Stevia is a green leafy herbal plant. It
comes from the Stevia
rebaudiana plant, which is a member of the chrysanthemum
family. It is a native to South America and has
been used since hundreds of years because of its extremely sweet leaves. It is very sweet but the interesting thing about this
leaf are It doesn't add calories.
Constituents in it:
There are many components in it but the
most potent glycosides in the Stevia leaf are called Stevioside and Rebaudioside A.
Healthy life with stevia:
Stevia as a sugar substitute/anti-diabetic:
Stevia has the ability to regulate blood
sugar levels in the body. Thus, it can be an alternative to high calorie sugar.
It can be the best option for diabetic patients who are on carbohydrate-controlled
diets. Some people believe that quitting sugar completely is easier than
reducing its amount because of its addictive effect. Artificial sweetener may
not be the best alternative but stevia as a natural sweetener can be worth
trying. It might be a sweet news for the diabetic people. An article published in Journal of Dietary
Supplements showed promising effects of stevia on diabetic rats. Rats
were treated with 250 -500 mg of stevia everyday which significantly alleviated
the blood sugar levels and balanced triglycerides, insulin resistance. The U.S department agriculture estimates Americans
consume more sugar and when advised not to consume it more by health care professionals
because of various ailments, consumers turned to sugar like extract. This led
to a rise in the sugar substitute market. No wonder why Stevia takes central
stage in the highly growing and lucrative natural sweetening agent market.
Prevents heart
diseases by alleviating cholesterol: High LDL, high blood pressure and many
are responsible for heart diseases. Stevia helps in alleviation of bad
cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL levels. A study of 2009 showed that stevia extract
had positive effect on overall cholesterol heath. Researchers concluded that
extract effectively decreased elevated serum cholesterol levels,
including triglycerides and LDL (“bad cholesterol”), while increasing
good HDL cholesterol.
Helps in
preventing cancer: Abundant anti-oxidants and other constituents like kaempferol, quercetin,
chlorogenic acid, isoquercitin and isosteviol present
in stevia makes it an ideal dietary
supplement for various cancer prevention including pancreatic cancer.
Quercetin and kaempferol in stevia prevent the formation of free radicals
thereby preventing the cells from mutating healthy cells into cancer cells. In
2012, stevia was revealed to be connected to breast cancer reduction. After the
observation, it was confirmed that stevoside enhances cancer apoptosis and reduces certain
stress pathways in the body that contribute to cancer growth.
Aids weight loss: It is 30 to 40 times sweeter
than sugar without adding similar calories. It is often recommended for a balanced diet.
Major reasons for being overweight includes, physical inactivity paired with
high and frequent intake of foods that are filled with refined sugar, prolonged
sitting etc. You can use high quality stevia
extract in moderation in place of health hazardous table sugar. It helps you to
reduce not only your overall daily sugar intake, but also your caloric intake. People
can eat cake, cookies etc without worrying about weight.
Promotes skin health: It is even helpful for
skin for promoting its overall health. Conditions like eczema and dermatitis
can be treated using this. It even acts as an anti-bacterial agent when used
topically.
Other
benefits: There are many other health
benefits of adding stevia into your diet like it prevents osteoporosis, it possesses immune-modulatory actions, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, anti-diarrhoeal,
anti-hyperglycaemic and diuretic properties.
Side
effects:
It’s a
common conception that herbal preparations come devoid of any side effects.
Although frequency and intensity of side effects are low people should be
cautioned about it as herbal preparations are generally taken for long term and
for chronic illnesses as compared to acute illnesses. Stevia does not have
major side effects but have some varieties which might be unsafe and may show
some side effect.
People might show allergic reaction. Some
have complained that they faced problems like headaches, occasional dizziness, bloating
and cramping after consuming stevia.
Conclusion:
Stevia is an excellent additive and a sweetener
with minimal side effect as compared to artificial sweeteners and sugar.
REFERENCES:
1.
http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US9315674
2.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09735070.2009.11886351
3.
https://benthamopen.com/contents/pdf/TOOBESJ/TOOBESJ-2-101.pdf
4.
https://www.ajol.info/index.php/tjpr/article/view/14700
5.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/09637480903193049
6.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US5262161
7.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163725808001927
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