Stevia

No calories, No carbohydrates and No fat.

Diabetic and candida safe! Helps prevent cavities!

Stevia is a genus of about 150 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family (Asteraceae), native to subtropical and tropical South America and Central America. Used for over 1500 years by the native Indians. With its extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, stevia has garnered attention with the rise in demand for low-carbohydrate, low-sugar food alternatives. Stevia has negligible effect on blood glucose; therefore it is attractive as a natural sweetener to diabetics and others on carbohydrate-controlled diets.

In the early 1970s, Japan began cultivating stevia as an alternative to artificial sweeteners such as cyclamate, saccharin and aspartame. The plant's leaves, the aqueous extract of the leaves, and purified steviosides are used as sweeteners. In health conscious Japan they are widely used in food products, soft drinks (including Coca Cola), and for table use. Japan currently consumes more stevia than any other country; there, stevia accounts for 40% of the sweetener market, other countries around the world have also been using stevia as a sugar substitute, stevia may be used in cooking and baking as a natural sweetener (there are several good stevia recipe books available from quality book stores), adults and children alike may enjoy dessert recipes without risk of weight gain, tooth decay or hyperactivity, it also does not contain the negative side effects reported with the use of artificial sweeteners....

It can also be blended into natural toothpowder or mouthwash recipes.

By the mid-1980's, stevia was poised to debut on the American marketplace, with Celestial Seasonings and Thomas J. Lipton Tea Company eager to market herbal teas using this herb that is natural, almost non-caloric and is safe for diabetics. Suddenly, due to an "anonymous trade complaint" from a company that did not want stevia made available to consumers (generally acknowledged as coming from the makers of aspartame), the FDA banned import of the herb into the U.S., and initiated search and seizures (complete with armed federal marshals) in manufacturing facilities, storage warehouses - anywhere where there was potential distribution or use of the herb. Claiming the herb as "a non-safe food additive" despite acknowledging it has "been used throughout history," the FDA refused to respond to petitions filed by the American Herbal Products and Lipton Tea Company, denying official GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) status, even trying to prohibit the petitions to be filed, a routine procedure that does not require any approval. The FDA's citing of "studies" regarding the safety of stevia are so incomplete and unrealistic they are deemed absurd by most standards with the professor of one study (Professor Joseph Kuc) stating the "studies need to be redone," conceding his findings "do not constitute an important reason for keeping stevia off the U.S. market." The FDA refuses to even read or acknowledge studies indicating safety and benefits of the herb from Japan and Germany.

Yet, the FDA shows a double standard regarding the tens of thousands of consumer complaints regarding aspartame (Nutrasweet and the like), much less the reports and studies of brain tumors, headaches, blindness and seizures. The potential deadly and toxic effects of this pharmachemical far surpasses any remote possible effects of stevia in even the highest dosages.

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