Nutrition is constantly changing and that means that products are constantly changing to keep up. The biggest gossip in the nutrition community over the past week has been the new release of Coke Life. http://gothamist.com/2014/06/17/stevia_green_coke.php
Coke Life is a new product by Coca-Cola that uses a blend of Stevia and cane sugar as a sweetener. The blend replaces alternative artificial sweeteners used in Coke Zero and Diet Coke (Splenda, aspartame, etc.). This beverage boasts it's 89 calories (lower than the 139 calories in regular coke) and less than half the sugar of regular coke (4tsp versus 10tsp). Mind you that 4tsp of sugar is still much more than an individual typically needs in 12oz of any fluid.
Now, Stevia has been huge in the past couple years and has really taken off recently. Stevia is derived from a plant so many dietitians and medical professionals praise its natural origin. Stevia is also calorie-free, which is why it is compared to artificial sweeteners and has replaced many of them in certain products.
In my own personal life, I use Stevia. I am much more comfortable with the use of a natural, non-caloric product (sugar is also natural, just not non-caloric) as opposed to man-made/modified substances (Splenda, etc.). I do not push this type of sweetener on my patients, but I do offer it as another option.
However, just because something has stevia in it does not make it healthy. Take this version of Coke for example: While there are lower calories in Coke Life than regular Coke, one still must find room in their caloric budget to fit these calories in. And since the calories are from cane sugar, they are purely carbohydrates. The product also still contains a good amount of sugar, which is part of the controversy over sugar sweetened beverages and their role in obesity.
Overall, I think that Coke is on the right track by opting for more natural sweeteners, but we've still got a long way to go!
Now, Stevia has been huge in the past couple years and has really taken off recently. Stevia is derived from a plant so many dietitians and medical professionals praise its natural origin. Stevia is also calorie-free, which is why it is compared to artificial sweeteners and has replaced many of them in certain products.
In my own personal life, I use Stevia. I am much more comfortable with the use of a natural, non-caloric product (sugar is also natural, just not non-caloric) as opposed to man-made/modified substances (Splenda, etc.). I do not push this type of sweetener on my patients, but I do offer it as another option.
However, just because something has stevia in it does not make it healthy. Take this version of Coke for example: While there are lower calories in Coke Life than regular Coke, one still must find room in their caloric budget to fit these calories in. And since the calories are from cane sugar, they are purely carbohydrates. The product also still contains a good amount of sugar, which is part of the controversy over sugar sweetened beverages and their role in obesity.
Overall, I think that Coke is on the right track by opting for more natural sweeteners, but we've still got a long way to go!