Truvia vs Stevia: What is the Difference?

In this article, we are reviewing the difference between Truvia and Stevia.

What Is Stevia?

Stevia comes from the stevia rebaudiana plant that you can find in South America.

Stevia is commonly known as a sweet leaf or a sugar leaf.

This is because it is so sugary and tasty.

The stevia you use as a sugar replacement is a highly refined version that is deemed safe by the FDA.

There are also less refined forms that you can often find in powder or liquid form that are categorized as a health food supplement.

One of the most impressive things about Stevia is that it is MUCH sweeter than sugar, some say by 200-300 times.

This means that you don’t need a lot to make something sweet.

What Can You Use Stevia For?

Stevia can be used in coffee, on cereal, or in other things you would add sugar.

Stevia can also be used for baking, however, you should not use it as a 1 to 1 replacement.

Most experts suggest that you only replace half the sugar the recipe calls for with Stevia, instead of trying to replace all of the sugar in what you are making.

After that, you can experiment with reducing even more sugar and replacing it with Stevia.

Stevia also supplies a conversion chart on their website that you can use when baking.

Health Benefits of Stevia

Some health benefits you can find in Stevia include:

• Beneficial for your Glucose and Insulin Response
• Prevention of dental cavities
• Improvement of blood pressure

What Is Truvia?

Truvia is another sugar supplement, and while it is not the same as Stevia, it is made including refined Stevia.

Truvia is often used when cooking or baking and can often be found as a tabletop sweetener in restaurants that you can use in your coffee.

Truvia is marked as being an all natural product because it contains stevia, but it does have added ingredients such as a sugar alcohol called erythritol, and natural flavoring.

Because Stevia is so much sweeter than sugar, Truvia adds the other ingredients to mitigate some of that overly sweet flavor.

What Can You Use Truvia For?

Truvia is a great ingredient that you can use in both cooking and baking.

Truvia also makes multiple varieties for different uses.

Truvia makes a “spoonable” product that you can use as table sugar which is great for your coffee or even putting in your cereal.

They also make a product called “Sweet Complete Granulated All-Purpose Sweetener” which can be used as a replacement for sugar in recipes.

This is a great product because it cooks and bakes just like sugar.

Unlike Stevia, you can use this as a 1 for 1 replacement in your recipes.

Health Benefits Of Truvia

Some health benefits you can find in erythritol, a component of Truvia, include:

• Anti-Diabetic Effects
• Anti-Hyperglycemic Effects
• Improvement of Dental Health
• Antioxidant

Is Stevia And Truvia The Same Thing?

Despite many similarities, Stevia and Truvia are not the same thing.

As previously mentioned, the main difference between the two is that Stevia is made from the stevia rebaudiana plant and Truvia is made using Stevia as a base with some additional additives.

Is Stevia Or Truvia Better?

When it comes to whether or not Stevia or Truvia is better depends on a few factors.

These factors include:

• What are you looking for in a sugar supplement?
• What do you want to use it for?
• What is your personal preference?
• Do you have any dietary issues or concerns?

Let's break these down for you.

1. What are you looking for in a sugar supplement?

One thing to consider is deciding what is important to you when it comes to choosing a sugar substitute.

If you are looking for something that behaves the same as sugar, you might be better off going with Truvia.

This is very popular to use as a table sugar and other choices because the texture and consistency is almost identical to sugar.

If you are looking for something ultra sweet to cut the bitterness out of a food or health drink, you might be looking for Stevia, as this is much sweeter than Truvia due to Truvia’s additives.

2. What do you want to use it for?

Another thing to consider is what you are using it for.

If you are cooking or baking, Truvia is the better choice, as it is easier to replace sugar with Truvia, whereas if you are using Stevia, you would need to only replace a partial amount of the sugar required, not all.

3. What is your personal preference?

Personal preference is also a great consideration to make.

Both have been reported to have different taste issues so one thing you will want to consider is what one do you like better.

This varies by person, so it might be a good idea to try both out and see what you prefer.

4. Do you have any dietary issues or concerns?

Finally, dietary issues are something you also want to take into account.

Some people find that with Truvia they get unpleasant side effects such as gas or increased frequency of bowel movements.

If you fall into this category, Truvia might not be for you.

Is Truvia Bad For You?

Truvia has not been identified as being bad for you.

While it contains additives and is not naturally occurring like Stevia is, it is better for you than real sugar.

It does not affect blood sugar levels or insulin levels and while there can be side-effects, these are very few.

Stevia In Supplements

Stevia is very popular in health powders to make them sweeter and more appealing to consumers.

This is because most people who take these health powders look for healthy ingredients which often include sugar substitutes.

Because Stevia is 200-300 times sweeter than sugar, but doesn’t contain the calories, sugar, or carbs that sugar does, it is very popular in green and red powders.

Monk Fruit: A Stevia Alternative

Another sugar alternative that you might find in your health powders and other non-sugar products is monk fruit.

Monk fruit looks like a small melon and you can find it in Southeast Asia.

Most commonly used as a natural sweetener, it became popular with people who were more health-conscious or who were following a low carb, keto, or diabetic specific meal plan.

Monk fruit is not as sweet as Stevia, but is still much sweeter than sugar, but about 150-200 times.

Other Sweetener Substitutions

We talked alot about Stevia and Truvia and even a bit about monk fruit, but these are not the only natural sweeteners out there.

Options of Artificial Sweeteners include:

• Acesulfame K
• Aspartame
• Saccharin
• Sucralose
• Xylitol

If you are looking for sweetener alternatives that are natural, you can turn to:

• Honey
• Dates
• Coconut Sugar
• Maple Syrup
• Molasses
• Agave

These sugars, while natural, are not zero calories, so if that is what you are looking for, I suggest sticking with Stevia, Truvia, or Monk Fruit.

Consuming Natural Sweeteners Responsibly

Just because Stevia, Truvia, and Monk Fruit are healthier than sugar, does not mean they should be consumed in excess.

Eating too much of any of these can cause you to need more and more to satisfy a sweet tooth, which can lead you to less than desirable decisions for your health.

If you are concerned about any of these sweeteners, you can always talk to your medical professional.