Stevia, the Sweet Taste of Nature

When the GD Searle travesty has been rectified, and Aspartame has been removed from the food and beverages of our poisoned nations, what will the dieters and diabetics do?  They could do what the native people of Paraguay have done for 1500 years.  They could turn to the leaves of the Stevia Rebaudiana plant.  This plant grows wild and plentiful in South America.  Its leaves have been found to be 30 times sweeter than sugar.  When Stevia leaves are processed, they produce Stevia powder, (Stevioside) 300 times sweeter than sugar.  The miracle is that Stevia sweetens without adding any calories, and it does so without harmful side effects.

Stevia goes even farther than just sweetening.  Stevia has been thoroughly researched and found to help the body fight off gastrointestinal viruses and food borne bacteria, lower blood pressure in subjects with hypertension, and assist in insulin production in people with Type II diabetes.  All this and a fine sweetener, too!

Tea made from Stevia leaves seems to have a protective effect inside the gastrointestinal system.  Scientists have found that Stevia protects the gastric system from Rotoviruses, a common cause of diarrhea.[1]  This tea has also been found to destroy harmful contagions in consumed food, specifically E-coli, the bacteria responsible for the poisoning of thousands of people in Walkerton, Ontario.

Those with hypertension could find assistance from Stevia. In a published research paper, 60 subjects with high blood pressure were given Stevia tablets 3 times daily for 3 months.  The treatment significantly reduced their blood pressure and kept it lower 9 months after the experiment had ended.  The study concluded its findings by saying that Stevia should be considered as an alternative therapy for patients with hypertension.[2]

For those with type II diabetes Stevia may bring hope.    Researchers have shown that Stevia can stimulate pancreatic insulin production in Type II diabetic subjects.[3] 

Unlike Aspartame, Stevia is a safe food sweetener.  This fact has been well documented in hundreds of studies throughout the world.  Research has shown that Stevia in large doses does not cause damage to DNA,[4] does not harmfully affect sexual reproductivity,[5] and is not carcinogenic.[6] 

Millions of people in Japan have enjoyed the benefits of Stevia as a sweetener for the last 25 years.  Currently China, Brazil, and South Korea have also approved widespread use of Stevia in products. 

Unfortunately in the U.S. the FDA has declared it illegal to put Stevia in food.  Like puppets, Canada’s CFIA followed suit.

Why is it that a natural, beneficial substance is banned from America’s food production?

Once again the answer is money.  A single company cannot patent Stevia, being that it is a natural substance.  Unlike Aspartame, whose profits benefit a single company, any manufacturer can produce and supply Stevia.   

Rob McCaleb is the founder and President of the non- profit Herb Research Foundation, in Colorado. He has done a large amount of research and has a great deal to say about the use of Stevia.  McCaleb discovered that the FDA ban on Stevia could be at the request of the company behind Nutrasweet.  Now he complains that the FDA has made it harder for Stevia to be approved as a food additive than it was for Aspartame, which as we know from a previous chapter, violated numerous testing protocols and was approved under suspicious circumstances.

McCaleb points out the complete incompetence of the FDA, who deny 
Stevia’s use in foods in America while American corporations like 
Coca Cola and Beatrice foods add it to the products they market in 
Japan and other countries.[7]  

While other countries enjoy the benefits of Stevia, we suffer the side
affects of Aspartame.  The FDA has received more complaints about 
adverse reactions to Aspartame and MSG than almost any other chemical 
food additive on the American market.

Stevia has ended up on the government blacklist written by corporations bent on promoting profit over human health.  Known toxins like fluoride, Aspartame and Monosodium Glutamate get full support while their victim’s voices go unheard.

The FDA, instead of being a force to protect the people from toxic substances, may have become the protector of corporate America’s right to poison us and profit by it.

[7] McCaleb, Rob, http://www.holisticmed.com/sweet/stv-faq.txt, Herb Research Foundation.