Healthy Bytes

read time: 497 words, about three minutes

Hope you had a fun Halloween and remembered the chant for living a life in balance… “moderation”

Today we wrap it up for sugar and it’s popular alternatives by looking at Stevia (stee-vee-aah).

Stevia is a native Paraguay shrub.
It’s been used, first by Gaurani Indians, then more broadly for over 1,500 years.

The Indians used it as a sweetener, digestive aid, tonic and topical aid for wound healing.

Stevia has 150 to 400 times the sweetness of sugar; no calories; normalizes blood sugar; does not feed yeast; and has been shown to reduce sweet and fatty food cravings. Stevia is also heat stable up to 392 degrees Fahrenheit, so it can be used in baking and cooking.

Stevia is currently used throughout South America and the Far East.
In the US, prior to the 1980’s it was on the FDA “Generally Regarded As Safe” (GRAS) list. It was then removed from the list (around the time Aspartame came out).
In 1991, the FDA all out banned Stevia tagging it an “unsafe food additive”.

The FDA was forced to remove the ban in 1994 with the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. Stevia can now be labeled a dietary supplement, but cannot be sold as a “sweetener”.

It’s unclear why the FDA pulled Stevia off the GRAS list and why they banned it. There were no reports of related problems.

Currently you can buy stevia in a liquefied whole leaf concentrated form or the dried leaves, much like many other herbs. You can also buy stevia tea. And you can also grow your own stevia. I’ve seen plants in the garden section at our local Long’s store and will likely add one to the garden.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is a little more reluctant about Stevia.
Noting that a derivative of stevia can be converted into a mutagen in a test tube. And that such chemicals can also sometimes cause cancer, David Schardt, associate nutritionist for CSPI said:
“Until we know whether this mutagen is formed in people, stevia cannot be considered safe,”

Schardt further said:

“Although there is no evidence of harm to people, laboratory studies of stevia have found potential cancer and reproductive-health problems. Stevia depressed sperm production in male rats and reduced the number and size of the offspring of female hamsters. Until those concerns are disproven, stevia should not be used by manufacturers in soft drinks, candy, or other foods,”

So at this point, it hasn’t been proven guilty… and it hasn’t been proven innocent.

Neither Canada nor the EU have approved Stevia as a food additive.

That wraps up our little series on sugar and the popular alternatives… but it sure doesn’t end our sweet information. There’s plenty more to come.
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read time: about two minutes

There are quite a many sweet alternatives to sugar. We’re going to take a brief look at the more common ones. We’ll start with a few that have been readily available at the grocery store for quite awhile.

Honey - about 25% sweeter than sugar and nearly 30% more calories, it’s one of the oldest foods in existence. Honey is created by bees by mixing plant nectar with their own enzymes. It actually never spoils… at least at room temperature.
The good:
honey contains small amounts of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and amino acids. The particular content varies by color and floral source.
Honey is also anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory and stimulates tissue regrowth. It’s been used to dress wounds as it speeds healing and reduces scarring.
Honey can also reduce pollen allergies. It’s important to use local honey as allergies occur with continuous over-exposure to the same allergen. So - logically - that allergen is nearby you. The honeybees use pollen from these plant sources and that honey acts as an immune booster. It works best when you take a couple of teaspoons a day for a few months ahead of pollen season.

The bad (maybe): it’s been reported than honey decays teeth more than sugar. But according to Dr. Molan of the University of Waikato Honey Research Unit in New Zealand, the opposite is true. Dr. Molan reports that honey reduces acid which stops bacteria that causes dental plaque.

Maple syrup - has about 1/2 the calories of sugar and is strong on the sweet taste factor.
It’s an excellent source of manganese and a good souurce of zinc… so it will give you an anti-oxidant boost.

Blackstrap molasses - is actually a by-product of sugar refining. It’s not refined but is a liquid resulting from boiling the sugar cane pulp.
It has fewer calories than refined sugar and is a source of iron, calcium and magnesium.

Rice syrup - it’s made by fermenting brown rice with enzymes that break down the natural starch content. It has about 1/2 the sweetness of sugar and is absorbed more slowly - thus avoiding rapid spikes in blood glucose.

We’ll continue on with sweeteners in the next post.