Stevia is considered a "natural non-caloric sweetener." Saccharin and sucralose are considered "non-nutritive sweeteners" (few or no calories). Aspartame is a "nutritive sweetener" (adds some calories but far less than sugar).
Aspartame comes with a warning to be used cautiously (or not at all) by people with a rare genetic disease (called phenylketonuria, or PKU) because they have trouble metabolizing it; that's not true for the other sweeteners. And all four vary on their level of sweetness and aftertaste, which is likely why people often prefer one over another. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/sweeteners-time-to-rethink-your-choices-2019022215967
With a low to no calorie sugar count, artificial sweeteners may seem like a treat for people with diabetes. But recent research indicates that artificial sweeteners may actually be counterintuitive, especially if you’re looking to manage or prevent diabetes.
In fact, the increased consumption of these sugar substitutes may correlate to the increase of obesity and diabetes cases. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://www.healthline.com/health/type-2-diabetes/diabetes-stevia#overview
Pancreatic cancer has an extremely poor prognosis, largely due to a poor record for early detection. Known risk factors for pancreatic cancer include obesity, diet, and diabetes, implicating glucose consumption and regulation as a key player. The role of artificial sweeteners may therefore be pertinent to disease kinetics. The oncogenic impact of artificial sweeteners is a highly controversial area. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2017.00018/full
Stevia, a zero-calorie sugar substitute, is recognized as safe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In vitro and in vivo studies showed that stevia has antiglycemic action and antioxidant effects in adipose tissue and the vascular wall, reduces blood pressure levels and hepatic steatosis, stabilizes the atherosclerotic plaque, and ameliorates liver and kidney damage. The metabolism of steviol glycosides is dependent upon gut microbiota, which breaks down glycosides into steviol that can be absorbed by the host. In this review, we elucidated the effects of stevia’s consumption on the host’s gut microbiota. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/4/744/htm
To help offset potential stevia induced gut challenges, support your gut flora with fiber and prebiotics like FOS10 (fructo-oligosaccharides). Increase your intake of beneficial bacteria Lactobacillus and Bifidus to aid in a healthier gut microbiome.
Consider foods and nutrients like cruciferous vegetables (Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale), silymarin, dandelion, resveratrol, curcumin, magnesium, zinc, limonene, B vitamins, and omega-3 oils to help your liver’s glucuronidation pathway. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias/2013/07/130717_salud_nutricion_stevia_finde_gtg
Ancestral intake of the raw stevia leaf was extremely limited compared to current exposures of refined stevia found in many manufactured food products. I am a proponent of using foods in their natural, whole form when possible.
Avoid processed refined sugars and foods with added sugars, but rather use raw local honey, blackstrap molasses, real maple syrup, or other natural sugars. Think about it, would your grandmother or great grandmother use something like refined stevia in their made from scratch homemade recipes? #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://medlineplus.gov/spanish/druginfo/natural/682.html
Artificial sweeteners or intense sweeteners are sugar substitutes that are used as an alternative to table sugar. They are many times sweeter than natural sugar and as they contain no calories, they may be used to control weight and obesity. Extensive scientific research has demonstrated the safety of the six low-calorie sweeteners currently approved for use in foods in the U.S. and Europe (stevia, acesulfame-K, aspartame, neotame, saccharin and sucralose), if taken in acceptable quantities daily. There is some ongoing debate over whether artificial sweetener usage poses a health threat .This review article aims to cover thehealth benefits, and risks, of consuming artificial sweeteners, and discusses natural sweeteners which can be used as alternatives. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25842566/
Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is a perennial shrub with zero calorie content that has been increasing in popularity for its potential use as an adjuvant in the treatment of obesity. The level of evidence supporting general benefits to human health is insufficient. We conducted a review of the literature summarizing the current knowledge and role in human disease.
