Flavored Stevia?

[kinipela]

Has anyone tried flavored Stevia for lip balms?

http://www.sweetleaf.com/category.php?subcat=products&subpage=steviaflavors

[Mostly Lurkin]

Yup... I have several of them. Work like a charm and just a little is needed.

[heirloomoriginals]

Those look great! I would love those for flavoring other things besides lip balm!

Steph

[Jadryga]

I was thinking... TOOTH SOAP! Stevia's apparently good for your teeth, unlike other sweeteners... and came across a tooth soap thread on the Dish. So I'm thinking peppermint and stevia...

[quiet girl]

I was thinking... TOOTH SOAP! Stevia's apparently good for your teeth, unlike other sweeteners... and came across a tooth soap thread on the Dish. So I'm thinking peppermint and stevia...

Thanks for sharing that info, I'm reading through a thread on the dish right now. I am a Dental Assistant (although stay home now that I have a family) I've been looking into making natural toothpaste...tooth soap is such a cool idea.

[kinipela]

Those look great! I would love those for flavoring other things besides lip balm!

Steph

Yeah, I found them mentioned on a natural food store website. They suggested flavoring water with them. I thought lip balms right away Of course, I can't imagine half of those flavors in water.... vanilla creme? dark chocolate? Hmmm...

[ah-soy]

Dredging up a bit of an old thread but I read up a bit on Stevia and found this:

Stevia: Stevia is derived from an herb native to Paraguay. It is extremely sweet, and a little goes a very long way. This herb is controversial as a sweetener, The FDA has approved it as a dietary supplement, but not as a sweetener. Available as a greenish powder, stevia imparts a powerful sweetness with an herbal undertone. As sweeteners go, it is quite expensive, though a little goes a very long way

I'm not an expert but it doesn't sound as if this is approved for cosmetic use so if you are selling it might not be a solution. I still might try it for my own personal use...sounds interesting.

[Doneen]

I wouldn't have thought those would work in lip balm because they are water based, and lip balms are oil based. Did you have a trick to getting them to blend?

Have you tried them in coffee? I'm a huge flavored coffee addict, so I might hafta get me some of those to try

[Doneen]

I forgot to mention... Xylitol is the all natural sweetener that's actually good for your teeth. I've done lots of research on the various natural sweeteners on the market, just in my own quest for something better for my coffee habit. It's the only sweetenter that claims to be clinically proven to fight cavities and plaque. Even Trident is putting it in their sugar free gum now. Here's a link with some info on it:

http://xylitolnow.com/

Hope it helps with the tooth soap! I actually got curious and tried brushing my teeth with peppermint CP soap once. Right now I use Tom's of Maine natural toothpaste and I really like it.

[Jami]

Ingredients: Natural flavors, grapefruit seed extract.

I am sure they won't divulge their "natural flavor" ingredients any more than LouAnn candy flavoring oil will. LouAnn can be used in lip balms for flavor. I think this will be useable in lip balms as well because 1 drop of stevia is all it takes to sweeten mine. I have used stevia for over 3 years (since my low carbing days) as my personal sweetener and loved that it is basically all natural vs. other sweeteners that use the "fillers".

Stevia has been a controversy with the FDA since the 80's. They labeled it an unsafe food additive then turned around and approved it as a dietary supplement. Go figure huh? lol I am sure other artificial sweetener companies have a big say in whether it gets approved as a sweetener or not.

I am going to look for the stevia flavoring at Kroger since that is where I buy my liquid stevia. I figure if stevia works in my lip balms then this will work as well since it says just a drop per 2 liquid ounces for flavor. One drop (or even two) shouldn't create a problem blending with lip balm.

It is worth a try to me

p.s. Ah-soy, Southern Soapers and other suppliers carry the stevia to sweeten lip balms. I can't imagine they would sell it as such if it can't be used. Stranger things have happened though lol Maybe the trick is to just list in in the ingredients but don't refer to it as a sweetener *shrug*

[Jami]

A word of warning.......xylitol is a "sugar alcohol". Sugar alcohols can be a mild laxitive and cause gas. I tried it for baking when I was low carbing. I am one that is sensitive to sugar alcohols and couldn't use or ingest them which is why I switched to Stevia.

I bought my xylitol online at netrition.com if someone is interested in it and where to buy it.

