What if you could add a sweetener to your hot or cold beverages and cereal and yogurt that had 0 calories, was totally natural and tasted great? Well now you can! I was excited to see that a new sweetener called PureVia has just been approved by the FDA as a table top sweetener (the article is posted below).  It can already be found in some stores and is expected to reach most of the U.S. by the end of March.

I’ve been involved as a consultant with PureVia and received some samples a few weeks ago. I started doing informal taste tests with my clients and found the overwhelming majority of them loved the taste. I personally think it tastes great, especially since it has the taste and texture of real sugar - but not the calories.

What type of sweetener do you use?
What city girl doesn’t like the taste of something sweet? I bet most of us don’t eat our oatmeal or yogurt plain or drink unsweetened coffee or tea. I know that when I walk in to Starbuck’s for my afternoon jolt of joe, there is no way I am going  I’m going to walk out with an unsweetened cup of coffee.

So here is the question - what type of sweetener do you use? Do you reach for the sugar? Ok, it’s natural, but do you want the extra calories, especially if you like it really sweet?  Or perhaps you use a sugar substitute? If so, which one …  the pink, the blue or the yellow pack? I know that for me personally, I always go through a little dilemma as to which sweetener I should use. I want something natural, but don’t want the added calories of sugar. However, I don’t love the idea of using artificial sweeteners on a daily basis - especially when I am using multiple servings a day. Just my opinion. I always thought that it would be great if there were an all natural 0 calorie sweetener that tasted good.

New all natural, 0 calorie, great tasting sweetener on the market
But now there is great news! As I mentioned above, a new product has just hit the market - PureVia. It is made from the stevia plant. Some of you may have tried stevia in the past and found it to be somewhat bitter or have an inconsistent flavor. But PureVia is made from 97% pure Reb A, (also known as Rebaudioside A) which is the sweetest and best tasting part of the plant. This ingredient is blended with other natural ingredients and flavors to create a sweetener with a clean, crisp taste and familiar texture to sugar - without the calories. PureVia can be used in hot or cold beverages, as well as sprinkled on yogurt and hot or cold cereal.  

Three reasons why I recommend PureVia
- 0 calories. This is great for those people who are trying to watch their weight or just live a healthy lifestyle. While a teaspoon of sugar “only” contains 15 calories, keep in mind that these calories can really add up. Let’s say that you have 2 teaspoons of sugar in your morning coffee and 2 in your afternoon tea. This is 60 calories a day. By switching to PureVia, you could lose 6 pounds a year. Even if you aren’t necessarily looking to lose weight, it can help prevent the slow creeping weight gain that most of us experience. In addition, Purevia is great for people wth diabetes or those people following low carb diets as the carbohydrate content is neglible.

- All natural. I think most of us are becoming more concerned with what we put in our bodies. We are looking for natural products and fewer chemicals. Many products on the market contain artifical ingredients and/or undergo artificial methods of processing.  PureVia contains only natural ingredients. In addition to Reb A, Purevia contains other natural ingredients including isomaltulose and erythritol. There is also nothing artificial about the way PureVia is made. It is naturally extracted from the stevia plant. I am especially excited about this aspect of PureVia! 

- Great tasting. Last but not least, the product tastes great. This is really important as no one wants an artificial or after taste. As I mentioned above, I think PureVia tastes great - and so do my clients.

Whole Earth Sweetener Company has begun shipping PureVia. It will be offered in 40 and 80 stick cartons for a suggested retail price of $3.99 and $6.99. Retail prices may vary market by market. Soon you will also be able to find it in the sweetener caddy at coffee shops and restaurants. Be on the lookout for the white box with green leaves! In addition, PureVia will be found in several PepsiCo products including Zero-calorie Sobe Lifewater (soon to hit the shelves) and Trop50 (a light orange juice with 50% less sugar and calories).

The following article was taken from Crain’s (the link doesn’t work so I posted the article)

FDA approves Merisant’s new sweetener
By: David Sterrett Dec. 17, 2008

(Crain’s) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration signed off Wednesday on the safety of Merisant Co.’s all-natural zero-calorie sweetener sold under the name PureVia.

