What is Stevia?
Is Stevia Safe?
I have heard that stevia has side effects?
What are the benefits of Using Stevia?
Where is Stevia Grown?
What are the types or forms of Stevia?
Does Stevia have the same qualities as sugar in cooking recipes?
Will Stevia break down at high temperatures like saccrines or aspartame?
Will Stevia act as a "fuel" for yeast in baking as sugar does?
Why is Stevia just coming onto the market?
Why does Stevia cost so much?
How come diet soft
drinks are not sweetened with Stevia?
Does Stevia have any effect on hypoglycemia?
What is
Stevia? Stevia is of the Composite family, related to lettuce,
marigold and chicory. It was "Officially" discovered in the late 19th century
by Dr. Moises Santiago Bertoni. He was given samples of the plant and he
reported that "one small piece of the leaf will keep the mouth sweet for
an hour". He named the plant Stevia Rebuadiani Bertoni in honor of a Paraguayan
chemist name Rebaudi. Bertoni found that the Guarani Indians had been using
the leaves of the plant to sweeten bitter teas and as a sweet treat.
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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.
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I have heard
that stevia has side effects?
* 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. Scientists in Great Britain said that
according to the studys 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.
* Is Stevia Safe? Absolutely. Stevia has
been used around the world with NO reports of stevia overdose or toxicity
to humans in the past forty years.
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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.
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Where is Stevia
Grown? 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.
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What are the
types or forms of Stevia?
Types of Stevia:
- Stevia Leaves
* Fresh Leaves Most pure form. 8 12%
sweet glycosides : 5-8% Steviosides and 1-2% Rebaudioside A.
* Dried Leaves Dried form of the fresh
leaves. Used in brewing herbal teas and for making liquid extracts.
* Tea Cut Leaves Cut into small pieces
and sifted to remove twigs and other unwanted matter.
* Ground Leaves (Powder) - The dried leaves
ground into a fine powder. Usually about 10 15 times sweeter than sugar.
Used in teas and cooking but does not dissolve.
- Liquid Extracts
* Dark A concentrated syrup derived from
the dried leaves. Usually in a water and alcohol base. Sweetness varies
between manufacturers. This form will offer the greater amount of benefits
from the stevia plant.
* Clear A solution of powdered steviosides
dissolved in water, alcohol or glycerin.
- Powdered Extracts (STEVIOSIDES)
* 40 50% Sweet Glycosides The processed
form of the leaves to concentrate on the sweet glycosides by removing unwanted
plant matter. An off white powder. Commonly referred to as "Stevioside".
* 80 95% Sweet Glycosides - The processed
form of the leaves to concentrate on the sweet glycosides by removing unwanted
plant matter. An off white powder. This powder is 200 300 times sweeter
than sugar. Quality of the powder depends on purity of the glycosides (i.e.
80 95% pure) and the ratio of Rebaudioside A over Stevioside. The higher
the ratio, the better the product. Commonly referred to as "Stevioside".
- Other Forms (STEVIA BLENDS)
* Due to the great strength of the Powdered
Extracts, it is common to add a filler to "tone" down the strength so that
the Stevioside is easier to use and more palatable. These fillers are usually
some form of non-sweet food additive that has little to no nutritive value
such as lactose or maltodextrin.
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Does Stevia
have the same qualities as sugar in cooking recipes? 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,
are not possible. However, other sweets like cookies and fudge are possible although, you may have to work with a recipe to get it to your liking.
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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.
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Will Stevia
act as a "fuel" for yeast in baking as sugar does? No! Stevia is
non-fermentable and therefore will not act as a food source for yeast.
(This is why stevia is great for anyone suffering from Candida!) Breads
will still rise when baked but just not as big.
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Why is Stevia
just coming onto the market? Stevia has been around for a long
time, even in the United States. Early studies on stevia go back to the
1950's but the United States is a nation chin deep in bureaucracy, dirty-politics
and corruption. In the 1950's the sugar industry fought to prevent the
use of Stevia in the United States. Today, the manufacturers of Nutrasweet
(aspartame) have practically bought the FDA to prevent it's approval as
a food additive and therefore a sugar substitute. If you don't believe
me, contact 60 Minutes of CBS. In the Spring of 1997 they aired a report
on how Nutrasweet "bought" influence with the FDA to force the approval
of a sweetener that is now blamed for the illnesses and deaths of thousands
of Americans.
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Why does Stevia
cost so much? There are many reasons actually. 1) Stevia is a plant
that has to be cultivated before it can be used as a sweetener. This requires
large investments of capital to buy plants, farms, equipment, etc. to grow
and harvest the plants. There is also the expense of the equipment to process
the leaves into the pure stevioside. 2) When compared to sugar and the
artificial sweeteners, yes, it is expensive. Stevia is not widely cultivated
like sugar is. Sugar too is very expensive to grow and process
but, with hundreds of countries growing and processing sugar, economics
affects the major factor of price. As for the chemical sweeteners, face facts,
its nothing but a blend of cheap chemicals. That is why it is so profitable.
3) There are also some people in this business (stevia business) that either
have inefficient and expensive suppliers or they are actually (yes I know
this is hard to believe) overpricing for the sake of money. They sell low
quality stevia and/or they sell stevia using tricky and even confusing
marketing practices.
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How come diet
soft drinks are not sweetened with Stevia? The answer is simple:
Money! The diet soft drink market is HUGE, worth billions of dollars and
the manufacturer of Nutrasweet is not about to share that market. So the
armies of lobbyists were called in to make sure the FDA did not allow the
use of Stevia as a food ingredient thereby protecting their market. Nutrasweet
has a patent on aspartame and that patent guarantees big profits whereas
Stevia is a natural plant that can be grown by anyone and everyone.
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Does Stevia
have any effect on hypoglycemia? According to the report 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.
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Do
you have a question about Stevia?
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