Have You Tried Truvia?
January 7, 2009
As much as I try to use whole, unprocessed foods in my cooking, I remain a devoted user of artificial sweeteners: I drink Caffeine-Free Diet Coke almost every day and use Splenda in my coffee. (I always said I was inconsistent!)
I think Splenda tastes great, and since its introduction in 2000 I’ve barely used a single packet of Sweet & Low or Equal, which taste more like chemicals to me now than Splenda does. I’ve tried SweetLeaf SteviaTabs (you’ll find them in the supplement section of a health food store), but they didn’t wow me. I was more into the packaging, which reminded me of the Canderel tablets I used when I lived in England.
Truvia is a new non-caloric sweetener. It’s made from stevia, the same plant that the SweetLeaf tablets come from, though Truvia’s FAQ says it’s more specifically from rebiana, developed by Truvia’s manufacturer from the leaves of the plant. This splitting of hairs has raised some questions online about just how all-natural the sweetener is once you take the processing into account. But whichever side you come down on, it’s still plant-based as opposed to a lab chemical.
My mom had a coupon for Truvia and shared several packets with me. The first thing I noticed was that a single packet of Truvia has much more bulk than one of Splenda (a packet of each is supposed to equal the sweetness of 2 teaspoons of sugar). I normally put slightly less than two Splenda packets into a large coffee, but the same amount of Truvia tasted only slightly sweet to me. I couldn’t bring myself to add a third packet, it almost felt as though it would start thickening the coffee. There was definitely no chemical aftertaste, though, which is a plus. My verdict? I’ll stick with Splenda for now, but I’ll stay open to trying Truvia again.
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I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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9 Comments
1.
Cathy-wheresmydamnanswer | January 7, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I have tried Stevia and it was horrible – I could not take it back to the store fast enough. Seems to me they still have work to do with some of these other sweeteners. I like you will stick to splenda
2.
T @ Gluten-Free Bay | January 7, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Funny you should post this now, because my partner is on South Beach and I was concerned about how much SPlenda she was consuming so I bought some Truvia just a few days ago. I had a terrible experience with stevia the first time I tried it. Truvia had none of the gross aftertaste that stevia had. Like you, we’ve found one packet of Truvia doesn’t give nearly the sweetness of one packet of Splenda or sugar. I wish I could find it in bulk (as opposed to little packets) since that would make more sense when you need multiple packets just to sweeten something! We like it and have been using it to sweeten this ricotta dessert we make as well as my spicy peanut sauce and some other dishes. I haven’t tried baking with it. It tastes much better than Splenda or plain stevia to me. Maybe it’s because it’s not just stevia – it’s mostly (?) erithrytol, and like most sugar alcohols erithrytol tastes basically just like sugar.
I remain a Caffeine-Free Diet Coke addict – it’s how I tame my sugar cravings now that I’m actively trying to lose weight. I heard about a new agave-sweetened cola coming onto the market and I can’t wait to try it.
3.
Hillary | January 8, 2009 at 10:35 am
Just saw a commercial for Truvia for the first time last night while watching TV.
4.
Mae | January 9, 2009 at 10:13 am
We use this at my house and I like it – but agave nectar is my favorite. I find it’s much smoother in coffee and iced tea – you don’t have that layer of sediment at the bottom! There’s a good one @ Mrs. Greens – Madhava I think.
5.
Stephanie | January 9, 2009 at 12:37 pm
I H-A-T-E artificial sweeteners. Most of them cause terrible joint swelling in addition to making me vomit. That said, I actually liked Truvia & had no ill effects from it.
If you take a look at the ingredients list, you will see that it has more erythritol in it than rebiana. Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that does not raise blood sugar levels & tends not to be absorbed by the body (Google it if you want more info).
I’d like to purchase Truvia in bulk form like sugar as much as T does. I did manage to buy some bulk erythritol from my local natural foods co-op & I use that in teas & other drinks, but I’m not diabetic so I haven’t tried cooking with it at all. Does that agave nectar raise blood sugar?
I see conflicting information online about how agave affects blood sugar, but this site has an interesting chart about glycemic load. — Dara
6.
CVal | January 22, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Some posters seem to confuse Stevia with Truvia. Truvia is made from the Stevia plant but using only the sweetest part of the leaf and so is different. For diabetics, splenda, made from sucrose will raise your glucose levels. Others with aspartame cause formaldehyde to form in your body according to a medical scientist I knew. So, I’ll go for healthy hands down, that’s Truvia. If I need two packets or 1 1/2, so be it. Sweet and healthy. What a treat. 2 pkts of Kool-Aid and 15 pkts of Truvia is nice and sweet. Tastes great.
7.
Judy | January 24, 2009 at 11:08 am
I use NuNaturals NuStevia, which I buy in 4 oz. bottles from GNC. I use it in baking, but cannot sub it entirely for sugar because stevia produces an aftertaste. So I usually just sub for part of the sugar. Splenda is selectively chlorinated sugar. The process actually fractionates the sugar creating an entirely new chemical compound that your body cannot recognize. You’re actually better off using sugar instead of Splenda. Be careful with agave nectar because it can have dangerous additives. Check wikipedia on all of these and you’ll be amazed at what you find.
8.
Judy | January 24, 2009 at 11:10 am
PS to the readers who said Truvia is not very sweet: stevia is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar. I only use 1-1/2 tsp. of NuNaturals NuStevia for 1/4 cup sugar. Truvia must have a lot of additives and very little stevia in it.
9.
Marti | January 28, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Splenda gives me diarrhea I was hoping truvia would not have the same affect. I know it is the sugar alcohols causing the problem. Anyone else know the side affects
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