[Doneen]

Thanks for the warning, lol! I never used it in large enough amounts to have any problem, I just tried it for coffee. It probably wouldn't be enough in tooth soap to have that side effect either I'd guess. But now I know what to expect if I ever try baking with it I like Stevia too, but I like it better when I mix it with other natural sweeteners like Xylitol, Erythritol, Whey Low, and I use Agave Nectar too (very similar to honey but it comes from a plant). I love experimenting with different kinds.

[Jadryga]

From http://www.thebetterhealthstore.com/SteviaFAQ.html

STEVIA AND TOOTH DECAY

Even a five-year-old child knows that sugar can cause tooth decay. There are certain bacteria in your mouth, particularly Streptococcimutans, that ferment various sugars and produce acids. These acids, in turn, eat through the enamel of the tooth, causing a decayed spot or cavity. For a long time, scientists have searched to find alternative sweeteners that are not fermentable by bacteria and, hence, do not cause cavities. Artificial sweeteners have been helpful in this regard.

Does stevia lead to tooth cavities? According to one study done on laboratory rats, the answer is no. In this study, stevioside and rebaudioside A -- the two primary sweet constituents of the stevia plant -- were tested on a group of sixty rat pups (Das, 1992). The rats were divided into four groups. Group 1 was fed 30 percent of its diet in sucrose (table sugar). Group 2 was given 0.5 percent of its diet in stevioside. Group 3 received 0.5 percent of its diet in rebaudioside A. Group 4, the control group, was given no sugar or sweetener of any kind. There was no difference in the food or water intake among the groups.

After five weeks, the rats were evaluated. There was a significant difference in the condition of their teeth. The sugar-fed rats in Group 1 had significantly more cavities than the rats in the other groups. The rats in Groups 2, 3, and 4 had about the same number of cavities. The researchers stated, "It was concluded that neither stevioside nor rebaudioside A is cariogenic [cavity causing] under the conditions of this study." It appears that the chemicals within the stevia plant that impart its sweetness are not fermentable, and thus do not cause tooth cavities.

From http://www.life.ca/nl/83/stevia.html

Stevia is 300 times sweeter than sugar and does not contain the negative side effects reported with the use of artificial sweeteners including aspartame. Because this high-intensity sweetener is non-fermentable, non-discoloring, maintains heat stability at 95°C and features a lengthy shelf life, it is value valued by the food processing industry. It can be added to cooked/baked goods or processed foods and beverages.

It has been used for over 30 years in Japan, where aspartame has been banned. Japanese manufacturers use it in cola, pickling, gum, ice cream and a wide variety of other foods.

Other countries around the world have also been using stevia as a sugar substitute in food manufacturing. Major multinational food companies like Coca Cola and Beatrice foods use stevia extracts to sweeten foods for sale in Japan, Brazil, and other countries where it is approved.

However, in Canada and the United States, stevia can only be sold as a dietary supplement. The US government especially seems to be protecting the sugar industry against its widespread use.

Celestial Seasonings brewed a herbal tea with stevia for a while. Lipton Tea had the same idea, but couldn’t get approval. Then, in the 1980s the FDA in the USA began seizing shipments of stevia, removing any product containing stevia and threatening to burn stevia cookbooks, reportedly due to a complaint by an artificial sweetener manufacturer.

In the early 1990s the FDA banned stevia, citing a preliminary mutagenicity study. Later that year, a follow-up study found flaws in the first study and seriously questioned its results. In 1995, the FDA gave stevia the label of “dietary supplement” which means that it is safe enough to consume in a capsule, but not in a food. Proponents feel this partial about-face was an attempt to strike a compromise between the sugar industry and the growing natural foods industry.

Since then, stevia’s popularity has grown dramatically, as has its safety records and tests. But still the FDA and Health Canada refuse to allow it to be called a food or a food additive.

[Sister Kya]

I saw these Sweetleaf flavors at the HFS but passed on them because they are all water-based. Do they really incorporate into oil-based balms? Any secrets to share for mixing water and oil?

[Jadryga]

I mix honey and stuff into my balms with no problem. The trick is to wait til your balm is semi-solid, so the honey doesn't quite get emulsified as much as it gets dispersed and suspended.

It's a little tricky to work with, since you have to pour in the short span in which your balms are solid enough to suspend the honey, but still liquid enough to pour. After that it'll set with no problems. If you use a stick blender, beware! It'll solidify really fast!

During my first attempt, I just mixed "really well" as recommended by a recipe and poured while it was still fully liquid. The honey settled at the bottom and made liquid pockets. NOT good!

Another option would probably be to try stevia powder rather than liquid.