GenusStevia plants related to daisies, asters and sunflowers

The stevia extract comes from about 150 different species of herbs, in the genusStevia. It's a group of plants related to daisies, asters and sunflowers.

daisies

asters

sunflowers

You need your coffee a little sweet? Sugar or stevia?


Most of the people use white sugar to sweeten their coffee, but is that the best choice?


Stevia

The sugar substitute is extracted from the stevia plant. A species called Stevia rebaudiana is naturally grown in Brazil and Paraguay, where it has been used for hundreds of years to sweeten coffee, food and to treat burns and stomach discomfort.

Stevia Rebaudiana

Stevia can be purchased in liquid and powdered concentrates, even though its calorie-free, the plant extract can taste 200/300 times sweeter than the same amount of granulated table sugar.

Stevia isn’t necessarily all natural when its industrial processed, because many companies include additional ingredients, but for now there are not enough researches to point to stevia's health benefits.


Sugar

White sugar is highly refined and made from cane or beets, its carbohydrate. Brown sugar is nothing more than white sugar that has been mixed with molasses to color it and give it a more moist texture. Sugar is simply separated from the beet or cane plant, and the result is 99.95% pure sucrose (sugar), most of the people have the habit to drink their coffee with it. 

sugar cane

beets

A fact you need to know about sugar is that it’s a addictive (opiate-like) substance that activates the brain’s reward system and needs to be consumed in small doses.