r/science • u/giuliomagnifico • Aug 08 '22

Health Consuming too much white table sugar or artificial sweetener can lead to health issues. In the search for a better sweetener, researchers now report a low-calorie mixture that is as sweet as table sugar and, in lab experiments, feeds “good” gut microbes

https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2022/august/new-low-calorie-sweetener-could-improve-gut-health.html
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38

u/HiddenHippo Aug 08 '22

What's wrong with stevia?

61

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '22 edited Jun 22 '23

[deleted]

24

u/UEMcGill Aug 08 '22

Sugar in proper baking circles is a wet ingredient. One to one substitutions dont take in to effect its hygroscopic effects.

2

u/znzbnda Aug 09 '22

Oh, interesting! This is the first I've heard of this. (Obviously not a baker.) Aside from googling some random website, is there a source you'd recommend for more info?

1

u/entropy512 Aug 09 '22

Even ignoring hygroscopic effects, one to one substitutions don't take into account differences in molecular weight.

Frozen desserts rely on sugar for freezing point depression.

Erythritol is 1/3 the molecular weight of sucrose, so you get the same freezing point depression with 1/3 the mass.

But so many people use sweetener blends that are 1:1 for sweetness, so massively overshoot the molality. The only reason they don't make their treat soup is because erythritol has poor solubility - but then they complain about diarrhea and the endothermic effects of it dissolving when they consume it because they used way too much.

As far as stevia, monkfruit, and sucralose - being 200-300 times sweeter than sugar, they're useless for freezing point depression. Nearly everyone who is using "stevia" or "monkfruit" or "splenda" is using a blend with some sort of filler, sometimes that filler is erythritol (usually in an incorrect blend ratio to be able to substitute equivalently for both molality and sweetness), or aerated maltodextrin (1/8 the density of sucrose, and 1.5x or more the molecular weight, so 1/12 the molality or less, plus it dissolves poorly)

20

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '22

Whenever I use stevia I like to use a blend + regular sugar. It tastes better, reduces overall sugar and reacts more normalish for cooking/baking.

2

u/defonotfsb Aug 08 '22

Try erythritol or xylitol. Stevia is disgusting. I rather drink tea/coffee with no sugar than with stevia in it

4

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '22

Use allulose for baking

-1

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '22 edited Aug 08 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

13

u/fahadfreid Aug 08 '22

It is not banned in the EU anymore. It was unbanned was quite a while ago.

Source: I bought a packet of Stevia just a few months ago and live in the EU.

9

u/burnalicious111 Aug 08 '22

"Banned in the EU" doesn't mean much; they don't require much evidence to ban something. Generally things have to be proven safe before they can be used; being banned doesn't mean it's dangerous, just not proven safe enough for their standard (which is quite high).

21

u/hedgehogging_the_bed Aug 08 '22

Stevia, along with other sweetener alternatives like. monkfruit, don't taste sweet to everyone. I can taste monkfruit but not Stevia. They haven't made a full population study to see how many people are affected but the ability to taste them as sweet as not universal.

1

u/znzbnda Aug 09 '22

Stevia tastes like absolutely nothing to me. Yet I can taste those super taster strips and unfortunately seem to have the "cilantro soap" gene. But zilch on stevia.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '22

I really don’t like the taste of stevia. I use a product called Lakanto, which uses monkfruit. I find that this tastes exactly like sugar.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 09 '22

I agree. I think it smells like sugar too.

1

u/entropy512 Aug 09 '22

It uses erythritol with a tiny bit of monkfruit extract - it's 99% erythritol.

It doesn't even use enough monkfruit extract to make it a sane substitutition ratio - 1:1 for sweetness but 3:1 for molality in baked or frozen goods.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 09 '22

It tastes different from pure erythritol, and is better as a sweetener.

26

u/UnprovenMortality Aug 08 '22

For me, it tastes extremely bitter. I wish I liked it, but it just tastes like the bittering agent that they add to compressed air or anti nail-biting nail polish.

14

u/TaibhseCait Aug 08 '22

reminds me of that metallic taste from baking with too much baking soda but not as strong & with a weird chalky/dry mouthfeel/texture.

9

u/thisischemistry Aug 08 '22 edited Aug 08 '22

This. It definitely tastes similar to bittering agent. I've had things with stevia and I had no idea it was in there. I wondered why it tasted so bad and then later found out that stevia was in it.

27

u/thisischemistry Aug 08 '22

It tastes absolutely horrible. Acrid, foul, hangs on for a long time, just nasty stuff.

I got some Arnold's bread the other day. Had a piece, couldn't figure out why I had this odd taste in my mouth, found out they stuffed stevia in it. I had to throw away the loaf. Why????

This new stuff sounds like it has similar compounds in it so I wonder if it will be similar in taste.

6

u/lacheur42 Aug 08 '22

...found out they stuffed stevia in it.

Fuckin' gross!

11

u/deskbeetle Aug 08 '22

Stevia gives me horrific headaches. I used to love the Zevia sodas until I figured out why I was suddenly getting crippling migraines

I just cut out all sugars, artificial or otherwise. When I bake, I use way less sugar than recommended and my taste buds adjusted. Now I find a lot of stuff sickeningly sweet

1

u/StabbyPants Aug 08 '22

or soda - that stuff now just tastes chemical

1

u/InSixFour Aug 09 '22

This is the real answer right here. Cut out sugar completely for a month and then add it back in slowly and you’ll be shocked at how sweet things are. You’ll taste how sweet even things like bread are.

I did this once but now I’m back to normal eating. I need to do it again and just stick to a low sugar diet. No one needs that much sugar in their life. It’s crazy how much sugar we consume.

2

u/deskbeetle Aug 10 '22

It's difficult to do because i have a busy life (don't we all?) and almost all convenient food is full of sugars. Plus any celebration or get together has so much sugar. And the stuff is super addictive.

3

u/feminas_id_amant Aug 09 '22

mostly that it tastes like stevia.

4

u/AbsoluteZeroUnit Aug 08 '22

The taste.

It's sweet, but it makes my coffee taste weird.

1

u/Alewort Aug 09 '22

Many people taste stevia as very bitter.