Tag: stevia

Stevia comes from a South American plant (Stevia rebaudiana) that happens to be very very sweet, but doesn’t contain calories or nutritive value. It’s like a natural form of the synthetic versions found in the wedding mint colored packets (powder blue, sunshine yellow, and It’s-A-Girl pink) in any coffee...

Yes, Stevia is derived from a plant, but so was ephedra (ma huang) — which contributed to heart valve problems. Yes it is GRAS (generally recognized as safe), but so is Aspartame. This article comes from a very food industry perspective. And, for them, Stevia may really be the...

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...

For centuries, the Guaraní tribes of Paraguay and Brazil used a plant tthey called ka’a he’ê (“sweet herb”), to sweeten medicinal teas for treating heartburn and other ailments. The leaves of the stevia plant have 30–45 times the sweetness of sucrose (ordinary table sugar). To prepare it in the...

Here it comes, the next new thing. Stevia has been locked out of the U.S. sweetener market but, perhaps in a battle of the titans, the soda industry has opened a path for its entry. Over the next few days, I’ll be highlighting the science, nutritional and political, behind...