Is Stevia Safe?
Stevia has been used since pre-Colombian times with no reports of ill side affects. Stevia has also withstood years of research that has proven Stevia to be safe for human and animal consumption.
Originally stevia grew wild in the highland region of Northern Paraguay and Southern Brazil. It was later cultivated for use as a sweetener until the introduction of sugar cane by the Spanish and Portuguese. Today Stevia is grown around the world from China, Japan and other Asian countries to South America, Europe, India, the Ukraine and even North America.
What are the benefits of using Stevia?
Studies have shown the following benefits from using Stevia in one's diet. These benefits have not been approved or confirmed by the FDA.
No! The molecular structures of sucrose and Stevioside are completely different. Sucrose (Sugar) when heated will caramelize making such delights as cookies, fudge and ... caramel, a possibility. Stevia will not. Some sweets, like caramel, is not possible, yet, but other sweets like cookies and fudge are possible if you can figure out how.
Will Stevia break down at high temperatures like saccrines or aspartame?
No! The fact that stevia is heat stable is one of the real great properties of Stevia. Stevioside is heat stable to about 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit). So it can be used in almost any recipe.
How come diet soft drinks are not sweetened with Stevia?
Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and Cargill are starting to use stevia in Canada (Stevia News). The diet soft drink market is HUGH, worth billions of dollars. After December 2008 when US FDA stated it had no objection for use stevia as a general purpose sweetener, Coca-Cola and Pepsi start to introduce calorie-free beverages sweetened with stevia derivatives (Truvia for Coke, PureVia for Pepsi), including Coke's Odwalla juice and Pepsi's SoBe Life.
Stevia have any effect on hypoglycemia?
According to the research studies the effect of the stevioside and of the aqueous extract of Stevia Rebaudiana (BERT) Bertoni on the glycemia of normal and diabetic rats By: Professor Carlos Eduardo Pinheiro, Presented to the II Brazilian Convention on Stevia rebaudiana (Bert) Bertoni - September 1982, they found that the use of Stevia did not produce any significant glycemic effects in normal or diabetic rats. In other words, stevia does not add sugar to the blood stream as sugar or even fruit can do. This allows the body to regulate the blood's sugar levels naturally. Of course if you drink tea with stevia with a twinkie, all bets are off but if you are careful with your diet, stevia is a wonderful way to satisfy your cravings for sweets without sugar. Reference
How and where to buy good quality stevia? Click here
Pure stevia extract should not have any other ingredient than stevioside and rebaudioside-A which comes naturally in the stevia plant. On the other hand, big companies want to make it affordable and last longer on the shelves. That's exactly why it is so hard to find out what's in stevia products, and if you do, why you don’t see the amount of each ingredient on the label, and why not all stevia tastes the same.
Most of stevia you found online or on the shelves contain some sort of sweet substance or fillers such as Erythritol, Talin, Dextrose and/or Maltodextrin to mask the bitterness, last longer on the shelves and make it cheap and affordable for consumers to buy.
Although some may contain highly purified rebaudiaside A (the sweetest part of the plant), it is still unclear how much stevioside or rebaudiaside A in the product. Some Stevia labels say "90 or 95% Stevioside", this doesn’t mean it’s a high grade or it has no bitterness and aftertaste. It is simply misleading. Stevioside has an aftertaste even if it is 99% purified, but Rebaudioside A does not possess an aftertaste and has a sweetness flavor comparable to sugar. In other word, best and good quality stevia is the pure Concentrated Rebaudiana-A 50% - 99%.
Stevia has been used since pre-Colombian times with no reports of ill side affects. Stevia has also withstood years of research that has proven Stevia to be safe for human and animal consumption.
- Is Stevia Toxic? – No. Stevia has been used in Japan since 1970 and there have been no reports of toxicity or other side effects.
- Mutagenic? – No. The Japanese Food and Drug Safety Center has found stevia not to be mutagenic. Only one study has shown stevia to be potentially a mutagenic and this study has been criticized for errors in procedure. Scientist in Great Britain said that according to the study’s formula, distilled water is mutagenic.
