Stevia: Good Or Bad?

January 25, 2012

I discovered Stevia extract not a long time ago through Anthony at RawModel. He mentioned it as a healthy and natural sweetener that he uses in his smoothies, juices and oatmeal. I’m always on the hunt for healthier alternatives to sugar (provided that artificial sweeteners are a no-go for me), thus whenever something new arises on the "sweeteners horizon" well, I have to give it a try. In addition, stevia has virtually no calories: not bad huh!
If you’re familiar with this blog, you probably know that before eating something I want to know exactly what it is, where it comes from, and, above all, if it’s good or bad for my health. Basically, I need to know everything about it.

I did my fair share of research, and this is what I discovered. Hoping that you’ll find it useful too.

Stevia In The Raw

What is stevia?

Stevia (Stevia Rebaudiana) is an herb that grows wild as a small bush in Paraguay and Brazil. Its leaves are rich in glycosides, which account for its incredible sweetness.
Stevia’s extracts (the ones we can find at the grocery store) are manufactured in several different ways (some of which have also been patented). Generally, the most common process consists of water extraction, decoloration, and purification.

How long has it been used?

The leaves have been traditionally used for hundreds years in Paraguay and Brazil to sweeten local teas, medicines, but also as a sweet treat.
Since the 1970s, Japanese have cultivated stevia as an alternative to artificial sweeteners (that have long been suspected of being carcinogens). They have been using stevia in food products, soft drinks, and for table use. As of today, Japan consumes more stevia than any other country in the world.
Stevia is cultivated (and consumed) also in other countries, including China, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Colombia, Peru. Paraguay, Brazil, and Uruguay.

Why is it good?

First and foremost stevia has almost no effect on blood glucose. This particular feature makes it very attractive for people on carb-controlled diets. 

According to some studies, stevia may actually lower blood sugar levels. These findings, however, have yet to be confirmed, and contradictory results make any conclusion premature.
There is also some evidence that stevia may help individuals improve insulin production and might be helpful with hypertension. These findings are yet to be confirmed by more extensive studies; it does sound promising though.
Stevia is also pretty safe when it comes to tooth decay. Two tests conducted at Purdue University not only have assessed that stevia is fluoride compatible, but that it may also prevent the development of plaque.
Stevia is extremely heat stable, hence can be used in everyday cooking and baking.
Furthermore, raw herbal stevia contains a whole array of phytonutrients. Unfortunately, in the quantities typically consumed, the nutritive benefits will be negligible. On top of that, stevia’s extracts, being more refined, will contain far fewer of these phytonutriens and volatile oils.

Controversy on stevia

This is where it gets kind of complicated. Several studies on stevia have raised some concerns over its consumption by humans. All these researches, however, were pretty limited in size, and lacked support of extensive data. They also focused on different types of stevia, different extraction methods, and different parts of the plants. This makes it difficult to compare data across studies. Nonetheless, all of them are worth mentioning:

- A 1985 study reported that steviol (a breakdown product from stevioside and rebaudioside) is a mutagen (i.e., an agent that causes genetic mutation). Meaning that the use of stevia could trigger degenerative diseases in humans such as cancer.
However, the findings of this study were criticized on procedural grounds that the data were mishandled in a way that even water would have appeared to be mutagenic.

- Other studies conducted over the following years have showed mixed results on the mutagenic effects of stevia, and its toxicology. Some reported that steviol and stevioside were scarce mutagens while others did not find any harmful effect.

- In 2008, an extesive review of all said studies was carried out. The outcome was that 14 out of 16 studies showed no health hazard for sevioside, while 11 out of 15 showed no genotoxicity activity for steviol. No evidence for stevia's constituants causing cancer or birth defects was found.

- In 2006 the WHO (World Health Organization) conducted a thorough evaluation of studies of stevioside and steviols and concluded that “stevioside and rebaudioside A are not genotoxic in vitro or in vivo [...] the genotoxicity of steviol and some of its oxidative derivatives in vitro is not expressed in vitro”. The report also found no evidence of carcinogenic activity.

- In 2009 the FDA - after banning stevia use for years based on the 1985 study - claimed “Rebiana (rebaudioside A) to be Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS)

Considerations

The bottom line is that there is yet not enough data to conclude whether stevia is healthy or not. Personally, I do not believe it’s toxic, and I intend to use the product with confidence, but also in moderation. In the hope that soon a new study with more conclusive evidence on the effects of stevia on human health will be published.
If I have to point to something that I really don’t like about stevia extract is that it’s ultra-processed.The extraction method is quite complicated, and entails several stages.
I like to consume things that are as close as possible to their raw form, and stevia extract seems a bit too “manufactured”. However, next time I’ll be in Brazil (or Paraguay) I’m gonna look for stevia raw leaves, and try them to sweeten my green tea!

