Truvia, Purvia, and Stevia, oh my.

I'm a big fan of the newer low calorie sweeteners. A few years ago, I switched from sugar to Splenda to sweeten my coffee. I almost immediately lost 5 pounds. The problem I have with Splenda is that it is pure chemical. I have concerns about the long term effects. Therefore, I was delighted when Truvia came to the market. Supposedly, it comes from a natural source, the Stevia plant. Apparently, the Japanese have been using stevia extract as a sweetener for years, and it turns out that it appears to even have health benefits.

But, now I've been disappointed. It appears that Truvia, a Coca Cola product, and Purvia, the Pepsi version, are not the same as the Japanese extract. They use rebiana, a little tested derivative of the stevia plant, rather than stevioside, the derivative used by the Japanese. Furthermore, they also include chemicals: isomaltulose (Purevia only) and Erythritol (both).