HERB - stevia

[Gaylin Walli]

katerine rowley asked with others:

>I'd be very curious to know HOW Stevia works. I know some people use it
>as a replacement for "sugar", but is it simply "sugar by another name"
>like honey?

Stevia is a perennial shrub in the aster family of plants. It's
native to South America and is now grown there commerically.
Native residents have used the plant for hundreds of years as far
as I can tell. (It's the main sweetenr in Japan and Korean right
 now too, in all aspects of life. Coca Cola, table top sweetener,
all of it.)  When I get my Aztec herbal in the mail, I'll see
if I can find reference to it in there, but I've found reference
online that indicates that the Spaniards knew of the plant when
they conquered portions of South America. (So, there's the on-topic
portion of my note...)

Now, as for the rest, here's a little tidbit....stevia contains
substances called "glucosides." These are the things that make
the plant taste sweet. There are no calories (as far as I know)
in glucosides. The main sweet tasting glucoside in Stevia has been
named "stevioside."

The one thing that may trip people up when looking for this plant
is that I don't believe it can yet be sold as a "sweetener" per se.
To make a long story about the FDA short (and to keep me from ranting)
suffice it to say that the FDA was trying to regulate the plant, and
in doing so protect the interests of commercial producers of other
sweeteners. Until very recently ANY use was banned, but it can now
be sold as a dietary supplement. If you're looking for it, dont'
expect to find it labeled as a sweetener. For more information online,
you might find these links useful:

http://www.holisticmed.com/sweet/stv-alert.txt  --  FDA status
http://www.holisticmed.com/sweet/  --  general information
http://www.newage.com/Journal/wf/wf11.html -- New Age Journal article

Keep in mind that I don't have any conneciton with the links I send.
I just wanted you guys to know that I don't condone or condem some of
the stuff people say on their web pages. I just use them as jump
points for my own research....y'all should as well.

Jasmine, jasmine at infoengine.com
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