Try stevia if you want a non-nutritive sweetener to replace sugar in your diet. The leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, a herbaceous annual plant in the sunflower family, native to South America, contain a sweet, crystalline chemical called stevioside, or ribaudoside-A. It is 300 times as sweet as table sugar, but without calories. Dr. T. Ombrello, a biologist at Union County College in New Jersey, adds that stevia contains no nutritional value, but may exert a powerful influence over your nutrition.
FDA Designation
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, granted the Generally Recognized As Safe, or GRAS, designation to stevia in 2008 as a food and beverage sweetener. Mayo Clinic nutritionist Katherine Zeratsky cautions that this approval applies only to moderate doses, equivalent to the sweetness of the sugar it replaces in a normal diet. However, pregnant or breast-feeding women are advised to avoid stevia. Sugar supplies energy you need during those times, and stevia's effects on those conditions are not well understood. Check with your doctor about nutritional risks and benefits of stevia.
Overeating
You might overeat and gain weight if you replace sugar with stevia, say Purdue University researchers in a 2008 report published in the journal "Behavioral Neuroscience." Stevia, like other non-caloric sweeteners, caters to your "sweet tooth." Most overweight people are accustomed to more dietary sweets than a healthy diet and weight require. While stevia adds no calories or nutrition, it may keep dieters from getting used to healthier nutrition.
Blood Sugar
Eat sweets, even non-caloric and non-nutritive sugar substitutes such as stevia, and you will stimulate your insulin to use up your remaining blood sugar. This leaves you hungrier, unbalances your nutritional status and increases your temptation to overeat. The March 6, 2008, edition of "Natural News" cites research documenting a 30 to 40 percent increased probability of metabolic disorders in people who consume one diet drink per day. The Purdue University researchers observed this effect in laboratory rats, which gained weight on a controlled laboratory diet containing artificial sweeteners.
Blood Pressure and Kidneys
Avoid high stevia consumption if you have kidney disease or impaired urinary flow. Nutritional sodium intake will require careful control. Stevia may alter sodium excretion along with kidney function. Use stevia cautiously in your overall nutrition plan if you have blood pressure problems, or if you take medication to control your blood pressure. According to a 2009 report by the Preventive Medicine Research Institute, stevia lowers blood pressure in some people and increases the potency of some blood pressure drugs. If you have any of the above conditions, consult your doctor before you alter your nutrition with stevia.
Reproduction
Do not use large amounts of stevia if you are male. Health care researchers at Zhion.com cite scientific research on laboratory animals that suggests high doses of stevia produce a decrease in the weight of testis, the seminal vesicles and cauda epididymidis, important parts of your reproductive system. It also drops plasma testosterone levels below normal. Some indication of reduced sperm count was also noted.
Member Comments