Health

If you've ever experienced a tired, groggy, lackluster feeling around two o'clock in the afternoon on a weekday, then you're not alone. Like a dark cloud gathering across the sky, the afternoon "slump" can lower down over you in a matter of minutes, depleting your energy and fogging your mental focus. In other words, it's a daily obstacle you have to contend with…

If you've been keeping up with the Sweetly Stevia blog this month, then you've probably noticed that we've been taking a close look at coffee. We might even be a little obsessed with it. We took a deep dive into the History of Coffee in our most recent blog post to shed light on the otherwise mysterious origins of this worldwide cultural phenomenon, and in our Recipe section we included Iced Coffee, Coffee Creamer, and even Coffee Cake, all sweetened with Sweetly Stevia, of course!

The "keto" diet, or ketogenic diet, is more than just a trend that won't seem to go away. It's actually a highly effective method of shifting the metabolism into "fat burning mode". Overweight individuals who have struggled to lose body fat and keep it off have found remarkable success on the ketogenic diet.

If you and your kids reside in one of the many school districts that have decided to continue online classes for the fall semester, you might already be feeling the pressure build.

Back-to-school season is officially here! As the days become shorter and temperatures cool off, children, teenagers, and college-aged kids are getting ready to head back into the classroom. September marks new beginnings and mixed emotions. A high schooler who's gearing up to begin his or her senior year could feel bittersweet about the graduation to come while a first-grader might already be clinging to his or her mother's leg, terrified of being left with a bunch of scary strangers.

Preventing heart disease should be at the very top of your priority list if you're over the age of 35. Why? Because roughly ⅓ of all the deaths of people 35 and older in the United States are caused by this pervasive--and very preventable--disease.

If you've heard of stevia, you probably know that this leafy plant from South America is the source of an all-natural, calorie-free sweetener called stevia extract. There are countless health benefits to using stevia extract instead of regular sugar in your beverages, baking, and other cuisines thanks to stevia's rich nutrient profile and positive effect on metabolism. But what you might not know is that stevia extract can also nourish you from the outside in, and promote healthy skin and teeth.

Exercising is an important part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The physical activity guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services recommends that adults should do at least 2 ½ to 5 hours a week of moderate-intensity exercise, or 1 to 2 ½ hours a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. In addition, including muscle-strengthening activities 2 or more days a week is also strongly recommended in order to achieve maximum health benefits.

Even though the FDA officially deemed stevia to be a safe alternative to sugar in 2008 and categorized food grade stevia as "GRAS", which stands for "generally recognized as safe", this hasn't always been the case. For many decades, the FDA delayed their food safety approval of stevia, causing the stevia sweetener to be controversial within the health community. But was the FDA's original determination regarding the potential health hazards associated with stevia fair or unfounded? Let's take a look at the science, as well as the politics, behind stevia.

Forget the “freshman 5”, you’re pretty sure you just gained the “corona 19”, or did your recently reopened local gym install a bunch of widening mirrors? Gulp. Probably not. Okay, well, what’s done is done, and now is the time to undo it!