It is hard to say. I always tell people to stay away from new drugs because we don’t know how they react until thousands of people take them over a long period of time. We are in the exact same place with both Xylitol and Stevia. While Stevia has a long history of use, the extracted version most of us eat has not been used for very long. It appears that both are safe and even have some benefits, but I would just use them in moderation and it should be okay.

Scott

Most Stevia is an extract and only one molecule (called rebaudioside A or Reb A). It would be much better if the whole plant was used.

You are right Stevia is not a sugar, but xylitol is (it is a sugar-alcohol). Xylitol is poorly absorbed (only about 1/4 of the amount consumed is absorbed), but then is metabolized in the liver and turned into glucose.

My problem with Stevia is that it is an extract (unless you are buying the whole leaf) and it continues our addiction to super-sweet tastes (which eventually leads us back to eating sugar). When people remove sugars and foods that act like sugars from their diet, their tastes change; suddenly carrots, avocados, apples and other foods they used to think bland are now sweet. This is what are taste buds should be driving us to. Try it yourself, stay off sugars for a while and you will see that what we call normal sugar (or even Stevia) is too sweet.

Scott

Ground up stevia leaf, and stevia extracts are different, however in my research I do not believe that it is the substance itself, but the extraction process, that poses more of a question about risk. But saying that concentrated stevia extract is similar to white sugar is completely false.
I can certainly tell you that I believe it to be better than sugar itself – and humans are hard-wired to crave sweets. It is actually evolutionary – consumption of more fruits (which are sweet), helped with the survival of the species (vitamins, minerals, enzymes). We are supposed to crave sweets.

It is an odd distinction they are making. Xylitol is usually derived from birch or corn and most of the stevia in a store is also an extract. I think that the research on just what xylitol does in our body has a long way to go. It is probably okay in small amounts.

Scott