What About Stevia?
I get this question often, so let’s see if we can answer it: What about Stevia? And, more importantly, is it safe?
FDA approves Stevia
You have probably heard that Stevia has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and were wondering if it was safe.
Let me clear up the first part: the FDA approved extracts of Stevia and not Stevia itself:
The FDA approved:
Cargill Inc’s: Truvia zero-calories sweetener
Whole Earth Sweetener Co: PrueVia
Truvia contains:
- Erythritol: is a very low calorie natural sweetener (similar to xylitol)
- Rebiana: is a trade name for rebaudioside A (Reb-A) a steviol glycoside that is thought to be responsible for the sweet taste of Stevia
PrueVia contains:
- Stevia extract (97% Pure Reb A)
How Safe is it?
While there were a few studies that showed that rebaudioside and other glycosides in Stevia had the potential to cause cancers, these studies have mostly be debunked. Most toxicology tests show that it causes no harm in laboratory testing.
Stevia itself has been shown to actually help improve insulin sensitivity, thereby having the potential to prevent conditions such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that an extract of an herb is not the herb itself. While it might be safe to take an herb, it may not be safe to take a concentrated form of only one part of the herb (such as using rebaudioside A). The truth is that we won’t know until a lot of people start taking it, and thanks to Coke and Pepsi who will be putting Truvia and PrueVia into products soon, we will get a chance to see just how safe taking large amounts of these extracts is.
My thought is that since these sweeteners are naturally based and Stevia has been used for hundreds of years, it is probably safe to use these new sweeteners as long as you are not overdoing it.
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It seems with all these new sweeteners, that people have die or have a liver transplant before we even know if it’s save. It’s kind of scary.
In a way, what you say is true: I tell people to never try the newest drug to hit the market because we have no idea of what the side-effects really are until the drug has been tested in thousands of users. There is no way that a drug company, or a sweetener company can really test their product in enough people to know if their products are harmful or not.
With Stevia, at least we know we are dealing with a natural product and an extract from that natural product. The question become when people take too much, what will happen.
New blog post: What About Stevia? http://olsonnd.com/what-about-stevia/
@jducey14 I just wrote a post on Truvia: http://olsonnd.com/what-about-stevia/ I think it is okay, but remains to be seen.
My question still remains…
What is wrong with Stevia in its natural form?
http://dr-flower.com/blog/category/natural-botanicals/
Regina’s last blog post..Homemade peanut butter, hard to make?
Great blog post Regina!
You and I might agree: The reason why only certain extracts of Stevia have been approved is because Coke and Pepsi wanted it approved (enough said). The natural form is usually the best way to take a product; I fear we will run in to problems when people start taking large doses of Truvia and PureVia.
Hi Dr. Olson,
This is a great article as it explains in more details one of the sweeteners I have just covered in the latest article I wrote entitled “A quick guide to artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes”
It is great that you touch more upon Stevia here because many people out there hear the word “natural” being mis-used and just run with it, instead of getting all the facts. I mean how many people to this day consider white sugar natural…
It is too bad, but the word “natural” has lost so much credibility in the last few decades and it doesn’t help that not even the FDA has a clear cut definition of what “natural” really means.
Evita’s last blog post..Quick Guide To Artificial Sweeteners and Sugar Substitutes
I agree, Stevia might be from a natural source, but its long term effects on health are yet to be determined. At Fitho, we did an analysis of all the major artificial sweeteners and their health effects.
Fitho’s last blog post..Airtel Kolkata Marathon 2009 is here!
I use Stevia in my tea every morning and it works for me. I haven’t had any negative side effects and I feel it’s a better choice than sugar or artificial sweeteners. I tend to think that the hype about stevia is very political.
Health Outlook’s last blog post..Wine: Health Benefit or Health Risk?
@Liz_Dougherty Truvia looks okay, but I’m a bit cautious. Check out this post for more: http://olsonnd.com/what-about-stevia/
I agree with Dr. O. I just use the ground stevia leaf. I just don’t understand the allure of the processed.