Stevia is an sweetener that is increasingly integrated in products on the supermarket shelves. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recognizes stevia as safe, clearing the way for foodmakers to use it in a variety of products. Interest in stevia is high because it comes from a plant and has virtually no calories and no carbs, and therefore won't raise blood sugar like sugar and other sweeteners. In fact, stevia can potentially treat diabetes and hyperglycemia, says a Yeshiva University registered dietitian. For that reason, some public health authorities, like the American Dietetic Association, want more study on the health benefits of stevia as it becomes more mainstream in the United States.
Stevia Facts
Known as caáché or hierba dulce in Spanish and sweet Leaf and sweet herb in English, stevia comes from a family of plants native to South American countries like Paraguay and Brazil. It's also been cultivated in Israel, Japan, Korea and China. It is many hundred times sweeter than regular table sugar and has been growing in use in the United States since its long-awaited "generally recognized as safe" status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Dec. 2008.
Stevia and Blood Sugar
As a relatively new entrant to the no-calorie sweetener market in the United States, stevia is practically celebrated because it is a natural sweetener created from the leaves of plants, rather than artificially created in a factory. Because it contains no calories, it does not raise your blood sugar. Authors of an article in Texas A&M's Health Hints say that stevia contributes so few calories that your body uses more calories just to burn it off, leaving essentially nothing behind to be converted to blood sugar. The University of Utah Health Care reports that stevia helps keep your blood sugar stable.
Safety for Diabetics
Because of its negligible effect on blood sugar, stevia has been studied as a possible treatment for type 2 diabetes. In a review of research, Georgetown University Medical Center reported that stevia significantly reduced blood sugar response to meals in one study. The center also reported stevia shows improvement of blood pressure. However, to the contrary, the "Health Hint" authors advise caution because stevia has been linked with hypoglycemia and hypotension in the presence of diabetes and blood pressure medications. More than two-thirds of diabetics have high blood pressure.
Daily Limits
The American Dietetic Association states that the Reb A-based stevia sweeteners, or the highly purified form of the sweetener from the Stevia rebaudiana plant species, is safe consumption as a "tabletop sweetener" or ingredient in foods and beverages. The association acknowledges that evidence to date suggests that a safe daily intake is up to 4 mg per kilogram of body weight each day. This recommendation is based on research from the World Health Organization's Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives. For reference, a 150-lb person weighs about 68 kg.
References
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Has Stevia Been Approved by FDA to Be Used as a Sweetener?
- Georgetown University Medical Center: Stevia
- Yeshiva University; Stevia: Is It Time for Another Look?; Elena M. Tateo
- "HealthHints"; Sugar Substitutes: Weight Loss, Diabetes, Safety, Nutrition?; Janet M. Pollard, et al.; April/May 2010
- American Dietetic Association; Stevia; Julie Upton; June 2009
- University of Utah Health Care: The Sweet Scoop on Stevia
