Sodium Recommendations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends you consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium daily. If you are 51 years or older, of African American descent or have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease, you should limit yourself to just 1,500 milligrams per day.odium Recommendations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends you consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium daily. If you are 51 years or older, of African American descent or have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease, you should limit yourself to just 1,500 milligrams per day.
Due to consumer demands for more organic and less processed products, natural sweeteners such as stevia, agave nectar and sugar alcohols have recently claimed the spotlight. Stevia. Stevia is a plant native to Central and South America that has been consumed outside the United States for over 200 years. The steviol glycosides are the sweetest portion of the plant. When isolated and purified, the steviol glycosides are 250 times sweeter than sugar.
Taste. The leaves of stevia can be used directly for sweetening, but the taste quality is not as good as the purified glycosides. Stevioside is about 200 times as sweet as sucrose, with significant bitter taste and licorice-like taste at higher concentrations.Its onset is slower than sucrose, and its sweetness lingers.hat it is: Stevia is a plant, Stevia rebaudiana, native to Paraguay. The plant has been used as a sweetener for centuries by the Guarani guaranÃ­ people of this. Region the plant contains a number of diterpene glycosides that taste; sweet the main ones are stevioside and Rebaudioside. a