Fitness kit I’ve tested this week: Truvia natural sweetener

Fitness kit I’ve tested this week – Truvia natural sweetener.

One of the first things I try to avoid when dieting for a competition (or quite honestly at any time) is sugar. Obviously I eat the stuff – particularly when I’m not in countdown mode – but I do try to limit it. Sugar in all its forms. That is, anything ending in -ose. Glucose, lactose, even fructose. Yes, fruit is natural and has lots of vitamins and fibre but that doesn’t mean it’s a great idea to eat limitless amounts of it. Sugar is sugar.

There are lots of sweeteners on the market but these days I try to avoid those, too. Mainly because they’re frankenfoods. I have no idea what’s in them, but I know it’s chemicals, and I don’t like the idea. Plus, they bloat me. Too much sucralose (not to mention aspartame) and I can see the difference!

In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need anything to sweeten our food, our baking or our cuppas. But, come on, get real.

So, hooray for Stevia – a completely natural sweetener which made its way over here to the UK earlier this year. Truvia® sent me a generous sample of their granulated sweetener to try. Thank you!

Truvia® is a natural, calorie-free sweetener taken from the stevia leaf. (Remember when my friend Zoe gave me a stevia plant?) It has the consistency of sugar and can be used just as you’d use sugar: in tea or coffee, in baking, or sprinkled over the top of things. Watch out, though, because it’s much sweeter than sugar. 1/3 teaspoon is equivalent to 1tsp sugar.

I really liked this product. Of course, I love the fact that Truvia® and other stevia products give us a choice when it comes to how we sweeten our food. Stevia products seem to agree with me and I like the taste (some people don’t, but I really do, I think it’s almost like a caramel sugar taste). I particularly like the granulated option of Truvia®, because somehow there’s nothing like spooning “sugar” into or on top of things.

There’s more info about Truvia® on their website, including a load of recipes to try. So far, I’ve tried it in a cuppa tea, in a cookie recipe from Fitness Treats and sprinkled on top of a bowl of cottage cheese and raspberries.

Two sweet thumbs up! You can buy it all over the place including most major supermarkets.

Thanks for the sample pack, Truvia® people!

PS: I’ve sorted my reviews page out a bit, hopefully it’s a little easier to navigate now.

Fitness kit I’ve tested this week: Truvia natural sweetener is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.