A growing body of evidence indicates that Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is protective against malignant conversion by inhibition of DNA replication in human cancer cell growth in vitro. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29995279/
The use of steviol glycosides as non-caloric sweeteners has proven to be beneficial for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), obesity, and metabolic syndrome. However, recent data demonstrate that steviol and stevioside might act as glucocorticoid receptor (GR) agonists and thus correlate with adverse effects on metabolism. Herein, we evaluated the impact of steviol, steviol glycosides, and a Greek-derived stevia extract on a number of key steps of GR signaling cascade in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and in Jurkat leukemia cells. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28754349/
Prostate cancer is the second most harmful disease in men worldwide and the number of cases is increasing. Therefore, new natural agents with anticancer potential should be examined and the response of existing therapeutic drugs must be enhanced. Stevia pilosa and Stevia eupatoria are two species that have been widely used in traditional medicine, but their effectiveness on cancer cells and their interaction with antineoplastic drugs have not been studied. The results indicate that SPME and SEME have an inhibitory effect on the viability and migration of prostate cancer cells and do not interfere with the enzalutamide anticancer effect. The data suggest that Stevia extracts may be a potential source of molecules for cancer treatment. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32102219/
Steviol glycosides are currently being used as natural sweeteners by the food industry and Stevia rebaudiana has long been used as a sweet plant in South America for patients suffering from diabetes. In this study, a Stevia rebaudiana ethanolic extract (SREE) was prepared, analysed and tested for antioxidant activity in terms of free radical scavenging properties and antiproliferative effects in cervix (HeLa), pancreatic (MiaPaCa-2) and colonic (HCT116) cancer cells. The antiproliferative mechanism was confirmed by testing the effects on cyclin D1-CDK4. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27071804/
Hydroponics offers a viable solution for obtaining plant products that are rich in micronutrients and ultramicronutrients, such as selenium. Selenium plays a crucial role in strengthening the body's immune defense and acts as a potent antioxidant. Low levels of selenium have been associated with an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, and cancer. Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni (SrB), a relatively new crop in plant cultivation, was the focus of the present study. SrB has numerous medicinal and prophylactic properties, and its leaves are rich in macro- and microelements, vitamins, and diterpene glycosides. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37522778/
Stevia is unaffected by stomach acid, pancreatic enzymes and the process of digestion. It travels essentially “untouched” by the digestive process until it reaches the large intestine. There it “reacts” with the gut flora. It is then absorbed in the colon and travels to the liver. It is then bound to glucuronic acid via the glucuronidation pathway and eventually excreted through the urine. The glucuronidation pathway is a major liver pathway that detoxifies drugs, pollutants, estrogen, and steroids, etc. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://www.portalsalud.com/cuales-son-los-peligros-de-la-stevia_13092860/
Bladder cancer (BC) is a global health issue that lacks effective treatment strategies. Growing evidence suggests that various natural products possess anti-tumour effects. This study aims to identify a novel agent that can be used in the treatment of BC.
Collectively, our data suggest that stevioside can be a potential agent for the treatment of BC. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35820501/
Gustul ceaiului de kombucha diferă de la un producător la altul în funcție de metodele de preparare. Tocmai de aceea vă invităm să testați cele 8 sortimente iKombucha. După o experiență de peste 7 ani în producerea de kombucha, am adăugat la rețetele noastre stevia ca și îndulcitor, pentru ca produsul final să nu fie prea acru la gust pentru majoritatea clienților. Am dezvoltat 8 sortimente cu diferite arome, care să acopere înr-o anumită măsură gustul de ferment și să ofere gusturi plăcute. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://healthfully.com/stevia-and-cancer-5918164.html
