Stevia is usually in a powder that comes from the leaf of the plant which is native to South America. It is commonly known as sweetleaf, sugarleaf or simply stevia. It has been used for hundreds of years as an alternative sweetener. It is sweeter than sugar and has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar. Different brands will have different tastes.
The FDA banned the importation of stevia as a food sweetener in 1991 and therefore it could only be sold as a "nutritional supplement". It was rumored that a big soft drink company did not want stevia on the market because it would take a cut into the sales of aspartame and the company had somehow convinced the FDA to ban stevia.
Stevia is available at most health food stores and it is widely used in Japan with no adverse effects. According to scientists it has been reported to be safe for human consumption and it has little effect on blood sugar levels. This is something that has been well known in many parts of the world where it has not been banned.
Some of the benefits of stevia are listed below:
- It does not affect blood sugar levels which can help those with hypoglycemia or Type 2 diabetes
- It is helpful in weight loss management because it contains no calories and reduces the craving for sweets and fatty foods.
- Improved digestion observed
- May help lower blood pressure
- There are no known allergies to stevia sweeteners.
Jeffrey Goettenmoeller, author of "Growing and Using Stevia" and "Stevia Sweet Recipes" is quoted as follows: "Stevia has undergone numerous toxicity tests. None of these tests have shown any harmful effects. Few substances can make this claim. The real test, though, was centuries of continuous use by natives of South America. In addition, thousands of tons of stevia extracts have been consumed over the last 20 years in many countries with no harmful effects reported."
A renowned scientist, Daniel Mowrey, MD has done extensive research and reports: "More elaborate safety tests were performed by the Japanese during their evaluation of stevia as a possible sweetening agent. Few substances have ever yielded such consistently negative results in toxicity trials as have stevia. Almost every toxicity test imaginable has been performed on stevia extract [concentrate] or stevioside at one time or another. The results are always negative. No abnormalities in weight change, food intake, cell or membrane characteristics, enzyme and substrate utilization, or chromosome characteristics. No cancer, no birth defects, no acute and no chronic untoward effects. Nothing."
In another report, Rob McCaleb, President of the Herb Research Foundation sees the irony in the ongoing FDA stevia (which he calls 'this embattled herb') saga. On his website, a report on the Foundation tells that stevia has been under FDA import alert since 1991, but "actually, according to the HRF, numerous scientists, and tens of millions of consumers throughout the world, especially in Japan, the herb is safe."
As Mr. McCaleb notes that IF the real point is 'just' about sweetness and stevia has the potential to become a very popular non-caloric sweetener, than what would happen to all the other products currently on the market?
Well, guess what? In December 2008, the FDA gave a "no objection" approval for GRAS ("generally regarded as safe") status to Truvia (developed by Cargill and The Coca-Cola Company) and PureVia (developed by PepsiCo and the Whole Earth Sweetener Company, a subsidiary of Merisant), both of which are extracted from the stevia plant. Numerous products are now appearing in the marketplace with these ingredients.
Even though it is not the whole stevia leaf, this looks like a positive action for consumers as the sweeteners will definitely be safer than aspartame (NutraSweet and Equal) and other artificial sweeteners.
For further information visit: http://www.alternativehealthzone.com