In the United States the average American consumes 61 pounds of sugar a year, according to a report in U.S. News and World Report.  That’s over one pound per week.  One level teaspoon equals 15 calories, and there are 108 teaspoons in one pound of table sugar.  So, you are eating 1,620 calories per week of just sugar.  Doesn’t sound like much?  If you weight 175 pounds you burn approximately 110 calories per mile while running, which means you would have to run almost 15 miles to burn off that 1,620 calories!

 

Do you want to run an extra 15 miles this week?  OK, maybe if you are on this site you are a Tri junky and you wouldn’t mind, but that is a lot of extra, useless calories you don’t need to worry about.  So, you know where I am going with this don’t you?  Stop eating the sugar, it’s not worth it. 

 

So, what if you are still hooked on your morning coffee as I am, and can’t stand the taste without some kind of sweetener?  No it’s not the chemical laden, lab created options that are out there.  It’s a simple product called “stevia”.  This is a natural plant derivative that has been used for years in Japan, and that originated in South America.  It is safe for diabetics, (LINK) it has about 10 calories per pound, so it is almost zero calories in the small amounts used, since its 10 times more potent than sugar, however, it is the one product that scares the hell out of the sweetener industry! 

 

The FDA has claimed there are no long term studies to prove Stevia is safe for you, even though its use dates back to 1899 when Dr. Moises Santiago, Director of the College of Agriculture in Asunsion, Paraguay was the first to extract the sweetener from its plant form, and its history can be traced back to the Guarani Indians who inhabited what is now Paraguay.  By the 1800’s Stevia was widely used in Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay as a sweetener.  Currently it is the most used non-sugar sweeter used in Japan and it is widely used through out Asia.  But in 1995 the FDA in the US would only allow Stevia to be market as a dietary supplement, and will not allow it to be labeled as a food “additive”.

 

So, where can you find it?  Most health food stores and vitamin stores have it. But I have found it at several of my local grocery stores.  It comes in packets, spoon able or even liquid forms.  What can you do with it?  My first use was to replace the two or three spoons of sugar I heaped into my coffee each morning.  But beware, I use about a quarter teaspoon in a cup of coffee.  But Stevia can be used for baking, and cooking just as sugar.

 

Want to run an extra 15 miles this week or do you want to try something new?  I leave it up to you.

 

Check out this video on sugar substitutes from nutritionaustin.com