Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It's not artificial.
Right-- it's a plant,
Stevia rebaudiana. The genus is named after a Spanish botanist, Pedro Jaime Esteve (thanks, Wikipedia!).
But it's gross. Still a fake sweetener that leaves a nasty aftertaste.
No, it's a natural sweetener that leaves a nasty aftertaste.
Sugar substitute = not sugar = fake
Who cares about science or accuracy when you can just make up your own definitions of words. And everyone else is expected to understand that you just made up your own definition of words and they have to live with it.
Sugar substitutes are not "real" sugar. And if they aren't real, then...
Anyway, even though Stevia isn't completely made out of chemicals I'd still call it fake - as in fake sugar. Try a dictionary if the terms are too confusing for you.
Stevia is completely made out of chemicals, as is sugar, and you, and the atmosphere, and the organic kumquat you just purhased at whole foods . . .
Fake means that something is not what it claims or pretends to be. You can't judge something as "real" or "fake" without knowing what it's pretending to be. For example, I have in my house lentils that are really real lentils. Sometimes I used them to be fake ground beef for tacos. That doesn't mean that lentils are "fake", it just means that they are masquerading as something else. If you're using Stevia in the place of sugar, you can argue that the Stevia is serving as "fake" sugar. Similarly, if you are having a tea party with your 2 year old with water in the toy teapot, the water is "fake tea". That doesn't mean that water "is fake".
Artificial means something different. It means made by people, as opposed to by nature. Lentils, stevia, and water are all natural. Even when they are pretending to be ground beef, sugar or tea they are not artificial.
Aspartame, on the other hand is always artificial. Sometimes it is also "fake" when it takes on a role usually played by sugar.