up of two simple sugars: glucose and fructose. It is made from sugar beets or sugar cane. Sugar cane, grown in tropical climates, accounts for over two-thirds of production. Stevia and sugar are often compared in the calories they add to food, as sugar provides 4 calories (17 kilojoules) per gram, or 16 calories per teaspoon and 48 calories per tablespoon.
Like table sugar, stevia is used commercially as a food additive to sweeten foods such as soda and baked goods. Stevia rebaudiana is just one of 240 plants in the Stevia genus. It is also known as sweet leaf or sugar leaf. The sweetness comes from an extract of the leaf known as steviol glycoside or rebaudioside A which is up to 300 times sweeter than sucrose.
While it’s been used in many countries for centuries — it’s especially popular in Southeast Asia — it was only approved in its current form in the United States in 2008. It’s widely banned in Europe due to concerns about potential toxins it contains. Extracted by drying the leaves and using crystallization to separate rebaudioside A, stevia adds no calories to foods or beverages.
One notable difference between stevia and sugar, aside from the fact that one contains calories and the other doesn’t, is that stevia has not been found to cause the same blood glucose spikes. Consuming table sugar causes blood sugar levels to temporarily rise, causing the body to release insulin to absorb and store this sugar. Since consuming stevia has been shown to cause little or no rise in blood sugar, it has been recommended for those who are diabetic, insulin sensitive, or on low-carb diets.
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