Because stevia is natural and derived from the leaf of a plant, it does not contain any damaging chemicals often found in artificial sweeteners. Stevia is safe for diabetics, has been shown to help prevent tooth rot, and has also been recommended by the World Health Organization to be used as therapy for hypertension. By replacing sugar with stevia, customers could doubtless decrease caloric intake, helping to reduce obesity and other associated health risks.
Stevia rebaudiana is a South American shrub that grows in semi-arid areas of Brazil and Paraguay. The leaves of the plant have been used for generations as a sweetener, originally by the Guarani people and more recently throughout South America and asia. A campaign of intimidation against stevia corporations by the FDA has so far prevented the sweetener from being licensed to be used in foods in the united states or Europe, but it is at present sold as a supplement and has gained main line acceptance as a safe, natural, calorie-free sweetener.
Assorted writers have praised the flavor of the extracts, that has much less of the bitter after-taste prevalent in most noncaloric sweeteners. As well as Japan, other states have approved stevia and stevioside, including those of Brazil, China and South Korea, among others . Unfortunately, the US was going to be a different story. Stevia has been safely employed in this country for over ten years, but some years ago, the difficulty commenced.
apart from having no calories, stevia could also have some health benefits. The herb has been commonly used to treat diabetes in South America, and animal research has demonstrated promising results. Human studies have reported decreases in blood sugar levels when stevia was taken in healthy volunteers, but there is currently a lack of decisive proof of efficacy when employed in patients with diabetes. Extra research is needed in this area to approve these findings.
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