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A growing number of people are opting for healthier alternatives to sugar, and stevia has become a popular choice, especially for people with diabetes. Studies have suggested that the natural calorie-free sweetener can help control blood glucose, although the exact way it does this has not been clear until now.
The researchers discovered how stevia can help control blood sugar.
Researchers in the UK and Belgium have discovered that stevia activates a protein called TRPM5, which is associated with taste perception. This protein also plays a role in the release of insulin hormone after eating.
The co-author of the study, Koenraad Philippaert from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at KU Leuven in Belgium, and his colleagues, say their findings could pave the way for new treatments for type 2 diabetes.
The researchers recently published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.
Stevia is a sweetener derived from the leaves of the stevia rebaudiana plant – commonly known as Sweetleaf – native to South America.
Stevia is about 200 to 400 times sweeter than table sugar and is often used as a substitute for sugar in diet sodas, candy, yogurt, desserts and other foods and beverages.
Stevia targets proteins responsible for sweet taste and insulin secretion
Herbal sweetener is generally considered safe for moderate diabetics, and previous research has shown that stevia can even help control blood sugar.
However, the mechanisms underlying the positive effect of stevia on blood glucose were not well understood. The new study by Philippaert and his colleagues was intended to shed light on this issue.
In experiments involving cell cultures, the researchers found that stevia active TRPM5, an important protein for the perception of sweet, bitter and umami tastes.
‘The sensation of taste is further enhanced by steviol, a component of stevia, which stimulates TRPM5. This explains the extremely sweet flavor of stevia and its bitter aftertaste,’ notes Philippaert.
In addition, TRPM5 induces beta cells in the pancreas to release insulin after taking food.This helps to regulate blood sugar levels and prevents the development of type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is a disease that prevents the pancreas from producing enough insulin or prevents the body from using this hormone effectively. An unhealthy diet is a common cause of type 2 diabetes.
Stevia did not prevent diabetes in mice without TRPM5
To confirm the role of stevia in TRPM5 stimulation, the researchers conducted experiments on mice.
The mice were fed over a long period of time with a high-fat diet to promote the development of type 2 diabetes.
However, when the high fat diet was supplemented by a daily dose of stevioside – an active component of stevia , The researchers found that rodents did not develop type 2 diabetes. This was not the case for mice without the TRPM5 protein.
‘This indicates that the protection against abnormally high blood glucose and diabetes is due to the stimulation of TRPM5 with stevia components,’ said Professor Rudi Vennekens, co-author of the study, also from the department of cellular and molecular medicine of the KU Leuven.
The researchers say their findings could lead to new strategies to treat or even prevent type 2 diabetes, although they warn that further research is needed before this becomes a reality.
‘This is basic research and there is still a lot to do before thinking about new treatments for diabetes,’ said Philippaert. “On the one hand, the doses to mice are much higher than the amount of stevioside found in beverages and other products for human consumption.”
‘Further research is needed to show whether our results apply directly to man. All this to say that new treatments for diabetes will not be in the very near future. ‘
Published by Honor Whiteman – Medical News Today
You know aspartame, the sweetener used by the food industry to replace sugar. In 2009, France authorised stevia from which a natural sweetener is extracted. Without calorie, sweeter than sugar, the stevia revolution is on the way.
Sugar consumption is satisfied with 2 types of sweetening products:
Loading carbohydrates: first, sugar (sucrose) and also polyols (sugar alcohols), isomalts, lacitol and erythritol.
Intense sweeteners, which have no nutritional quality like carbohydrates but whose sweetness is much greater than that of sucrose. Sweeteners can be used in very small quantities. They are very low calorie, but their price is much higher than that of carbohydrates.
Synthetic sweeteners (aspartame, lsucralose, acesulfame K, saccharin, cyclamate) have dominated the world market since the post-war era, but in recent years naturally occurring sweeteners, which for some were traditionally consumed for a long time, are beginning to be used by the agro-food industry.
Stevia, a fake sugar better than sugar?
Stevia, what is it?
Stevia rebaudiana is a shrub that grows in the forests of Paraguay and Brazil and whose dried leaves are used by the Guarani Indians to sweeten their food forever. In South America the ancestors called the Stevia «sweet grass» and putting in medicinal beverages. Stevia thrives in the sun, on rather poor soils, but it does not like soils that are too dry.
