If you are struggling to reduce the amount of sugar that you eat – whether that be in tea and coffee, on cereal etc – then there is an alternative available that is both free from calories and also does not contain any artificial sweeteners.

This also benefits those who are trying to get pregnant, or who are pregnant (or in fact anyone), who are not happy with the possible side effects of manufactured sweeteners like aspartame or saccharin. Although there have been no proven links to artificial sweeteners causing cancer or problems in pregnancy, rumours still abound and some feel it is better to be safe than sorry and not to use artificial products in excess.

The new sweeteners are made from the stevia leaf and  so are a completely natural product. Products such as Truvia are now available and they taste very much like sugar, but without the calories, albeit at a much higher price.

The stevia leaves are steeped in water, like when you make tea, which brings out the sweet flavour. The resultant granules are actually much sweeter than sugar in terms of how much you need to use. Just adding a third of a teaspoon of Truvia is like adding a full teaspoon of sugar into your daily brew.