Sunday, March 4, 2012

Zevia all natural soda sweetened with stevia

As I was browsing the isles of Whole Foods a new product commanded my attention.  Could it be?  No, this cannot be true!  It is a brand of zero calorie all natural soda called Zevia.  This soda is sweetened with stevia a plant based sweetener.  So you have not heard of the stevia craze yet?  Well let me fill you in.

Stevia is a plant that has been grown and used for centuries in South American countries. Stevia Rebaudiana is a shrub native to Paraguay and Brazil. In 2008 The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the natural sweetener.  Since then more and more products with stevia are popping up in stores.  Studies have shown it can decrease blood sugar levels and does not affect blood glucose levels.  This means stevia can be used by both diabetics and hypoglycemics

Zevia
Stevia sweetener has been beneficial for me since I simply cannot stand the taste of artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame.  So, upon finding Zevia at my local Whole Foods I could not wait to get home and try it.  I bought the Mountain Zevia and Dr. Zevia to try.  The Mountain Zevia has the citrus flavor that you would expect, crisp and light.  It is sweet, but not overly sweet.  I instantly recognized the stevia taste because I have been drinking stevia sweetened products lately.  Zevia brand soda has many flavors to quench your thirst such as Dr. Zevia, cream soda, black cherry, cola, lemon lime, ginger root beer, strawberry and more! This all natural soda is has zero calories, zero sodium and zero gluten.    If you are like me and find artificial sweeteners disgusting then I encourage you to try Zevia.  Now I can drink soda again without the calories and the best part is that it is all natural.  Overall, I am satisfied with the product and cannot wait to head back to Whole Foods to try other flavors of Zevia brand soda.