Stevia vs. LoHan Kuo
I was looking into carrying ATW with Stevia, but they stopped getting back to me. I'll get back on the hunt .
Stevia is good stuff, I use it a lot when cutting. There is another sweetener that is used in the Protein I am currently using listed as LoHanKuo on the jug but it seems it has many slightly different spellings. A quick google search turned up the info below. The chocolate flavored protein I'm using now is the best tasting stuff I've ever tried (other than Muscle Milk) plus it only has 5 grams of sugar per 50 grams of protein.
LUO HAN GUO
Sweet Fruit Used as Sugar Substitute and Medicinal Herb
by Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon
Luo Han Guo (luohanguo) refers to the fruit of Siraitia grosvenori, formerly called Momordica grosvenori, a member of the Curcubitaceae (1). The fruit is well-known for its sweet taste; this plant family (Gourd family) has other members that contain remarkable sweet components, including additional species of the genus Siraitia (e.g., S. siamensis, S. silomaradjae, S. sikkimensis, S. africana, S. borneensis, and S. taiwaniana 2) and the popular herb jiaogulan (Gynostemma pentaphyllum). The latter herb, which has both sweet and bitter tasting triterpene glycosides in its leaves, is now sold worldwide as a tea and made into an extract for use in numerous health-care products (3). Luohanguo has been used as a medicinal herb for treating cough and sore throat (4) and is popularly considered, in southern China, to be a longevity aid (5). These are the same uses as listed for jiaogulan. Luohanguo has more recently been developed into a non-caloric sweetener to compete with other herbal sweeteners such stevioside from the unrelated Stevia leaf. (6).