2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
Stevia is a natural sweetener, one of the alternatives to refined sugar. The properties of the plant were first discovered in South America, where it later began to spread. Recently, there is more and more talk about its impact on the human body.
Opinions go to extremes, some describe it as a healthy product and a useful substitute for traditional sugar. According to others, consuming stevia poses a health risk. Stevia is known to be 300 times sweeter than sugar.
In Bulgaria, after a certain period of sale of plant extracts in the pharmacy network and in the commercial network, stevia was withdrawn. The official reason for this, given by the authorities, is that not enough research has been done to prove the safety of the product.
Some consumers find in this act conspiratorial intentions to eliminate the product at the expense of other sweeteners already established on the market. At the moment, stevia has an unclear status for legality or illegality in the country.
The fact is that almost nothing is known about the effects of stevia on the body. It has been suggested that higher doses of stevia lead to lower blood sugar and blood pressure. This poses a potential danger to people suffering from such problems.
At the same time, according to some publications on the Internet, the World Health Organization even recommends an extract of the plant in the treatment of hypertension.
From the statements of its representatives it is also clear that the plant does not affect the blood pressure of people who maintain normal limits. Other experts say that stevia is a good natural remedy for diabetes and obesity.
The sweet herb also helps with the breakdown of the body's defenses, disorders of the circulatory system, gastrointestinal diseases, etc.
In November 2011, the European Commission approved a sweetener made from the herb stevia. The controversial aspartame is also legal.
The stevia plant contains phytonutrients and minerals: phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, selenium. Among the vitamins presented in stevia are vitamin A, vitamin C and B vitamins.
In the United States, for example, stevia is on the list of approved natural sweeteners. There is a product that is a mixture of sugar and stevia and contains only 5 calories per packet. One teaspoon of sugar is three times more caloric.
Those who use the herb also recommend it in cooking. Stevia and its extracts can be heat treated.
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