The Iron You

13 comments:

  1. Thanks for the info. I was not aware there was so much controversy on Stevia!

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    1. I would rather say that there's not enough conclusive evidence which in turns causes controversies...as soon as something more clear-cut will be published I'm gonna report it here!

      Delete
  2. I LOVE STEVIA and use it every single day. I don't care what others think or say, it's far healthier than aspartame and I will continue using it until someone says it is DEFINITELY a cause of cancer.

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    1. I'm with you on this one in fact that's what I state at the end of the post: " I do not believe it’s toxic and I intend to use the product with confidence".
      However, I'm gonna continue using agave nectar and maple syrup too, some days stevia is just not sweet enough for my morning oatmeal!
      Peace
      Mike

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  3. Balance is the key to be in a safe level. Stevia is a healthy alternative to sugar but take it moderately like any condiments.

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  4. I've used stevia for as long as I can remember. It's the only sweetening agent my grandfather ever used. No one I know has ever had any problem with stevia, and I'm from Brazil where we've used it for centuries. Stevia is safe. It does not cause cancer, birth defects, etc. It may cause fertility issues if consumed in large amounts, but that's about it. The FDA study(studies) are manipulated by the fact that the artificial sweetener lobby do not want to compete with stevia. Stick with the liquid form, as that is the way we use it in SA. Not to mention that all the powdered forms I've seen have additives and taste funky. Truvia is the best powdered one (taste wise), if you just can't get into the liquid stevia. I like the Stevita brand for liquid stevia. They only add distilled water and use grapeseed oil extract as a natural preservative.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your insights on Stevia's use in South America. Too bad you didn't signed your comment, so you'll have to stay anonymous...
      Peace
      Mike

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  5. I found two more articles about stevia. I'm definitely trying it.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23140911


    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21808578

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  6. I finally looked at the ingredient list on my box of Truvia....erythritol,stevia and natural flavors...the erythritol is explained as a natural sweetener.....well I thought that was what Truvia was so why do I need so many sweeteners? I did notice that several different companies use dextrose along with the stevia..and any time I see the words "and other natural sweeteners" I get a little jumpy. I am a diabetic and I know sugar is "natural".
    I just wonder why they never say what the "other" natural sweeteners are. I'm to the point where I think I'll just give up sugar altogether. I don't eat bread anymore...I have a recipe for buckwheat pancakes that uses no white products at all...and I use those for my bread and there are several jams that are fruit only so I now use those for my sweet tooth.

    Thanks
    Gene

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  7. yes, why try to look for alternatives to sugar?????!!!
    i think its time people should try and get used to the original taste of foods.
    it maybe be weird at first because the taste buds are so overstimulated with all the additives (sweet, salty, spicey...) but after a short time trying you will see how nice natural foods actually taste and you will never want to go back to adding sweeteners. I have been doing this for a year now.
    a wonderful alternative to (wheat)bread is spelt and oats. ancient long chain carbohydrates that keep blood sugar levels at a low.

    MotherNature

    ReplyDelete
  8. yes, why try to look for alternatives to sugar?????!!!
    i think its time people should try and get used to the original taste of foods.
    it maybe be weird at first because the taste buds are so overstimulated with all the additives (sweet, salty, spicey...) but after a short time trying you will see how nice natural foods actually taste and you will never want to go back to adding sweeteners. I have been doing this for a year now.
    a wonderful alternative to (wheat)bread is spelt and oats. ancient long chain carbohydrates that keep blood sugar levels at a low.

    MotherNature

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love your blog and I saved many of your recipes. Thank you so much for sharing!
    My opinion on stevia is that it's disgusting. I have type 2 diabetes so I'm always watching what I eat and drink, and I love tea. I bought stevia packets as a sweetener for my tea and I didn't like it one bit. It tasted like I had dumped a toxic chemical into my drink, not sweet at all. Very unpleasant. For now I drink unsweetened tea, occasionally treating myself to some honey.

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  10. I've been using organic liquid Stevia for several years now. I recently read there's over 700ppm of iron in stevia. I had a blood test and my iron was high and we were trying to figure out if this amount of iron in stevia several times a day can be the culprit. I don't have any base test on my iron so I can't compare it or say that's it's higher than it ever was. Any thoughts on this? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete