Now Better Stevia Glycerite Organic Sweetener Review

There’s now a revised version of stevia from Now Foods, called Now Better Stevia Glycerite Zero Calorie Sweetener. We’ve used previous versions of this liquid sugar substitute for a decade and a half, in teas and cereals mainly, and have found it an exciting, healthful, and effective replacement for table sugar. Now Better Stevia Glycerite has no calories, and is significantly sweeter than sugar, honey, nectars, and syrups. Thus, you need less of this herbal sweetener to sweeten well a bottle of tea.

While pound-for-pound, stevia sweeteners cost many times more than carbohydrate-based sweeteners that get their sweetness from sucrose, fructose, and dextrose, this additional money outlay is a smart investment in long-term health. Stevia sweeteners like this one avoid the potential obesity and other health problems long-associated with sugar, because they contain absolutely no calories. Nor is stevia fraught with artificial compounds (unless you count the vegetable glycerin within as a man-made chemical). This latest version is good stuff for many reasons, as detailed next.

Benefits, Features, Pros, and Advantages

Certified organic. Comparing the labels of this new version with the older one, it appears that the newer version of this stevia-based sweetener utilizes a certified organic stevia extract. Older versions were not organic. Also, the water used in the latest version is deionized, and the organic stevia extract itself is purified. So they’ve apparently made some improvements to the manufacturing process.
Natural aroma. This product has a subtle and pleasant aroma that disappears once you put it in your favorite food. Thus stevia’s scent is extremely non intrusive and effectively food-neutral. This makes it easy to identify while in its bottle, yet unobtrusive once stirred into foods and drinks. This scent however, is way less pronounced in this newest version of this sweetener.
Pours like syrup. As did the previous version in the orange-labeled bottle with the white letters and purple trim, Now Better Stevia has the consistency of pure maple syrup. This thickness makes measuring out the liquid easier, as it tends to splash and slosh around much less than the much thinner stevia extracts for example, that incorporate as a base, water and / or alcohol.
Digests easily. We’ve yet to suffer any stomach or intestinal problems from any version of this no-calorie sweetening product. Indeed, using stevia has lowered my high triglycerides from the 400s into the mid 200s.
Clear and colorless, like water, though a bit thicker than water. Thus, it does not discolor any food or beverage into which you put it.
Lightning fast dissolving. Rapidly dissolves in teas and other drinks.
To me, Now Stevia Glyceride Sweetner tastes almost identical to the Truvia sweetner I’ve been using for a few years as well.
Growing in popularity. As big fans of stevia, we’re glad that through products such as this one and others, stevia may well and finally be making its way into mainstream markets; particularly now that soft drink makers are incorporating it into their soda products.
Craving free. Now Better Stevia Glycerite Zero Calorie sweetener does not create craving for more of it. So in my body anyhow, this additive is non addictive, which differs much from sweeteners like fructose, sucrose, or sucralose.
Great for diabetics with sweet teeth. This product can be used by diabetics without fear of raising blood sugar and A1C blood values, because it has no calories and no appreciable carbohydrates. It’s also suitable for vegetarians as it contains no animal products.
Little flavor change in the organic version. We taste little difference (if any) between this latest version and the more established one. So, the enhancements this product boasts are largely hoopla, except that the newer product is organic. However, with the orange-labeled older version disappearing from Internet store shelves, there’s no choice but to pay the little extra for this current revision. While the new version may not appear to be very much improved, it’s definitely no worse off than the old. And, since Now Foods stevia products are by far our favorite sweeteners, we’ll not switch off of them just because the price went up a few pennies.
Bugs don’t care for stevia. This product, when spilled, does not draw bugs nearly to near the degree that sugar or syrup does. It’s easy to wipe up as well. You just sop it up with a damp cloth.
Alcohol free. This sweetener contains no alcohol and so, lacks the bitterness found in the alcohol-based sweetener extracts. Nor does it contain salt, yeast, wheat, gluten, corn, egg, soy, shellfish, or any artificial sweeteners, flavors, colors, or any other artificial ingredient for that matter.

Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, Concerns, and Suggested Improvements

Significantly more expensive. This sweetener is many times more expensive than sugar in terms of cost per ounce. we paid roughly $14 for one eight-ounce bottle, which lasts approximately two weeks when used exclusively to sweeten beverages throughout the day. Hopefully, as knowledge of stevia’s health benefits spreads more widely and people start consuming more of it, that its price will fall. Prices have in fact begun their decline. We bought a case of 12 bottles for a cost of $13 each.
Organic version costs more. Nor did the price drop with this latest stevia version. In fact, the new version is slightly more expensive than the last time I purchased stevia over a year ago. But admittedly, this increase could have resulted from inflation as opposed to the suggested retail price rising under direction of the manufacturer.
May not remain dissolved. Sometimes, when tea is left to stand for a while, it seems that the stevia rises to the top of the cup, making the first few sips extraordinarily sweet, and leaving the last few swigs at the bottom notably lacking in sweetness. So, stir your tea each time you pick it up for a drink, just to be sure that the stevia has not separated. This is still a problem, even in this latest version of the product.
Not sold in many mainstream grocery stores. Now sweetener products in general can be hard to find in local grocery stores. Currently, we order it online. But if you do locate some in a brick-and-mortar establishment, it generally costs a few dollars more per bottle than when you buy via the Internet, and that’s factoring in the shipping costs too.

Sweetener Rating

But though we have a greater cost for this sweetener and more difficulty finding places to get it for a fair price, I would still, recommend Now Better Stevia Glycerite Zero Calorie sweetener to anyone looking to improve their blood fat values and better their overall health. I’d rate this sweetener at 97 out of 100.

Where To Buy Now Better Stevia Glycerite Zero Calorie Sweetener

Look for the dark brown but transparent bottles with the blue, white, and purple labels in health food and major grocery shops, and check out the online shops on the Internet as well, as these tend to offer quantity discounts for this product, and are generally cheaper to begin with. Do enjoy the sweetness without the health impacts of the empty sugar calories.

References

Revision History

2015-01-27: Moved this post to the Tom’s Diet Quest blog, and tweaked the content. Adjusted ad placement, added whitespace, and extended the References section.
2012-04-19: Originally published.