Stevia rebaudiana - Product - Packet
plus side effects

History and safety of Stevia - Does it have side effects?
Stevia rebaudiana has been used as a sweetening ingredient in foods and drinks by South American natives for many centuries,. Stevia rebaudiana has been added to a number of food products in Japan since the mid 1970s. No indications of any significant stevia side effects have yet been reported after more than 30 years of use. Similarly, no reports of any stevia side effects have been reported in the United States. There are no indications at this point from any source that stevia rebaudiana has shown toxicity in humans.
   As of 2008, this remarkable, no-calorie sweetener called stevia rebaudiana is, unfortunately, not a household name. It should be. We believe that eventually stevia will be one of the most popular and widely used sweeteners in the world. With the availability of stevia rebaudiana, there seems to be little reason to use artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and saccharin.

Stevia Clear Liquid Extract 2 oz.
NuNaturals,
• Stevia rebaudiana pure liquid
• Dietary Supplement

NuNaturals uses an EXTRACT which has been laboratory tested and certified to contain a minimum 90% of the steviosides, the active ingredient of stevia rebaudiana while retaining the other beneficial components. Because of this, you can be assured that you are indeed buying a true Stevia extract and that it will be consistent in quality. This is a highly concentrated extract and should not be confused with less potent tinctures or extracts.

Stevia Clear Liquid Supplement Facts
Amount Per Milliliter
Stevia Extract 140 mg
     Stevia rebaudiana (20:1)

Click here to purchase stevia clear liquid, flavored drink, powder, and packets

Q. I purchased a bottle of Stevia Clear about 3 years ago...is it still safe for consumption? I am considering using it in baking.
   A. Stevioside found in stevia is a stable molecule and can last many, many years.

Brief History and safety of Stevia Rebaudiana
Stevia rebaidiana has been used as a sweetening ingredient in foods and drinks by South American natives for many centuries, and there is no report of any plant toxicity to the consumers . Stevia has been added to a number of food products in Japan since the mid 1970s. No indications of any significant side effects have yet been reported after more than 20 years of use. Similarly, no reports of any adverse reactions to stevia have been reported in the United States. Donna (co-author of The Stevia Cookbook) and her family have been using stevia rebaudiana since 1990 without any health problems. I have used stevia daily in my morning tea since 1997 without any health problems. There are no indications at this point from any source that stevia has shown toxicity in humans. For more stevia rebaudiana information.

Table of Contents of The Stevia Cookbook
See Google Stevia Cookbook pages
Part I, History of Stevia Rebaudiana

1. Donna's Story--Dealings with the FDA
   
2. The Super Sweetener
    
3. How Safe Are Sweeteners?
      
4. The Many Faces of Stevia Rebaudiana
   
5. Staying Healthy the Stevia Way
   
6. Cooking with Stevia Rebaudiana

Stevia rebaudiana use in Children
Candies, sodas, ice cream, pies, cakes... it's disturbing how many sweet products are ingested by children on a daily basis. All that sugar can lead to tooth cavities and obesity. Partially substituting with stevia can help children satisfy their sweet tooth while decreasing the risks from excessive sugar intake. If you're a parent, you can take advantage of the many recipes provided in The Stevia Cookbook to provide your children with tasty sweets that will satisfy their sweet teeth but not cause damage to the teeth. Obesity in children is a growing problem in this country and any method we have of helping children reduce their caloric intake will be greatly beneficial. There is also a concern with children consuming excessive amounts of artificial sweeteners. The potential, long-term health consequences of saccharin and aspartame ingestion are currently not fully known, but they do need to be kept in mind. Eliminating all artificial sweeteners will be a frustrating enterprise since they are extremely prevalent. However, by partially substituting stevia in homemade desserts, you can significantly reduce your children's exposure to these artificial chemicals.

Stevia rebaudiana use in Pregnancy or Breast Feeding
Since human studies providing stevia sweetener during pregnancy have not been done, it is not known whether its use during this period is safe. It’s very likely that small amounts of stevia would not cause any problems.

Stevia rebaudiana Practical Tips
Those who are novices at using stevia often make the mistake of using too much. Since stevia is 300 times sweeter than sugar, excessive amounts can lead to over-sweetness and an aftertaste. Generally, one teaspoon of stevia would be equivalent to one cup of sugar, while a quarter teaspoon would be equivalent to one tablespoon of sugar. Stevia is available in concentrated liquid form, and often two to four drops of stevia liquid added to tea or coffee is sufficient to sweeten the drink.

 Stevia Rebaudiana Safety Study
"Assessment of the carcinogenicity of stevioside in rats," was the title of an article published in the June, 1997 issue of Food and Chemical Toxicology. We were very excited and anxious when we came across this study. Was this latest information going to show that stevioside was safe, or potentially harmful?
This latest study was performed by Dr. K. Toyoda and colleagues, from the Division of Pathology, National Institute of Health Sciences in Tokyo, Japan. For a period of 104 weeks (two years), three groups of rats were tested to receive either no stevioside (the controls), stevioside in a concentration of 2.5 percent of their diet, and stevioside in a concentration of 5 percent of their diet. There were 50 male and 50 female rats involved in the study. All surviving rats were killed at the end of week 108. The results showed the body weight of the rats was less in those who received the stevioside compared to the controls. This makes sense because stevioside has no calories. When the organs and tissues of the rats were examined under the microscope, there was no difference in the controls and those on stevioside, except females on stevioside had a decreased incidence of breast tumors, and the males had a lesser incidence of kidney damage. The researchers state, "It is concluded that stevioside is not carcinogenic in F344 rats under the experimental conditions described."
   You may recall at the start of this chapter that we estimated an average person's daily dietary intake of stevioside to be, at most, about 0.01 percent of the total daily intake of food. It is reassuring that rats given significantly higher amounts of this sweetener did not have a higher incidence of tumors. Our interpretation of this research would lead us to believe that the small amounts of stevioside we consume daily to be extremely safe.

As you can see, stevia rebaudiana appears to be extremely safe. Nevertheless, it was banned for import in 1991. Where the reasons justified?

Safety of Stevia rebaudiana
 Stevia rebaudiana is a natural, no calorie sweetener which is extracted from the stevia plant leaf that grows naturally in South America. Stevia, in our opinion, is safe and significantly safer than practically all of the artificial sweeteners currently on the market. Stevia has been given in massive doses to three generations of rodents with no harmful effects noted. Stevia has been used in Japan for more than 3 decades with no adverse reactions reported. It's too bad that more Americans have not heard of this amazing and safe sweetener. I personally prefer the clear liquid extract, although each person has their own preference. There is a wide range of quality among different stevia brands depending on the extraction process.

Summary
Hopefully, with time, stevia rebaudiana can be added to a variety of sodas, candies, gums, and other foods in the US, just like it currently is in Japan and other countries. And we could see stevia packets at restaurants.

Stevia rebaudiana products
Stevia Plus is by Sweet Leaf Stevia Products
SweetLeaf Stevia is by Wisdom natural brands
KAL Stevia
NOW Stevia - NOW Foods sells stevia packets - Suggested Use: 1 stevia extract packet with tea, coffee, beverage or as desired in cooking or baking. Stevia Extract, 100 packets Now Foods. NOW Foods Stevia packets are the size of regular packets for sugar or artificial sweeteners. You can take them along on trips or while at a restaurant to use instead of the artificial sweeteners in your tea or coffee.
Stevita Stevia
Stevia Balance

Structural analysis of isosteviol and related compounds as DNA polymerase and DNA topoisomerase inhibitors.
Life Sci. 2005 Sep 9; Mizushina Y, Akihisa T, Ukiya M, Hamasaki Y, Murakami-Nakai C, Kuriyama I, Takeuchi T, Sugawara F, Yoshida H. Laboratory of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Department of Nutritional Science, Kobe-Gakuin University, Nishi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2180, Japan.
Isosteviol (ent-16-ketobeyeran-19-oic acid) is a hydrolysis product of stevioside, which is a natural sweetener produced in the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni. In this report, we prepared isosteviol and related compounds from stevioside by microbial transformation and chemical conversion and assayed the inhibitory activities toward DNA metabolic enzymes and human cancer cell growth. Among twelve compounds obtained, only isosteviol (compound 3) potently inhibited both mammalian DNA polymerases (pols) and human DNA topoisomerase II (topo II). This compound had no inhibitory effect on higher plant (cauliflower) pols, prokaryotic pols, human topo I, and DNA metabolic enzymes such as human telomerase, T7 RNA polymerase, and bovine deoxyribonuclease I. With pol alpha, isosteviol acted non-competitively with the DNA template-primer and nucleotide substrate. Isosteviol prevented the growth of human cancer cells and 500 microg of the compound caused a marked reduction in TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate)-induced inflammation (inhibitory effect, 53%).

Stevia rebaudiana questions
Q. What is Stevia Plus ?
   A. Stevia Plus is a stevia product with Frutafit Inulin Fiber (FOS), stevia extract (standardized to a minimum of 90%). There are dozens of stevia products on the market, including Stevia Sweetleaf, and Stevia Plus is one of them.

Q. Splenda vs stevia. Which is better?
   A. Most people in the natural health industry prefer stevia over Splenda.

Q. Is it necessary to use organic stevia?
   A. The amounts of stevia used to sweeten food are so miniscule that we do not feel it is necessary to go out of one's way in order to use organic stevia.

Q. I am interested in flavored stevia. Are there flavored stevia drinks?
   A. There are packets made of flavored stevia that come in lime, orange and strawberry. These packets can be mixed in a quart or 2 pints of water for a flavored stevia drink.

Q. Is there such a thing as stevia toxicity
   A. Since stevia has been available to the American public from the mid 1990s, we have not heard of even one case of stevia toxicity.

Q. Is stevia legal in Canada?
   A. Yes, stevia and stevia leaf extracts are legal in Canada.

Q. Where can I find stevia wholesale?
   A. Several companies sell stevia wholesale inluding Stevita and Sweet Leaf or SweetLeaf.

Q. What is the equivalent for stevia liquid and powder?
   A. This is hard to say since each company has its own way of preparing stevia, concentrating it, extracting it and mixing it with other substances as a powder. Some add xylitol or maltodextrin. There is stevia clear liquid and stevia whole herb liquid. Buy two or three different stevia products and test them to see which ones you like best.

Q. Would you consider stevia rebaudiana to be a weight loss herb?
   A. Only indirectly. Stevia does not influence appetite so it is not an appetite suppressant. However, if you use stevia instead of sugar, and you consume fewer calories, then you could 

Q. I have been using stevia for several years now and love it, knowing it doesn't have the chemical issues as other sugar substitutes such as saccharin. However, I am concerned about a Time article I read about "artificial" sweeteners, such as saccharin, whose long term use researchers think may have a link to overeating and hence, obesity. From a scientific standpoint, would stevia cause the same metabolic reaction to the sugar effect as saccharin, potentially causing overeating and weight gain?
   A. When these types of studies are done in animals, they are fed foods almost exclusively sweetened with an artificial sweetener. In contrast, most humans who consume stevia do so in small amounts, adding stevia to tea or coffee, but continue to eat other foods throughout the day that have sugars. Therefore, unless a person uses stevia in every food at every meal, the rodent studies are not likely to be applicable to us humans eating a regular diet with a little bit of stevia used as a sweetener.

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