Stevia — Hype or Hope?
Following up to the piece the other day about the safety of artificial sweeteners, time to cover another sweetener that comes from a plant and has made some serious waves in the nutrition market, as it’s commonly pitched as the "natural sweetener." It’s Stevia.
Is IT the answer to shedding body fat healthfully?
Is it a safe alternative to Splenda and Equal?
OF COURSE — it’s natural!
Hope you didn’t fall for that, did you?
There a lot of "natural" herbs and other ingredients that we should probably stay away from.
Let’s find out the truth.
Stevia is a relatively new comer in terms of popularity, even though it’s been used for 100′s of years. It’s exploded in the last few years as consumers are looking for a "natural" calorie free alternative to artificial sweeteners.
Stevia fits that bill. Stevia’s real name is Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) and it is an herb native to Paraguay and Brazil.
But, while it has been used for 100′s of year now, it has always been labeled a "dietary supplement" since it didn’t have the OK from the FDA as a food ingredient.
There were some concerns with Stevia after early studies suggested there may be some concern with its use with fertility and reproductive development and even genetic mutations! Lo and behold, more recent data submitted to the FDA regarding the safety of a Stevia extract, known as Reb A, granted this particular extract GRAS status (generally recognized as safe). This was in December 2008/
However, the FDA still maintained the position about calling Stevia at dietary supplement with this statement "Reb A is different than whole leaf stevia or other stevia extracts, which can only be sold as dietary supplements." They continued "Nobody has provided the FDA with evidence that whole-leaf stevia is safe."
In fact, one consumer advocacy group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) stands by their position that Reb A GRAS status was granted too early, suggesting not enough supportive safety data is available.
As usual, there are of course two sides to each story. Let’s look at the pros and cons of this ingredient.
Pros:
- Stevia is about 250-300 times sweeter than sugar
- Stevia is stable to heat, making it safe for cooking
- Stevia is calorie free
- Stevia doesn’t promote dental caries like sugar
Cons:
- It has a bitter taste that some may not enjoy, also making it difficult to include in large quantities (in baking, for example).
- It’s more expensive than most other sweeteners
- Data is mixed here – some show DNA damage with high doses of stevia intake, others show no effect at all.
From what we know now, the FDA considers Reb A safe…
If searching for this in the store, look for either "Truvia" and "PureVia" — the consumer names for the Stevia extract.
Or, you can maybe find a stevia plant, like I did, at our local farmers market.
What do you think? Is Stevia the next big thing in terms of sugar replacements?
August 20th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Thanks for the 411 on Stevia. I was a little caught up in the hype and had hopes that this was the answer to low-cal sweet tea. I guess I will keep my tea unsweet!
[Reply]
August 20th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Stevia is a decent alternative. Don’t be fooled by what the government says about it though, aspartame and it’s ‘offsprings’ have been padding the pockets of politicians for years. Just google it and follow the money trail. It’s amazing how aspartame was approved for human use.
[Reply]
August 20th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Thanks for the information, dna damage at high doses? I don’t know, think i rather stay away from sweeteners artificial or natural …
[Reply]
August 20th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
I heard about Stevia years ago- a good friend mentioned that she and her husband used it for years (he has Type 1 diabetes) but they had difficulty finding it. They felt it was “more natural” than saccharin/aspartame, etc. Interesting to see it on the grocery shelves everywhere now.
[Reply]
August 20th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
But “high doses” … hardly what I use. Two drops of liquid stevia in two cups of coffee per day (morning and occasionally evening) is hardly “high dosage”. And as for the fertility issue – if it indeed is true – at 50 I don’t really care
if it were true I might dare stop the Pill, but better not take the chance (yes, I still need it).
Either way, I’d rather use a small dose of something from a plant, than any dose from a lab. I’ll see if I can find a plant, infusing some leaves and using the water (I assume?) would probably be the safest sweetener there is.
It’s true though: not everything natural is good for you
some mushrooms will kill you, as will juice form the curare plant! Stevia is hardly in that category luckily.
[Reply]
August 20th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
I find these discussions so interesting, and there are so many “research studies” out there that offer varying conclusions. More and more, I am coming to understand and appreciate the need to avoid artificial sweeteners and to be wary of “natural” ones. Thanks, Kara and Chris!
[Reply]
August 20th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
No kidding! I agree with Sterling. Don\’t be fooled by what the government approves. The government approves all kinds of things that are insanely dangerous or toxic.
[Reply]
August 20th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Very little the FDA or government as they are bought and paid for. Atevia has been a good supplement for at least 10 years. Xylitol is better and it helps fight gum disease. The best if fairly new Lakanto is the best and safest, it is a delicious ZERO calorie All-Natural Sweetener.
[Reply]
August 21st, 2009 at 2:24 am
The faster the FDA and other government agencies approve things, the more I stay away from those things
What\\\’s interesting is that Stevia is not sold in the EU nor in Norway. They claim it\\\’s not safe and push aspartame etc instead … more profit from a lab-product I suppose?
