Stevia rebaudiana is a part of Compositae, which is related to daisy and ragweed. Several kinds of stevia are native to New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. But Bertoni, a precious stevia variety, grows in Paraguay and Brazil, and people have used stevia leaves to sweeten food for hundreds of years.
Moises Santiago Bertoni, an Italian botanist, is generally regarded as the hero who discovered Stevia rebaudiana at the end of 19, although the local Guarani people have used it for centuries. The local residents call it kaa he (or sweet herb), and the leaves of this plant have many uses. In traditional medicine in these areas, stevioside can be used to treat burns, colic, stomach diseases, and sometimes as a contraceptive. These leaves are also chewed by themselves as sugar.
It took Bettoni more than ten years to find a real plant, which led him to describe it as very rare at first. Almost at the same time, more farms began to plant and harvest stevia. Stevia rebaudiana quickly developed from a wild plant in some areas to a widely used herb.
Sugar substitute stevia sugar is a part of the sugar substitute market today. According to the regulations of the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), high-purity stevioside is an extract of stevia plants, which is generally considered to be safe to use in food. On the other hand, the US Food and Drug Administration pointed out that stevia rebaudiana leaves and stevia rebaudiana extracts are generally considered unsafe (GRAS), and the Food and Drug Administration does not approve their use in food.
The USDA estimates that from 1970s to 2000, Americans added more sugar to their diet every year. When Americans throw away added sugar, they become sugar-like extracts. According to the analysis of market and market research company, the market value of sugar substitution in 20 15 is estimated to be132.6 billion USD. The company predicts that by 2020, the market will reach $654.38+065 billion.
In 2000, only 18% of American adults used low-calorie or no-calorie sweeteners. According to a review of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 20 12 years, 24% of adults and 12% of children now use sugar substitutes.
Is stevia effective? Stevia contains no calories and is 200 times sweeter than sugar with the same concentration. Other studies have shown that stevioside may have additional health benefits. According to an article in Medical Food Journal 20 17, stevioside has the potential to treat endocrine diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension, but more research is needed.
Other studies have also shown that stevioside may be beneficial to type 2 diabetes, but Catherine, a senior pharmacist at Boston Massachusetts General Hospital and co-founder of Natural Standards Research Collaboration? Catherine Ulbricht says more research is needed. Her team reviewed the evidence of herbs and supplements.
Ulbricht said: "Stevioside is promising for hypertension." . Ur Bricht said that natural standards give Stevia rebaudiana a "class B effect" in lowering blood pressure.
Sweetness without calorie source is an obvious dietary solution in theory. However, some studies show that in real life, replacing sugar with artificial or low-calorie sweeteners does not ultimately lead to weight loss.
According to a paper published in the International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, a study on mice in 2004 found that low-calorie sweeteners caused animals to overeat, probably because the perceived sweetness did not match the expected sugar calories. The author of this study later thought that people who use artificial sweeteners may suffer from health problems related to excessive sugar, including metabolic syndrome, which may be a precursor to diabetes.
"Many studies show that people who regularly eat ASB (artificial sweet drinks) face greater risks than those who don't. Dr. Susan E. Withers said in an opinion letter published in the journal Endocrine and Metabolic Trends in 20 13:
However, there is also evidence that Stevia rebaudiana will not change eating habits or damage metabolism in the short term. A study in Appetite magazine 20 10 tested several artificial sweeteners for 19 thin people and 12 obese people. The results showed that people did not eat too much after eating stevia instead of sugar. Their blood sugar is lower after meals made of stevioside, and the postprandial insulin level made of stevioside is lower than that of sucrose and aspartame.
Another study was published in the first issue of International Journal of Obesity 20 16, 12, 13. The results showed that the blood sugar of the subjects was much higher than that when they ate real sugar. However, when using zero-calorie sweeteners, the subjects did not consume more calories than ordinary sugar. Siew Ling Tey, a researcher at the Singapore Institute of Science and Technology (a*STAR), said in a statement: "The energy saved by replacing sugar with non-nutritive sweeteners in the follow-up meals of this study has been fully compensated."
Is stevia safe? As mentioned above, whether stevia rebaudiana is safe to eat depends largely on what people mean by stevia rebaudiana. The US Food and Drug Administration has not approved stevia leaf or "crude stevia extract" as a food additive. The FDA warned that the study of stevioside has aroused people's concern about blood sugar control and its influence on reproductive system, cardiovascular system and renal system. However, FDA allows companies to use rebaudioside A, a chemical isolated from stevia rebaudiana, as a food additive in sweetener products. The FDA classifies these products (such as Truvia) as GRAS, but according to FDA regulations, these products are not stevioside. Generally speaking, the difference between stevioside A and stevioside is that it is a high-purity product. Stevia products sold in the market are stevia rebaudiana or stevia rebaudiana extract, in which rebaudioside A is a component, "FDA said.
Stevia rebaudiana has some health problems. Stevioside may cause hypotension, which may be a concern for some people who take antihypertensive drugs. There is also continuous research on some chemicals naturally occurring in Stevia rebaudiana, which may lead to gene mutation and cancer.
Please be careful when using drugs that may lower blood sugar. Ulbricht said that people who take insulin or diabetes drugs orally should be closely monitored by qualified health care professionals, including pharmacists.
Ul Bricht said that Stevia rebaudiana may also interact with antifungal drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, antibacterial drugs, anticancer drugs, antiviral drugs, appetite suppressants, calcium channel blockers, cholesterol-lowering drugs, drugs that increase urine output, fertility drugs and other drugs. She says people should talk to their doctors before deciding to take stevia in large quantities.
This is a supplementary report by life science writer Alina Bradford.
It's an extra resource.
This is National Geographic: How Sugar Substitutes Stack Mayo Clinic: Stevioside-Can it help control weight? FDA:GRAS notice