Stevia: 300x sweeter than sugar, no carbs & good for diabetics

I stumbled across this plant while looking through a seed catalog and decided to do some more reading. Its actually quite fascinating. It is widely available in Japan, but in the US its the subject of some controversy over whether or not it is "safe" as a food additive. This isn't because of evidence that it is dangerous, simply because of lack of evidence that it isn't.


Stevia (aka Sweetleaf, Sweet Leaf, or Sugar Leaf) is a plant that has been used for hundreds of years as a sweetener. With its extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, stevia has garnered attention with the rise in demand for low-carbohydrate, low-sugar food alternatives. Stevia also has shown promise in medical research for treating such conditions as obesity[1] and high blood pressure.[2][3] Stevia has negligible effect on blood glucose, therefore it is attractive as a natural sweetener to diabetics and others on carbohydrate-controlled diets. However, health and political controversies have limited stevia's availablility in many countries; for example, the United States banned it in the early 1990s. Stevia is widely used as a sweetener in Japan, and it is now available in the US and Canada as a food supplement, although not as a food additive.

"In 1931, two French chemists isolated the glycosides that give stevia its sweet taste.These extracts were named stevioside and rebaudioside. These compounds are 250â??300 times sweeter than sucrose (ordinary table sugar), heat stable, pH stable, and non-fermentable." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia

How the sugar industry attempted to keep stevia from being competition:

Stevia occurs naturally, requiring no patent to produce it. As a consequence, since the import ban in 1991, marketers and consumers of stevia have shared a belief that the sweetener industry pressured the FDA to keep stevia out of the United States. Arizona congressman Jon Kyl, for example, called the FDA action against stevia "a restraint of trade to benefit the artificial sweetener industry."[15] To date, the FDA has never revealed the source of the original complaint in its responses to requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

The FDA requires proof of safety before recognizing a food additive as safe. A similar burden of proof is required for the FDA to ban a substance or label it unsafe. Nevertheless, stevia remained banned until after the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act forced the FDA in 1995 to revise its stance to permit stevia to be used as a dietary supplement, although not as a food additive â?? a position that stevia proponents regard as contradictory because it simultaneously labels stevia as safe and unsafe, depending on how it is sold.[16]



Pretty cool. This spring I'm gonna grow one. The only problem is you don't want to grow from seed because stevioside content can vary greatly from one plant to another. It is best to grow from cuttings from plants that are already known to be good producers.

I don't trust the FDA, but maybe I'll give in another 50 or 60 years and if I'm still around and that stuff hasn't fucked anyone up, then maybe I'll take a taste. Thnx for the info though.

im pretty sure they aready use this stuff...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by benagain

I don't trust the FDA, but maybe I'll give in another 50 or 60 years and if I'm still around and that stuff hasn't fucked anyone up, then maybe I'll take a taste. Thnx for the info though.

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Its been around for centuries, just not in the US. The only thing keeping it out as a major player in the sweetener market is the sugar industry lobbying against it. You can still get it as a "dietary supplement" it just can't be sold as a "food additive" which is what keeps it out of sodas & stuff.

And fuego, they do use it, in lots of other countries, including japan.

Stevia is actually a great sugar substitute. My old work had it for people out by the coffee. It's better. :)

it's... alright. still leaves a bit of a funky aftertaste... if you ask ME.