Is stevia an effective herbal sugar substitute? Why doesn't the FDA allow stevia to be marketed as a food additive?
Dr. Andrew Weil calls stevia, "safe for diabetics," (1) and Dr. Michael Murray gives it a recommended use level of "liberal". (2) So why has the Food and Drug Administration refused to approve stevia as a food additive? As it turns out, there's more to stevia than meets the eye. Here is what science says about one of the most popular herbal sugar substitutes, stevia.
What Stevia Is
Native to Brazil and Paraguay, stevia is an herbaceous plant in the aster or sunflower family. The Native people of that area have used stevia for centuries as both a food source and as a beverage ingredient but it was only in the 1980s that the rest of world caught on and began exploiting stevia for its potential as an alternative to sugar.
What Makes Stevia Sweet
Stevia's sweetness comes from two chemical components, stevioside and rebaudioside, found mainly in the plant's leaves. Stevioside is estimated to be 200 times sweeter than sucrose while rebaudioside is even sweeter. (3) This gives stevia tremendous potential as a low-calorie sugar substitute.
Is Stevia Safe?
Despite stevia's long record of use in South America and its widespread use today, stevia has never been granted the status of "Generally Recognized as Safe", or GRAS, by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Though stevia enjoys wide acceptance in many other parts of the world, here in the U.S., stevia must still be marketed as a dietary supplement, and not as a food additive. Why?
As it turns out, a handful of studies have suggested that stevia may not be as safe as its proponents claim. A 2007 Brazilian study determined that stevia had potential to cause liver, brain, spleen and blood cell lesions in laboratory animals. This study confirmed the findings of a number of previous studies questioning stevia's long-term safety, especially when used in excess.
On the other hand, a 2003 review-study looking strictly at real-life consumption of stevia, not perfusion or injection experiments, found stevia perfectly safe for diabetics, phenylketonuria patients and those simply wishing to avoid artificial sweeteners while dieting. This study also went on the say that no evidence of allergic reaction was found. (5)
Can Stevia Help You Lose Weight?
For someone with the correct motivation, stevia appears to be a valuable tool in the fight against extra pounds. However, low-calorie sweeteners like stevia can also encourage some dieters, at least unconsciously, to fall into a fall sense of security and over-indulge in low-calorie snacks and soft drinks. Clearly, if stevia is used for weight loss it must be part of a conscientiously-appplied dietary plan.
References
1. Weil, A (2002). Aspartame: Can a Little Bit Hurt?. Retrieved February 24, 2007, from DrWeil.com Web site: http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA106654
2. Murray, M (2004). A Quick Guide to Non- and Low-calorie Sweeteners. Retrieved February 24, 2007, from DoctorMurray.com Web site: http://www.doctormurray.com/newsletter/2-3-2004.htm
3. Blumenthal, M (1995). FDA Lifts Import Alert On Stevia: Herb Can Be Imported Only As Dietary Supplement; Future Use As A Sweetener Is Still Unclear. Retrieved February 25, 2007, from herbalgram.com, Web site: http://herbalgram.com/default.asp?c=l07
4. Nunes, A, Ferreira-Machado, Stevioside, Nunes, R, Dantas, F, De Mattos, J, & Caldeira-de-Araujo, A (2007). Analysis of genotoxic potentiality of stevioside by comet assay. Food Chemistry Toxicology.
5. Geuns, J (2003). Stevioside. Phytochemistry.