Stevioside is a diterpene glycoside found in the leaf of Stevia rebaudiana, a traditional oriental medicinal herb, which has been shown to have various biological and ethno-medicinal activities including antitumor activity. In this study, we investigated the effects of stevioside on the cytotoxicity, induction of apoptosis, and the putative pathways of its action in human breast cancer cells (MCF-7). For the analysis of apoptotic pathway, measurement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and assessment of mitochondrial transmembrane potential (MTP) were achieved. We showed that stevioside was a potent inducer of apoptosis and it conveyed the apoptotic signal via intracellular ROS generation; thereby inducing change in MTP and induction of mitochondrial mediated apoptotic pathway. Taken together, our data indicated that stevioside induces the ROS-mediated mitochondrial permeability transition and results in the increased expression of apoptotic proteins such as Bax, Bcl-2 and Caspase-9. Effect of stevioside on stress-related transcription factors like NF-E2-related factor-2 opens up a new vista for further studies. This is the first report on the mechanism of the antibreast cancer (in vitro) activity of stevioside. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23061910/
A β-galactosidase from Kluyveromyces lactis was found to specifically catalyze hydrolysis of the glycosyl ester linkage of stevioside to yield steviolbioside, a rare sweetener that also exists in Stevia rebaudiana leaves. In a packed bed reactor, a reaction coupling separation was realized and a production yield of steviolbioside reached 90% in 6 h. The hydrolysis product steviolbioside presented higher cytoxicity on human normal cells (hepatocytes cell L02 and intestinal epithelial cell T84) than stevioside did. Comparing to the typical chemotherapy agent, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), steviolbioside presents much lower cytotoxicity on all assayed human normal cells; it presented notable inhibition on human hepatocarcinoma cell Hep3B, human breast cancer cell MDA-MB-231 and human pancreatic cancer cell BxPC-3. The remarkable inhibition on MDA-MB-231 cells makes steviolbioside a potential remedy for human breast cancer, when steviolbioside is served as a natural sweetener. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26593477/
Regarding nutritional benefits, the available studies, while numerous, do not provide proof that the consumption of artificial sweeteners as sugar substitutes is beneficial in terms of weight management, blood glucose regulation in diabetic subjects or the incidence of type 2 diabetes. Regarding nutritional risks (incidence of type 2 diabetes, habituation to sweetness in adults, cancers, etc.), it is not possible based on the available data to establish a link between the occurrence of these risks and the consumption of artificial sweeteners. However, some studies underline the need to improve knowledge of the links between intense sweeteners consumption and certain risks. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26430511/
The essential oil extracted by hydrodistillation from the flowering twigs of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni (Asteraceae) was fractioned by chromatography. Forty-three constituents were characterized with the help of GC, GC-MS and other spectroscopic techniques. The essential oil was found to be a complex mixture of mono- and sesqui-terpenes. The cytotoxicity of the essential oil and its fractions was evaluated by sulforhodamine B (SRB) based assay against two cancer cell types viz. C-6 (rat glioma cells) and CHOK1 (Chinese hamster ovary cells). The essential oil and its fractions showed promising cytotoxicity against both cell lines. The highest activity (95.6+/-0.6%) was show by the essential oil on the C-6 cell line at a concentration of 400 microg/mL, which was comparable with that of the standard drug vinblastin. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25026731/
Stevia, a zero-calorie sugar substitute, is recognized as safe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In vitro and in vivo studies showed that stevia has antiglycemic action and antioxidant effects in adipose tissue and the vascular wall, reduces blood pressure levels and hepatic steatosis, stabilizes the atherosclerotic plaque, and ameliorates liver and kidney damage. The metabolism of steviol glycosides is dependent upon gut microbiota, which breaks down glycosides into steviol that can be absorbed by the host. In this review, we elucidated the effects of stevia's consumption on the host's gut microbiota. Due to the lack of randomized clinical trials in humans, we included in vitro using certain microbial strains and in vivo in laboratory animal studies. Results indicated that stevia consumption has a potential benefit on the microbiome's alpha diversity. Alterations in the colonic microenvironment may depend on the amount and frequency of stevia intake, as well as on the simultaneous consumption of other dietary components. The anti-inflammatory properties of stevioside were confirmed in vitro by decreasing TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 synthesis and inhibiting of NF-κB transcription factor, and in vivo by inhibiting NF-κB and MAPK in laboratory animals. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35456796/