The molecules that give them this property are the «Steviols glycosides»*, 200 to 400 times sweeter than the sugar itself! Stevia is a natural, calorie-free sweetening herb
nor carbohydrates. Very small amounts of stevia are enough to bring a sweet flavor to your food.
Stevia long banned in France
Stevia powder, which originates from wild picking and is 100% natural, is nevertheless characterized by the total absence of toxicity and hypoglycemic effect, as shown by repeated experiments from 1931 to 1982. The extract of «Stévia Rébaudioside A» is now authorized in France as a sweetener. It was only with the decree of 7 September 2009 that the use of reobaudioside A* was authorised in France by the health authorities (Affsa and Efsa).
However, to replace sugar, the Japanese have been using it since the 1970s because chemical sweeteners are banned. Stevia has no side effects, is neither mutagenic nor carcinogenic. Stevia is very useful in diabetic diets and hypoglycemic diets.
How much stevia can be consumed?
In 2008, an acceptable daily intake (ADI) was defined (1): the dose is 4 mg/kg body weight.
A person of 60 kg can thus safely consume a dose of 240 mg. per day.
Brussels authorises the use of stevia throughout the EU
The European Commission has just authorised the use of Stevia throughout the European Union.
Following a favourable opinion from the European Food Safety Agency, the committee therefore adopted on 14 November “a regulation authorising its use in various food categories”.
What good is that gonna do?
Well, you will now find stevia extracts instead of aspartame or other sweeteners in your yogurt, cereals, drinks, etc.
This authorization will come into force on December 2, 2011.
Stevia extracts are already very common in products in Asia, South America and the United States, according to the industry, according to AFP.
The nutritional qualities of stevia
Stevia is used for its chemical and nutritional characteristics and in particular its richness of essential nutrients: oligo and macroelements, essential oils, vitamins. Thus stevia finds medicinal, culinary or food uses.
Better yet, steviols have curative qualities against diabetes, hypertension and arteriosclerosis. Stevia is now grown everywhere, in the United States, Japan, Russia …
Did you know that?
Rébaudioside A is a food additive called Rébaudioside 1 that is extracted from stevia: it is a natural sweetener that can replace synthetic sweeteners that are not without health risks.
Steviols glycosides are not fermentable, cannot be digested, so they have almost no caloric power.
Stevia has a bright future in modern food
In June 2008, WHO authorized steroids in human food and launched the massive use of this new natural sweetener by major food processors such as Coca-Cola. Pepsi Cola’s SoBe Life line is “sweet” at baudioside A.
Culture of stevia in France
Stevia is sold as dried, cut and pulverized leaves in the form of white powder or liquid.
The rearguard fight of Aspartame
The conservatism of chemical sweetener producers may explain the French authorities’ caution until 2007. Yet toxicologists and specialists know that aspartame poses health risks. Synthetic sweeteners whose leaders are a subsidiary of Monsanto, Searle, Cargill, and Ajimoto, represent a market of more than $1.5 billion.
The Stevia in the kitchen
What does Stevia taste like?
The Stevia is a bit like liquorice, a slightly different flavour from traditional sweeteners.Stevia is very appreciated in case of diet and for people who cannot consume real sugar.In addition, since the Stevia can be heated up to 200°C, it is easy to use in the kitchen or in pastry.
Sucre Stévia Taken for centuries by the Guarani Indians, the Stévia is used in cooking to sweeten yogurt, teas, fruit salads, and pastries. … Substituting sugar in all circumstances, it has a sweet and sweet flavour with very pleasant plant and licorice stick notes.
Finally, the only small flaw in this new natural sweetener is paradoxically to maintain the taste of sugar. Some nutritionists point out that by deceiving the brain, like all synthetic sweeteners, the Stevia maintains the habit of eating too sweet. Nothing is perfect…
The organoleptic challenge of stevia
Especially since stevia has an aftertaste of licorice that doesn’t really please consumers and that manufacturers can’t eliminate, especially ultra-fresh dairy products. As of 2010, the Danone Group was the first to offer products at the Stévia but with some success: 7% of French households tested them but only a quarter bought them back. Danone finally kept only one of these products.
