Stevia is an ingredient in commercial foods and drinks and you can also buy it as a dietary supplement, but there are distinct differences between the versions found on the grocery store shelf and in the health food store. This sweet leaf has more than one component, and any or all of them might go by the name stevia. Understanding the differences between stevia preparations and their uses can help you decide whether to add this natural product to your diet.
Stevia Rebaudiana
Stevia rebaudiana is a perennial shrub that grows wild in South America. The leaves of the stevia plant contain steviol glycosides, compounds that taste sweet. Some of the steviol glycosides in stevia include stevioside and rebaudioside A. Stevioside is the sweetest glycoside in the plant, at about 300 times the sweetness of sugar. Whole stevia leaves and extracts of the glycosides are sold as dietary supplements, but only rebaudioside A has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for use as a sweetener.
Sugar Substitute
The primary use of stevia is as a sugar substitute. In the U.S., highly refined preparations of rebaudioside A are marketed under different brand names, including PureVia, Truvia and SweetLeaf. In other countries, such as Japan, stevioside and whole leaf stevia are used as sweeteners for commercially produced drinks and foods. In the U.S., you can buy whole leaf stevia or stevioside as a dietary supplement and use these in home cooking, but cannot commercially sell food or drink products made with these versions of stevia.
Weight Loss
Dieters sometimes use stevia to aid weight loss, as it has no calories and can replace sugar in recipes. Because sugar contains 16 calories in 1 tsp., this can add up to a significant difference in calories when stevia replaces large amounts of sugar. Using stevia in place of sugar does not change your perception of satiety after eating the food, either, according to an August 2010 study in the journal "Appetite." Therefore, it can be an effective way of reducing the total calorie count of the meals you regularly eat, particularly if you consume a lot of foods with sugar.
Diabetes Control
The effect of stevia on diabetes remains under investigation, but preliminary studies indicate that stevioside, but not rebaudioside A, might lower blood glucose levels, according to Drugs.com. Rebaudioside A appears to have a neutral effect, which does not benefit diabetes directly but might be useful for diabetics as a sugar substitute as sugar does directly impact blood glucose in a negative way.
References
- FamilyDoctor.org: Stevia Sweeteners: What You Need to Know; January 2010
- MayoClinic.com; Stevia: Can it Help With Weight Control?; Katherine Zeratsky; November 2010
- Drugs.com: Complete Stevia Information
- USDA: Nutrient Data Laboratory: Sugar
- "Appetite"; Effects of Stevia, Aspartame, and Sucrose on Food Intake, Satiety, and Postprandial Glucose and Insulin Levels; S.D. Anton, et al.; August 2010
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