Steviol glycosides (SGs) in Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) leaves are important due to their high sweetness and low calorific value. The yield of SGs is dependent on fertilization regimes, but the relationship between nitrogen (N) administration and SGs synthesis is still unclear. In this study, we investigate the effects of N rates on SGs production through hydroponic and plot experiments. The SGs yield was not significantly changed by N fertilization, but leaf SGs concentrations were significantly reduced due to the "dilution effect". Additionally, N addition decreased leaf carbon (C)/N ratio and soluble sugar concentration, accompanied with the inhibited phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and L-phenylalanine ammonia_lyase activities. A significant positive correlation between leaf SGs concentrations, C/N ratio and soluble sugar concentration was observed. Overall, we suggest that N-driven Stevia growth negatively affects SGs concentrations. The leaf C/N ratio and soluble sugar changes indicated the occurrence of metabolic reprogramming. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31195254/
Plant growth and secondary metabolism are commonly regulated by external cues such as light, temperature and water availability. In this study, the influences of low and high temperatures, dehydration, photoperiods, and different growing stages on the changes of steviol glycosides (SGs) contents and transcription levels of fifteen genes involved in SGs biosynthesis of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni were examined using HPLC and RT-PCR. The observations showed that the transcript levels of all the fifteen genes were maximum under 25 °C treatment, and the transcription of SrDXS, SrDXR, SrMCT, SrCMK, SrMDS, SrHDS, SrHDR, SrIDI, SrGGDPS, SrCPPS1, SrUGT85C2 and SrUGT76G1 were restrained both in low temperature (15 °C) and high temperature (35 °C). Most genes in SGs biosynthesis pathway exhibited down-regulation in dehydration. To elucidate the effect of photoperiods, the plants were treated by different simulated photoperiods (8 L/16 D, 1 0L/14 D, 14 L/10 D and 16 L/8 D), but no significant transcription changes were observed. In the study of growing stages, there were evident changes of SGs contents, and the transcript levels of all the fifteen genes were minimal in fast growing period, and exhibited evident increase both in flower-bud appearing stage and flowering stage. The obtained results strongly suggest that the effect of environmental cues on steviol glycosides contents and transcription of corresponding biosynthetic genes in S. rebaudiana is significant. It is worth to study deeply. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25500454/
More than 60 naturally occurring steviol glycosides in the Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni plant share a similar molecular structure with an aglycone steviol backbone conjugated with β- and α-glycosidic bonds to different sugar moieties. These glycosides are naturally produced in different quantities within the stevia leaf. Certain minor glycosides with superior sensory attributes, such as Reb D and Reb M, are found less than 0.1% in traditional stevia leaves. New technologies can now produce better tasting steviol glycosides by using enzymatic conversion of stevioside and Reb A, which are abundant in stevia leaf. Several regulatory authorities recently evaluated steviol glycosides produced by enzymatic conversion of stevia leaf extract and approved them safe for human consumption. Steviol glycosides undergo microbial hydrolysis in the colon to generate steviol, which is absorbed and metabolized into steviol glucuronide, and excreted primarily via human's urine. Previous studies have shown the hydrolysis of highly purified individual steviol glycosides extracted from stevia leaf are converted to steviol in the presence of colonic microbiota of adults. Since colonic microbiota of children may be different from adults, this study investigates the metabolic fate in the colonic microbiota of adults and children of the minor steviol glycosides produced by extraction and enzymatic conversion of major steviol glycosides from stevia leaf. Several in vitro incubation tests were conducted in human fecal homogenates collected from adult and pediatric populations with steviol glycoside test samples comprised of a complex stevia leaf extract, a blend of minor glycosides isolated from stevia extract and two mixtures of steviol glycosides produced by enzymatic conversion of Reb A to larger molecules by attaching glucose units via β- or α-glycosidic bonds. Results from these studies clearly demonstrate steviol glycosides produced by extraction from stevia leaf, or enzymatic conversion of stevia leaf extract, share the same metabolic fate in the human gut microbiota from adults and children. Considering a common metabolite structure and a shared metabolic fate in all ages, safety data for individual steviol glycosides can be used to support safety of all steviol glycosides produced by extraction and enzymatic conversion of stevia leaf extract. #Stevia#kombucha#ikombucha_ro#ikombucha https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32745585/