As a result, in 70% of cases in Europe stevia remains mixed with sugar. ‘There are few total substitutions, especially reformulations of stevia products to reduce sugar content. ‘
That said, the growth prospects are very good for stevia despite the delicate question of taste because currently, on the market, raw materials are more and more expensive. The price gap in favour of stevia remains very large compared to natural sugar and other sweeteners. Industrialists are increasing the number of product launches and demand is increasing by about 50% per year on average. Many markets would like to have such growth!
Written by Consoglobe
The stevia is a plant of South America used for a very long time by the inhabitants of this continent as natural sweetener. His sweetening power is from 200 to 300 times superior in that of the sugar for a calorie no value.
The French Agency of sanitary safety of food (AFSSA) expressed its favorable opinion in 2009 to provide to use the stevia in France as alternative food complement in the sugar.The European Authority of food safety (EFSA) also expressed a positive opinion in 2010. The stevia does he represent a real alternative to the sugar? What are his benefactions for the health? Are there dangers to consume of stevia?
What is the stevia?
The stevia is a plant of the family of Asteraceae as tarragon, thistle, dandelion, gerbera, etc. He appears in the form of a small shrub. It is his sheets which are used in the food to replace the sugar, have been dried and reduced powder. The sweetener extracts of stevia contains glycosides of stéviol, presents naturally in the plant. The components of these glycosides (in particular the stévioside and the rébaudioside A) give the flavor sweetened in this sweetener. The sweet sensation freed by the stevia is different from that of saccharose, that is some sugar which we find on the market. She is indeed later and more persistent with a bitter aftertaste of licorice not always appreciated.
We find the stevia in two main forms in trade:
Powder: once dried and crushed, the sheets of stevia are transformed powder. The sweetening power of this powder is 10-15 times upper to that of the sugar
In extract normalized of stevia: it is a soluble white powder in the compound water of at least 90 % of stéviosides, consisted in the sweet flavor, naturally present in the sheet of stevia. His sweetening power is of 300 times upper to the sugar.
The components of stevia have the advantage not to be transformed when they are warmed. So, the stevia can be used as sweetener in ready-made meal or cake stores. In France, its use as food sweetener is authorized in the elaboration of sweet soft drinks.
Europe defined, as for her, the categories of food groups for which the use of stevia is authorized: the flavored soft drinks, the beers, the ice creams, the preparations with vegetables and with fruits, jams, chocolates, sweets, chewing gum, cereal to have breakfast, the desserts, the sauces, the food complements and the sweeteners of table.
An alternative to help reduce sugar consumption
One of the biggest advantages of stevia is that it has no calorie value, unlike sugar. This natural product is therefore a good alternative to sugar itself but also to synthetic sweeteners for people who are on a diet or who wish to reduce their sugar intake for health reasons, without depriving yourself of sweet food.
Given the high sweetness of stevia compared to sugar, the quantities consumed are automatically lower and, without being scientifically proven, This decrease in sugar consumption can help fight certain diseases such as diabetes. Choosing stevia as a sweetener increases glucose tolerance and lowers blood levels.
Stevia also has the advantage of containing many trace elements and vitamins. Its potassium content, for example, helps regulate blood pressure.
Similarly, replacing sugar with stevia tends to limit tooth decay since its consumption is more limited, but also because stevia inhibits the growth of bacteria.
Stevia has a bright future in modern food
In June 2008, WHO authorized steroids in human food and launched the massive use of this new natural sweetener by major food processors such as Coca-Cola. Pepsi Cola’s SoBe Life line is “sweet” at baudioside A.
However, stevia consumption must remain measured.
If stevia is a plant and therefore a natural product, the same is not true of the processes that lead to the final product, which can be chemical. In addition, agents intended to increase its volume and food additives, not always natural, are added to stevia. In the end, doubts can be expressed about its 100% natural side. In other words, as with other sweeteners, caution should be exercised with respect to the consumption of stevia, since the total safety of these products is not proven.
On the other hand, people with allergies to plants in the Asteraceae family should use stevia with caution. Pregnant and nursing women are also advised not to use stevia as a sweetener.
Publication: Senior Magazine