Stevia: legal or not?
There seems to be some debate over whether or not stevia, the non-caloric sweetener derived from stevia leaves, is fermentable.
My understanding is that real stevia leaf, meaning the actual leaves of the actual stevia plant (which you can grow, by the way—it's related to mint) is not a fermentable carbohydrate. (Get confirmation here.) This means stevia leaf is safe for SIBO.
I once tasted the tiniest tip of a stevia leaf and boy, I couldn't believe how sweet it was! Gaggingly so. Intensely, nauseatingly sweet.
Just saying.
The problem with stevia today is that because of the cloyingly sweet taste of the leaf alone, stevia leaves are often made into stevia-based sweeteners that are a) highly processed and b) combined with other ingredients to increase palatability. Those processing methods and other ingredients might be a no-no for us. It's not certain.
Take TruVia®, for instance. Truvia is a stevia product made by Cargill corporation. It comes in a convenient white crystal format, designed to resemble sugar. And just like sugar, it can be used to sweeten coffee, tea, lemonade, baked goods—anything you might want to add sugar to.
Truvia contains 1) stevia leaf extract, 2) erythritol, and 3) natural flavors.
Number 2 on that list, erythritol, is a polyol or sugar alcohol. Polyols are the "P" in FODMAPs. Erythritol is different than other sugar alcohols, though, in the way that it is absorbed. Therefore, it may or may not be safe for people with SIBO.
You may know the more common polyols (sorbitol, maltitol, xylitol) are virtual gas bombs that should definitely be on your forbidden list, since they just blow up in your small intestine. Even people without SIBO get terrible effects, including massive diarrhea, from sorbitol, mannitol, etc. But erythritol bypasses the small intestine. Erythritol is not known to cause gas and bloating. So maybe erythritol is okay. I didn't notice a problem when I tried it before I had SIBO. I'll tell you what happens if I dare to test it again one day!
As for those natural flavors, I know from working in the supplement industry that "natural flavors" often contain ingredients that could definitely be problematic for us, such as corn maltodextrins. But maybe the natural flavors used in Truvia are safe. It's possible.
The point is, these are question marks with stevia sweeteners that don't exist with plain old, ground up organic stevia leaves, of which I actually have a bag in my cupboard! It's a pale green powder. You only need a pinch. It blends well into smoothies but you can't put it in coffee or tea because it won't dissolve. (It's just ground up leaves, after all.)
What I'm wondering now is what kind of desserts can I make with it? Because I'm REALLY craving some sweet stuff. I've been on a strict (not perfect, but strict) SIBO-safe diet since January 28th - almost a whole darn month already! I want a treat.
