Trick Your Taste Buds
Stevia is a plant that tastes like sugar, but does not give you the calories of sugar. It fools your tongue into thinking you are consuming food energy, but you are not. Any time you experience a sweet taste, it is the result of molecules binding onto specific receptor proteins in your taste buds.
Why is this plant important? Stevia is a natural source of sweetness without making you gain weight or, for diabetics, raising your blood glucose level. Many people are looking for a natural alternative to artificial sweeteners created in a laboratory, like Aspartame and Sucralose. Research has shown that Aspartame and Sucralose have many health risks associated with their consumption. Stevia is one natural alternative to artificial sweeteners.
The leaves of Stevia are 20 to 30 times sweeter than table sugar. It has been consumed in South America for hundreds of years. Stevia was introduced to the rest of the world in the late 1800s.
Stevia rebaudiana is a member of the Asteraceae. It is related to sunflowers, lettuce and marigolds. The plant looks similar to a chrysanthemum. Its’ common names are candyleaf, sweetleaf and sugarleaf. Stevia is a tender, perennial plant native to Brazil and Paraguay and likes wet and humid environments. It will grow in northern regions. I have seen it growing outdoors in Michigan gardens, but it does not survive the winter without protection. Stevia prefers sandy loam soil. The plants grow from 1 to 2 feet tall. The flowers are trimmed off to improve the taste of the leaves.
The chemical compounds that produce the sweetness in Stevia leaves are steviol glycosides, primarily stevioside and rebaudioside. The FDA approved only the purified extracts of Stevia called: stevioside and rebaudioside A & D. The FDA considers these extracts as GRAS (Generally recognized as safe). They are 200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar. Some products will list stevia extract or Stevia rebaudiana on their ingredient list.
Stevia leaves contain 9.1% stevioside and 3.8% rebaudioside. The FDA says it does not have enough information to approve the whole Stevia leaf for consumption. You cannot buy dried Stevia leaves at a store in the US. For centuries the Guarani people of Brazil and Paraguay consumed Stevia leaves as a sweetener for tea or as a sweet treat. In addition, Stevia leaves and raw extracts are not allowed to be imported into the US.
You can use Stevia like you would table sugar. You can even bake with it. Steviol glycosides are heat stable, pH stable and do not ferment. In China, Korea and Japan, Stevia is regularly used in the preparation of food and pharmaceutical products.
Steviol glycosides do not induce a glycemic response when ingested because humans cannot metabolize Stevia. The acceptable daily intake for Steviol glycosides is 4mg/kg bodyweight/day. A 150 pound adult would reach this limit by consuming 9 to 10 packets of Stevia sweetener in a day. This standard is based on a rat study where there was no observed effects of a 100 fold higher dose. Like any product, you will want to consume Stevia in moderation.
When you survey the packaged Stevia products out there, you will notice that some of them contain dextrose. You may know that dextrose is a form of glucose. If you are diabetic, you might want to choose another Stevia product. Some Stevia products contain a sugar alcohol, like erythritol, instead of dextrose. Erythritol will not raise your blood glucose level, unlike dextrose, but for some people it will cause flatulence.
You can buy Stevia seeds from a seed company and grow your own leaves. It is best to start the seeds indoors and transplant them outside when the danger of frost has passed. The plants need to remain evenly moist, but not too wet. Planting in well drained soil is best. During the first two months of growth, pinch off the tips of the plant in the morning. This will encourage the development of a bushy plant. You can use the leaves fresh, or dry them for later use. The leaves reach their peak of sweetness just before the plant flowers. You can harvest the whole plant by cutting it at the base and hang it upside down for a few days in a warm, dry room.
I expect you will see more Stevia glycosides in packaged foods and drinks in the future. People crave sweet, but don’t want the extra calories of sugar and high fructose corn syrup, or the danger posed by these sweeteners to diabetics. You can’t buy dried Stevia leaves so you might like to grow a Stevia plant in a pot and just pinch off a few leaves to make tea or just chew a Stevia leaf when you have a sweet craving. You can fool your tongue with natural sweetness that is not sugar.
Thanks for reading. You might like to read more about plants and gardening in my two most recent books. They make nice gifts. You can find them in print or as ebooks on Amazon. Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Edwin-McLeod/e/B08TCJTKSW?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000
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