- A contraceptive? Two studies showed stevia to have a contraceptive effect. The first study was done in Uruguay over 30 years ago and since then no one has been able to reproduce the results. The second study was done by a graduate student in Rio de Janeiro and the results and methods have been questionable. Multiple other studies have shown that stevia has no contraceptive effect.
Originally stevia grew wild in the highland region of Northern Paraguay and Southern Brazil. It was later cultivated for use as a sweetener until the introduction of sugar cane by the Spanish and Portuguese. Today Stevia is grown around the world from China, Japan and other Asian countries to South America, Europe, India, the Ukraine and even North America.
What are the benefits of using Stevia?
Studies have shown the following benefits from using Stevia in one's diet. These benefits have not been approved or confirmed by the FDA.
- Sugarless with no calories
- Will not effect blood sugar levels like sugar does.
- 100% Natural
- 250 to 300 times sweeter than sugar
- Heat stable to 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Non-fermentable
- Flavor enhancer
- Plaque retardant Anti-caries (prevents cavities)
- Recommended for diabetics
- Non-toxic Extensively tested in animals and Extensively used by humans with no adverse effects.
No! The molecular structures of sucrose and Stevioside are completely different. Sucrose (Sugar) when heated will caramelize making such delights as cookies, fudge and ... caramel, a possibility. Stevia will not. Some sweets, like caramel, is not possible, yet, but other sweets like cookies and fudge are possible if you can figure out how.
Will Stevia break down at high temperatures like saccrines or aspartame?
No! The fact that stevia is heat stable is one of the real great properties of Stevia. Stevioside is heat stable to about 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit). So it can be used in almost any recipe.
How come diet soft drinks are not sweetened with Stevia?
Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and Cargill are starting to use stevia in Canada (Stevia News). The diet soft drink market is HUGH, worth billions of dollars. After December 2008 when US FDA stated it had no objection for use stevia as a general purpose sweetener, Coca-Cola and Pepsi start to introduce calorie-free beverages sweetened with stevia derivatives (Truvia for Coke, PureVia for Pepsi), including Coke's Odwalla juice and Pepsi's SoBe Life.
Stevia have any effect on hypoglycemia?
According to the research studies the effect of the stevioside and of the aqueous extract of Stevia Rebaudiana (BERT) Bertoni on the glycemia of normal and diabetic rats By: Professor Carlos Eduardo Pinheiro, Presented to the II Brazilian Convention on Stevia rebaudiana (Bert) Bertoni - September 1982, they found that the use of Stevia did not produce any significant glycemic effects in normal or diabetic rats. In other words, stevia does not add sugar to the blood stream as sugar or even fruit can do. This allows the body to regulate the blood's sugar levels naturally. Of course if you drink tea with stevia with a twinkie, all bets are off but if you are careful with your diet, stevia is a wonderful way to satisfy your cravings for sweets without sugar. Reference
How and where to buy good quality stevia? Click here
Pure stevia extract should not have any other ingredient than stevioside and rebaudioside-A which comes naturally in the stevia plant. On the other hand, big companies want to make it affordable and last longer on the shelves. That's exactly why it is so hard to find out what's in stevia products, and if you do, why you don’t see the amount of each ingredient on the label, and why not all stevia tastes the same.
Most of stevia you found online or on the shelves contain some sort of sweet substance or fillers such as Erythritol, Talin, Dextrose and/or Maltodextrin to mask the bitterness, last longer on the shelves and make it cheap and affordable for consumers to buy.
Although some may contain highly purified rebaudiaside A (the sweetest part of the plant), it is still unclear how much stevioside or rebaudiaside A in the product. Some Stevia labels say "90 or 95% Stevioside", this doesn’t mean it’s a high grade or it has no bitterness and aftertaste. It is simply misleading. Stevioside has an aftertaste even if it is 99% purified, but Rebaudioside A does not possess an aftertaste and has a sweetness flavor comparable to sugar. In other word, best and good quality stevia is the pure Concentrated Rebaudiana-A 50% - 99%.