[Reply]
August 21st, 2009 at 5:16 am
Has anyone ever heard of Xylitol? I was trying to find chewing gum that did not have aspartame. I went to Whole Food and they sell gum sweetened with Xylitol. The gum was really good, the package said it\’s a natural sweetener so that is what I have been chewing ever since. Now I am a little worried that maybe it\’s not so natural. Let me know if you know anything about this stuff. Thanks!!
[Reply]
Chris and Kara Mohr Reply:
August 21st, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Hey Erin — xylitol is known as a sugar alcohol. It’s the topic of our next newsletter, so stay tuned!
Chris
[Reply]
Elizabeth Reply:
August 21st, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Hey Erin!
According to a doctor I receive newsletters from, he talks about gum as not being good to chew at all. Our bodies weren’t meant to chew all the time. When we chew our food, digestive enzymes are being released in order to digest our foods. When we chew gum, digestive enzymes are being released unnecessarily because there is nothing there for them to digest. Now I can’t necessarily remember what this causes, maybe more acid in the stomach than necessary, making it hard on the stomach. Either way, since I read his article, I just quit chewing gum.
Here is a link: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/04/13/the-questionable-science-of-gum-chewing.aspx
[Reply]
August 21st, 2009 at 11:29 am
I had a stevia plant at one time and thought I could just grind up the leaves and voila I would have a sugary syrup…ummm no….It tasted like bitter, slightly sweet grass lol – that’s because (from what I understand) the sweetness in the powder/liquid form comes from the extract? So I don’t see how we could grow our own stevia plants in order to use it in its most natural state – which of course makes us rely on the store-bought stuff if we decide to use stevia. Wish there was a more straight-forward answer to this…
[Reply]
August 21st, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Maybe we should think back to the Cro Magnon (i.e. cave men) and just take a little honey from time to time … raw, cold-slung honey from a local bee farm.
Cut the coffee which the hunter-gatherer forefathers did not drink, same for tea; just have water, berries, fruit, fresh eggs and meat/fish, veggies …
Never mind learning to read labels, buy food with no labels on!
I think the hippies had a good idea at the base – back to nature – but without the “grass” …
[Reply]
August 22nd, 2009 at 5:57 am
I will agree about the after taste of the srevia as well as t being overly sweet. i try to limit my splenda use to morning coffee and then drink as much water and seltzer as possible throughout the day
[Reply]
August 28th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Just curious–How do you use stevia when you plant it? I have used the powder form and like it.
[Reply]
August 30th, 2009 at 4:20 am
Hi from Finland! Stevia is very difficult to get hold of here, although seeds are available and powder and liquid from a couple of places – without a mention of its use as sweetener. We hope that Coca-Cola and Pepsi make it to the EU market with their stevia extracts; makes it easier for stevia to enter the market as sweetener.
My husband was cured from diabetes by replacing sugar with stevia for a year (I bought the stevia directly from China). Now sugar values are good and there is no need for medication.
Xylitol has been used for decades in Finland. It comes from the European birch tree. You just cut some branches in spring time and collect the sap into bottles tied to branches. You can use this health drink as such or freeze for winter use. From this sap comes Xylitol that prevents caries of teeth. Kids are encouraged to chew Xylitol chewing gum after having a meal to cancel the bacteria attack.
My five pennies worth. All the best to everyone! =)
[Reply]
August 11th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Xylitol = upset stomach for me…I cannot tolerate sugar alcohols in large quantities.
IMHO, stevia is overrated. There is no proof that it safer than artificial sweeteners. Just because something is not made in a lab does not mean it’s not any less of a chemical foreign to our bodies. How do you think drugs are made? One method is finding a chemical in nature (ex. from a plant source) and manipulating it into a drug that is synthesized in a lab. Plenty of herbs contain chemicals toxic to humans. Aspartame is a combination of two amino acids, which are both “natural.”
[Reply]
August 11th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Xylitol = upset stomach for me…I cannot tolerate sugar alcohols in large quantities.
IMHO, stevia is overrated. There is no proof that it safer than artificial sweeteners. Just because something is not made in a lab does not mean it\’s not any less of a chemical foreign to our bodies. How do you think drugs are made? One method is finding a chemical in nature (ex. from a plant source) and manipulating it into a drug that is synthesized in a lab. Plenty of herbs contain chemicals toxic to humans. Aspartame is a combination of two amino acids, which are both \"natural.\"
[Reply]
September 17th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
I am not going to argue with you on the points you brought up in your posts but you should know there are always two sides of the coin.
[Reply]
August 23rd, 2011 at 9:51 am
Don’t hold your breath for anyone to come up with the funds to submit the proof to FDA that whole Stevia is a food. Stevia extract will remain a dietary supplement per FDA because nobody can patent the whole plant, so nobody can own it to market it exclusively, so nobody will ever sink the startup money into the labor of an FDA application. This is not unique to Stevia, but is true of many, many (all?) plants that would otherwise fall into the Food (F) or the Drug (D) categories under FDA regulation. It’s why so many herbal remedies, that may have 3000 years of consistent case evidence backing them up, remain “dietary supplements” instead of the pharmaceuticals they are in Europe and Asia – because in the US they are overseen by FDA for market safety, and no company can patent them as they occur in nature. Not enough profit to drive it.
[Reply]