Sugar vs Stevia

Recently I was asked about the diff between sugar and stevia as well as the pros and cons of each.

I've heard people suggest that stevia is the better choice because it's "natural"-- well, actually both stevia and sugar are natural and both need some processing before it can be sprinkled about.  The big differences lie in how our bodies react to these two sweeteners.

Stevia
Comes from the sweet leaves of a plant that grows in the tropics. Used only a dietary supplement till 2008 when the FDA decided it could be considered an ingredient or food additive. Stevia doesn't raise blood sugar, promote tooth decay and has zero calories.

Sugar
No secrets here, this stuff causes elevation in blood sugar (leading to a host of other issues), tooth decay, and has 17 calories per teaspoon. About 80% of the world's sugar comes from sugar cane and the remaining 20% comes from sugar beets.  Sugar cane sorta looks like bamboo and grows to 6'-19' tall. Sugar beets hold their sweetness in the root.

It's estimated that the average American takes in 180 pounds of sugar a year. Rough math tells us that is 17,280 teaspoons.... x 17 calories per teaspoon = 293,760 calories.  GEEZ! No wonder we have an obesity problem in our country! Remember, that is the average! Which means some people are even higher!

It is estimated that in 90 countries, a total of nearly 60 million acres of land are dedicated to growing sugar and thus producing a staggering 1.7 million TONS of this stuff! Again, no wonder we have an epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and a host of other serious illnesses.

How about artificial sweetener?
While I don't have a solid source for this claim, I've read (more than once) that a quarter cup of neotame (an artificial sweetner) can sweeten a backyard swimming pool.  That's because neotame is up to 13,000x sweeter than table sugar!!!!  Neotame, aspartame, saccharine, and all the other chemical sweeteners lure consumers by being "zero calories" while food producers love these guys because they are CHEAP!  The CSPI (Center for Science in Public Interest) suggests that everyone stay away from artificial sweeteners, especially Aspartame (Equal, NutriSweet, Diet Coke, Coke Zero) as studies showed lymphoma and leukemia in rats given this stuff!  Another study showed kidney cancer in rats given Saccharine (Sweet N Low). 

If you're going to have something sweet. Just have something with REAL sugar or stevia! At least you know what it is!!!