02.20.03--Could Stevia be the Answer to Diabetes Treatment?

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02.20.03--Could Stevia be the Answer to Diabetes Treatment?

JoAnn Guest

Apr 18, 2007 14:01 PDT

 

02.20.03--Could Stevia be the Answer to Diabetes Treatment?

 

http://www.nowfoods.com/index.php?action=itemdetail & item_id=8566

by Patrick B. Massey, M.D.

 

Posted in the Daily Herald on Monday, May 20, 2006

 

Diabetes is one of the fastest growing diseases in this country,

especially in the adult population. People with the disease often

are prone to high blood pressure, vision changes and decreases in

arterial blood flow, which can lead to heart disease or stroke.

 

There are many reasons for the explosive increase in diabetes, among

them obesity, sedentary lifestyles, genetics and, to some degree,

sugar consumption. In the United States, the average person consumes

more than 120 pounds of sugar each year.

 

Humans seem to be born with a sweet tooth. This has spawned a

multibillion-dollar industry for the development of sugar

alternatives.

 

Interestingly, nature has provided a sugar substitute called stevia.

Wild stevia is a perennial shrub native to the Amambay mountain

region in Paraguay. It has been used for centuries by the natives as

a sweetener and in the 1800s was " re-discovered " and used throughout

Latin America.

 

In 1931, stevioside was isolated as the active part of the stevia

leaf. The Japanese use it and today it accounts for about 41 percent

of their total artificial sweetener market.

 

Stevia has some very interesting properties. It has no calories but

has actions similar to several currently used medications. It

stimulates the release of insulin and normalizes the response to

glucose, especially in type 2 diabetes.

 

It is used in Latin America as an inexpensive therapy for

hyperglycemia.

 

In good medical studies, regular consumption of stevia also reduces

high blood pressure without reducing normal blood pressure.

 

Medical publications have shown that it affects calcium transport

in a way that

is similar to a class of drugs called calcium channel blockers (like

verapamil), which commonly are used to treat high blood pressure.

 

In laboratory animals, stevia also can induce diuresis or water

release, similar to diuretics also used to treat high blood

pressure.

 

One study even showed that stevia could prevent infection by the

rotovirus, a common viral infection among school-age children.

 

There are claims that stevia can help skin conditions and stomach

problems and enhance immunity, but these have not been examined by

the medical community.

 

Fortunately, some manufacturers make a stevia product. I recently

toured a local facility, NOW Foods in Bloomingdale, and was

impressed with their levels of purity and cleanliness. I bought

their brand of stevia and tried it in green tea (of course). I found

it to be very sweet

tasting and plan to try it in some of my cooking. My children also

liked it.

 

I am a proponent for the study, development and use of natural

products for many chronic diseases. The few products we have ever

examined seem

to be safe, effective and inexpensive. They also do wonders for

agricultural economies.

 

Stevia seems to do the work of at least four medications at a

fraction

of the cost and, possibly, with fewer side effects. It would be

interesting to directly compare stevia with currently used oral

diabetic

medications. -

 

Patrick B. Massey MD, PhD

Medical Director, Complementary and Alternative Medicine - Alexian

Brothers Hospital Network and President, ALT-MED Medical and

Physical

Therapy Programs

 

 

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets