| Stevioside:
the sad story of stevia's main glycoside |
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There
was a lot of immediate interest in stevioside,
the most apparent glycoside of the eight to be found in the stevia
plant, when the first studies on stevia surfaced. Can you believe it's
been over a century? Recently though, focus has begun to shift to rebaudioside
A, which has an even sweeter taste than its sibling.
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We
all know stevioside as a white powder, crystallized and extracted from
the stevia herb through a number of environment-friendly processes. It
is the main ingredient of the plant's leaves: concentrations of up to 12% have been
measured in the wild. Scientists in both the Orient and the US are
currently looking for ways to up this percentage through genetic
engineering. Some of its main advantages are:
- it is 100% natural and
is extracted
naturally
- it is about 200-300
times sweeter than
sugar
- it contains no
calories
- it has no toxic effects
and is ideal
for diabetics
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Stevia
has been approved for unconstricted use in Japan since the
1970's - it is now the number one sweetener there with a market share
of no less than 40%
- and in
other countries as well, including China, Korea and Brazil. In fact,
China is the number one international supplier of the sweet leaf. In
over forty years of using the herb's extracts, no signs of any
significant side effects have been reported in these countries.
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 Make that a few hundred years
if
you count Paraguay! It's no secret that the native Guarani tribes have
been using the little green plant as a sweetener safely for decades,
and are well aware of the many benefits
of stevia.
The United States
and Europe have thus far always resisted the approval of stevia as a
sweetener: rumor has it that pressure from the sugar lobby played a
significant part in keeping the herb at bay, with governments hiding
behind claims of incomplete studies of the plant's safety, and the
so-called potential dangers
of stevia.
But
now the tide seems to be turning very slowly: You can find a lot of
stevia-based products on the American shelves already, and the sweet
leaf stevia has recently finally been approved as a sweetener in Europe
as well, with commercially available products on the way! These truly
are exciting times
for everyone looking to start living a healthier,
sugar free lifestyle.
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