What is Stevia?
Stevia is a green, leafy plant that is native to South America. It has been used for medicinal purposes for many centuries. The plant has also been bred for its strong, sweet flavor and used as a sweetener. However, the refined stevia sweeteners used today often don’t resemble the whole stevia plant at all. You can buy whole or crushed stevia leaves, but most often you are getting an extract (either liquid or powder), or a refined version of the plant’s isolated sweet compounds.
The two major sweet compounds that are isolated from the stevia leaves are called Stevioside and Rebaudioside A. These two compounds are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar. Here is an important point… most of the studies use stevioside, the isolated sweet compound. It would be hard to reach pharmacologically active doses of stevioside just by using stevia as a sweetener. Stevia is about 10% stevioside, by weight.
People often confuse stevia with another sweetener called Truvia, but they are not the same. Truvia is a blend of compounds, one of which is extracted from stevia leaves.
Bottom line:
Stevia is a naturally occurring, zero-calorie sweetener. The two major sweet compounds in stevia are called Stevioside and Rebaudioside A.
Stevia is Zero Calorie Sweetener
Stevia is a 100% natural, zero calorie sweetener with a number of health benefits that have been confirmed in human studies. Source: http://authoritynutrition.com
Stevia Can Lower Blood Pressure
Elevated blood pressure is a major risk factor for many serious diseases. This includes heart disease, stroke and kidney failure. Studies have shown that taking stevioside (one of stevia’s sweet compounds) as a supplement can reduce blood pressure. One of these studies was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 174 Chinese patients (1). In this study, patients took either 500 mg of stevioside or placebo (dummy pill), 3 times per day.
These were the results after two years in the group taking stevioside:
● Systolic blood pressure: went from 150 to 140 mmHg.
● Diastolic blood pressure: went from 95 down to 89 mmHg.
In this study, the stevioside group also had a lower risk of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy, an enlarging of the heart that can be caused by elevated blood pressure. The stevioside group also had improved quality of life. There are also other studies in both humans and animals showing that stevioside can lower blood pressure (2, 3, 4). The mechanism is not well understood, but some researchers have suggested that stevioside may act by blocking calcium ion channels in cell membranes, a mechanism similar to some blood pressure lowering drugs (5).
Keep in mind that it would be hard to reach these large daily doses with regular use, so just sweetening things with a little stevia here and there probably won’t have such a potent blood pressure lowering effect.
Bottom line:
Studies suggest that stevioside, one of the sweet compounds in stevia, can lower blood pressurewhen it is unnaturally high. However, these studies used very large doses.
Source: http://authoritynutrition.com/stevia
Stevia May Lower Blood Sugar Levels and Help Fight Diabetes
Type II diabetes is currently one of the biggest health problems in the world. It is characterized by elevated blood sugar in the context of insulin resistance or an inability to produce insulin.
Stevia has been studied in diabetic patients with impressive results. In one of the studies, type 2 diabetic patients took either 1 gram of stevioside with a meal, or 1 gram of maize starch. The group taking stevioside had a reduction in blood sugar by about 18% (6). Another study compared sucrose (regular sugar), aspartame and stevia. It found that stevia lowered both blood sugar and insulin levels after a meal, compared to the other two sweeteners (7).
Other studies in animals and test tubes have shown that stevioside may increase production of insulin, as well as make the cells more sensitive to its effects (8, 9). Insulin is the hormone that drives blood sugar into cells, so this appears to be the mechanism behind stevia’s blood sugar lowering effects.
Bottom line:
Stevioside appears to improve function of the hormone insulin, helping to lower blood sugar levels. This may be useful for people with type 2 diabetes.
Source: http://authoritynutrition.com/stevia
Stevia is a green, leafy plant that is native to South America. It has been used for medicinal purposes for many centuries. The plant has also been bred for its strong, sweet flavor and used as a sweetener. However, the refined stevia sweeteners used today often don’t resemble the whole stevia plant at all. You can buy whole or crushed stevia leaves, but most often you are getting an extract (either liquid or powder), or a refined version of the plant’s isolated sweet compounds.
The two major sweet compounds that are isolated from the stevia leaves are called Stevioside and Rebaudioside A. These two compounds are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar. Here is an important point… most of the studies use stevioside, the isolated sweet compound. It would be hard to reach pharmacologically active doses of stevioside just by using stevia as a sweetener. Stevia is about 10% stevioside, by weight.
People often confuse stevia with another sweetener called Truvia, but they are not the same. Truvia is a blend of compounds, one of which is extracted from stevia leaves.
Bottom line:
Stevia is a naturally occurring, zero-calorie sweetener. The two major sweet compounds in stevia are called Stevioside and Rebaudioside A.
Stevia is Zero Calorie Sweetener
Stevia is a 100% natural, zero calorie sweetener with a number of health benefits that have been confirmed in human studies. Source: http://authoritynutrition.com
Stevia Can Lower Blood Pressure
Elevated blood pressure is a major risk factor for many serious diseases. This includes heart disease, stroke and kidney failure. Studies have shown that taking stevioside (one of stevia’s sweet compounds) as a supplement can reduce blood pressure. One of these studies was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 174 Chinese patients (1). In this study, patients took either 500 mg of stevioside or placebo (dummy pill), 3 times per day.
These were the results after two years in the group taking stevioside:
● Systolic blood pressure: went from 150 to 140 mmHg.
● Diastolic blood pressure: went from 95 down to 89 mmHg.
In this study, the stevioside group also had a lower risk of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy, an enlarging of the heart that can be caused by elevated blood pressure. The stevioside group also had improved quality of life. There are also other studies in both humans and animals showing that stevioside can lower blood pressure (2, 3, 4). The mechanism is not well understood, but some researchers have suggested that stevioside may act by blocking calcium ion channels in cell membranes, a mechanism similar to some blood pressure lowering drugs (5).
Keep in mind that it would be hard to reach these large daily doses with regular use, so just sweetening things with a little stevia here and there probably won’t have such a potent blood pressure lowering effect.
Bottom line:
Studies suggest that stevioside, one of the sweet compounds in stevia, can lower blood pressurewhen it is unnaturally high. However, these studies used very large doses.
Source: http://authoritynutrition.com/stevia
Stevia May Lower Blood Sugar Levels and Help Fight Diabetes
Type II diabetes is currently one of the biggest health problems in the world. It is characterized by elevated blood sugar in the context of insulin resistance or an inability to produce insulin.
Stevia has been studied in diabetic patients with impressive results. In one of the studies, type 2 diabetic patients took either 1 gram of stevioside with a meal, or 1 gram of maize starch. The group taking stevioside had a reduction in blood sugar by about 18% (6). Another study compared sucrose (regular sugar), aspartame and stevia. It found that stevia lowered both blood sugar and insulin levels after a meal, compared to the other two sweeteners (7).
Other studies in animals and test tubes have shown that stevioside may increase production of insulin, as well as make the cells more sensitive to its effects (8, 9). Insulin is the hormone that drives blood sugar into cells, so this appears to be the mechanism behind stevia’s blood sugar lowering effects.
Bottom line:
Stevioside appears to improve function of the hormone insulin, helping to lower blood sugar levels. This may be useful for people with type 2 diabetes.
Source: http://authoritynutrition.com/stevia
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