(Natural News) During the holiday season, people are desperately searching for foods that will satisfy their sweet tooth without adding extra inches around their waistline. Stevia could very well be the answer not only for weight loss and maintenance, but also for many other health problems.
The natural sweetener, called stevia, is made from the leaves of the stevia plant. These little leaves are extremely sweet and contain no calories or sugar. Plus, stevia is a safer option to other artificial sweeteners. Webmd.com states, "Stevioside has been safely used in research in doses of up to 1500 mg per day for 2 years." Due to the fact that stevia can be up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, most people would not even be able to consume 1500 mg in a whole week.
Lose Weight If you want to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you take in. That statement makes sense. But how can someone easily cut out calories? The answer is stevia.Stevia contains no calories and will not spike blood sugars. Maintaining healthy stable blood sugar levels alone will set many people down a path to a healthy weight.Stevia is not just beneficial for weight loss. There are many other benefits from using stevia.
Safe for Teeth If someone started using this sugarless sweetener to replace refined sugars in their diet, they may see a decrease of tooth decay. In 1999, an average person consumed 158 pounds of sugar a year. That means that people are consuming over 3 pounds of sugar every week!Don't think you consume that much sugar? Start tracking what you eat. Check out the food labels for added sugar, fructose, or high fructose corn syrup. Here is a list of just a few out of many foods that can be packed with unexpected added sugars: ketchup, baked beans, cream substitutes, salad dressings, deli meats, processed juices, etc.One can only imagine how many teeth can be saved by replacing all of that sugar with healthier options, such as stevia.
Lower High Blood Pressure Webmd.com suggests there is research that stevia could lower high blood pressure by using between 750-1500 mg of stevioside each day.Amanda Gardner, at CNN.com, states that researchers have linked the high consumption of fructose, another hidden sugar, with a raised risk of high blood pressure by 30%. In fact you only need to drink 2.5 cans or more of regular soda each day to increase your risk. If more people choose to lower their risk by eliminating soda and using stevia throughout the day, they may have a better chance to lower their blood pressure in the future.
Decrease Blood SugarsWebmd.com also highlights other research revealing that 1000 mg of stevioside could reduce blood sugars by 18%.
Health Benefits of Stevia Unlike most other sweeteners, Stevia can actually have medicinal properties as well, including:
- possible positive effect on triglycerides, cholesterol and obesity (source)
- anti-inflammatory effect
- may help diarrhea
- negligible effect on blood glucose (i.e. safe for diabetics)
- used in South America to actually treat diabetes, but few studies to support this claim
- may lower blood pressure (source) (or not)
- may treat heartburn (source)
- may improve skin rashes like eczema and eliminate dandruff (source)
How to Use Stevia There are many foods used on a daily basis that can be sweetened with stevia instead of the other harmful and refined sweeteners. For instance, homemade spaghetti sauce can be easily sweetened with stevia. Or squeeze lemon juice into water and add a dash of stevia for some refreshing low calorie lemonade. Smoothies are another terrific idea.
Summary Even though stevia has shown many great qualities, there is still need for more research in order to validate the above benefits of stevia. In the meantime, people can enjoy the natural sweetness without the guilt of the calories.
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