The Chicago-based maker of Equal is hoping the sweetener derived from stevia, a shrub native to South America, will revitalize sales and revolutionize the sweetener industry.

Merisant is competing with commodities giant Cargill Inc., which has introduced a similar stevia sweetener called Truvia. Cargill received the same letter of approval from the FDA as Merisant for its stevia sweetener.

Merisant received a letter from the FDA on Wednesday saying the federal agency didn’t have questions about or objections to the company’s assertion that the sweetener is safe for consumption.

“This is a huge day for us, and we have the champagne out,” Merisant CEO Paul Block says. “This is an enormous innovation for us and a quantum leap for the industry. This is a big part of our future.”

The approval will give grocers such as Wal-Mart the confidence to carry the product and will reassure customers about the new product’s safety, Mr. Block says.

Merisant began shipping PureVia to grocery stores last month, and Mr. Block says it wants to get it on the shelves of about half of all major grocery stores in the U.S. by New Year’s and nationwide by the end of March. The sweetener, designed to taste like sugar, can be used for coffee, tea, fruit and cereal. It has a suggested retail price of $3.99 for 40 sticks and $6.99 for 80 sticks.

The safety of the product has been called into question by consumer groups such as the Washington D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest. The group urged the FDA this year to require more testing for stevia.

Studies have raised concerns that it could harm the human reproductive system. European Union authorities barred it on similar grounds, but countries such as Japan and Brazil allow stevia in food and beverages. Merisant and Cargill asked the FDA in May to approve their individual stevia ingredients as “generally recognized as safe” for use.

Merisant has partnered with Pepsi Co. on PureVia. With the letter from the FDA, the beverage company will use the sweetener in Sobe Lifewater and Trop 50, Tropicana’s new light orange juice product.

Cargill partnered with Coca-Cola Co., which is introducing versions of Sprite with the sweetener this month and new flavors of the Odwalla juice drink.

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• Trick or Treat? Tips to Deal with Halloween Candy (0)

Halloween … you know it’s that time of the year when you see stores filled with sugary treats of all kinds. A sugar addicts worst nightmare! Halloween is associated with “treats” -  candy in your office, candy that you buy for trick or treaters or candy that your kids bring home. In my private practice, Halloween is a problem for many of my clients. I see people who buy candy a few weeks in advance in anticipation of Halloween.  Of course, the bag doesn’t stay unopened for long…  many of my clients food logs reveal consumption of mini candies all day long for several days prior to and after Halloween. Or they find themselves getting into their kids stash of goodies late at night.

Here are a few problems I see:

1. Buying candy for trick or treaters too early. The longer it sits in your apartment, the greater the chances are that you will open the bag. Even nutritionists know how hard it can be to resist eating candy when it is in your apartment!

2. Candy everywhere in your office. Again, very difficult to resist when you are bored or stressed. 

3. Candy that your children bring home. How many times have you found yourself getting into their stash? You may be thinking all that sugar isn’t healthy for them, but it isn’t good for you - or your hips - either!  

 Here are the calorie contents of some popular Halloween candies:

Tips to control your intake of Halloween candy:

1. Don’t buy candy too early for trick or treaters. Try to buy it the day of Halloween or the day before.

2. Don’t buy your favorite candy. Instead, buy something you don’t love. For example, I would buy mini twizzlers instead of anything that contains chocolate (since I am a chocoholic!). You always buy something healthy like mini boxes of raisins. One of my clients asked her child what kind of treat he wanted her to buy for the trick or treaters. Luckily he said “Smarties”. This was one of the few candies she doesn’t like!

3. Consider leaving the candy in a basket outside of your apartment. The less you see of it, the less you will eat.

4. Dispose of any leftover Halloween candy that you don’t give out.

5. If you have candy at work, try to limit yourself to 100 calories or so of candy a day. Check out the above chart for calorie content. If you find that you lose control once you have even one piece of candy, DON’T even start with it! Bring in a more “appropriate” snack.

6. Decide how you will handle your child’s Halloween candy. Perhaps allow your child 2 mini candies a day for a week. Throw the rest out if you find you can’t control yourself if it is around.

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