Stevia Science

Get ready for controversy. The FDA has blocked Stevia. Advocates cry foul, saying they are held to an unrealistic standard, given that this plant has been used indiginously for centuries.

It’s a plant.

But the FDA cites 1968 research conducted by Joseph Kuc, that showed a contraceptive effect on female rats. These animals were given very highly-concentrated doses of stevia. The consequence included lower fertility rates of up to 79 percent.

It’s not clear how this will translate into humans, especially since the consumption of stevia in Japan, for example, has not been shown to adversely affect birth rates among their populations.

Another study cited by the FDA was conducted in 1988 in Brazil. Again, female rats showed a reduced fertility rate when they consumed stevia during the mating season. And, more recently, a 2006 study showed that stevia can have a harmful effect on male reproductive organs. With male rats this time, a high concentration of stevioside (a stevia extract) “hindered” sperm production, whatever that means.

So, the bottom line is that, over the long-term, reproduction-related problems can arise if this is used in high concentrations over a long period of time.

If you are a rat, and you are reading this, you are a genetic mutant. Nonetheless, rat, you should switch to normal sugar, because your chances of raising a progeny of little rattlets will be “hindered”, and we wouldn’t want that.