Comments on: The Luo Han Guo Stevia Experiment

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:49:17 +0000

A friend gave me a packet with two cubes of lo han kuo. It looked, smelled and tasted like brown sugar. It’s significantly more expensive than brown sugar. It seems to me that there would be a strong financial incentive for companies to package brown sugar and sell it as lo han kuo. Chinese companies have been caught doing things like putting melamine in milk products, cadmium and lead in children’s toys, etc., so it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if some of what is being sold as lo han kuo really isn’t. Is there a good, simple test to authenticate it? I remember from elementary school science class that something with calories will burn– sugar is essentially pure calories, and lo han kuo has none. Will it react the same as sugar to an open flame? Maybe someone here has a better test?
Since you’re diabetic, obviously it doesn’t make sense for you to have used sugar as a control in your blood sugar tests, but maybe someone with a blood monitoring kit who is not diabetic could make a comparison. I would assume that real sugar would cause a spike in blood sugar– that would seem obvious; but one packet may or may not be that significant and the only way to really know is to try it, which you can’t do for obvious reasons. Hopefully someone else will add to your efforts. Thank you for the information– this was interesting.

By: JP

JP — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:27:20 +0000

Thank you, Linda.

I don’t recommend sweetening with crystalline fructose or sweeteners that contain a high concentration of fructose (ex. agave nectar). Almost all of the dessert recipes on my site use stevia-based sweeteners. This is a much healthier option for diabetics and just about everyone, IMO. However, it takes some patience/practice to find the right level of sweetness with stevia. Also, some people have personal preferences regarding different brands. Fructose is easier to work with, but harder on the body. I’ll provide some relevant links below:

http://www.healthyfellow.com/925/fructose-confusion/

http://www.healthyfellow.com/185/agave-danger/

http://www.healthyfellow.com/826/healthier-birthday-cake-recipe/ <— recipe example using a commercially available brand of stevia

Be well!

By: Linda

Linda — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:34:57 +0000

I loved your experiment…… thank you! Very enlightening.

I would love to have your opinion and thoughts with the following;

I am looking for a healthy low calorie natural sweetener. Who isn’t right? My father is a diabetic. I introduced him to Crystalline fructose 20 years ago he is now over 80 years old and healthy. Do you think this is a good natural healthy sweetener? I am very confuse with all of the documentation on the net. Please help me to figure this out! See these sites below;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose

http://www.fructose.org/facts.html

By: JP

JP — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:58:56 +0000

That’s fantastic news, Shelly. Thanks for sharing it with us! Continued success!

Be well!

By: Shelly

Shelly — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:18:34 +0000

Being a type II diabetic I have tried just about everything. I can happily say stevia has been by far the most successful of all the sweeteners I have used. My wife makes a wonderful low calorie custard I eat on a regular basis. My a1c are almost always in the 5.8-6.2 range. I only use diet to control my blood sugar levels. Just visited my Ophthalmologist, he is always amazed that I have no signs of diabetic retinopathy, even tho I have been a diabetic since 1988. I would also give credit to my taking flavay, vitamin c,zinc and b-vitamins.

By: JP

JP — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 02:36:43 +0000

Hi, Stephie.

I’m sorry to hear about your negative reaction to stevia. I haven’t come across similar data in the published clinical studies or experienced adverse reactions myself. But, I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for other accounts like yours in my continued research.

I wish you the best of luck experimenting with luo han guo.

Be well!

By: Stephie

Stephie — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 18:21:19 +0000

I’ve given up stevia which I was using in high amounts this summer after developing severe shoulder, back, and neck pain. I found out that joint pain is not an uncommon side effect of stevia, along with allergy symptoms (so please beware). I’m still learning about the Luo Han Guo and hope it’s safe.

By: JP

JP — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:35:48 +0000

Hi, Joy.

Like you, I’m not comfortable using or recommending sucralose. Good news about an all natural option becoming available. Thanks for letting us know. I’ll keep an eye out for them and give them a try.

Be well!

By: Joy R.

Joy R. — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 01:04:05 +0000

I’m a nutritionist and have been thrilled to see more and more of Lo Han Guo creeping into products, as well as a combo of Lo Han Guo and Erythritol. There’s a great line of protein bars now even using it: http://www.questproteinbar.com They’re original line uses Lo Han Guo & Sucralose (which I am not a fan of), but they’re introducing an All Natural line that replaces the Sucralose with Erythritol. I’ve tried some of the prototypes and they’re fantastic!

By: JP

JP — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:43:07 +0000

Hi, Michael.

I’m beginning to see a few more products that feature Luo Han Guo as part of sweetening blend. A successful example of this is the new line of “no sugar added” ice creams produced by So Delicious/Turtle Mountain. They use a combination of erythritol, monk fruit extract (LHG) and stevia to sweeten their dairy-free dessert. However, I haven’t come across many products that are utilizing LHG as a standalone sweetener as of yet.

http://www.turtlemountain.com/products/product.php?p=so_delicious_nsa_vanilla_bean

Be well!