Herb Of The Week - Stevia - Monograph

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Below is a Stevia Monograph from Michael Thomsen - down under at

Phytomedicine.com

 

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<http://www.phytomedicine.com.auarticles/stevia.pdf>

http://www.phytomedicine.com.auarticles/stevia.pdf

 

Common name: stevia

 

Other names: honey yerba, honeyleaf,

 

sweet-herb, caa’-ehe, kaa’he-e

 

Family: Asteraceae

 

Parts used: leaves

 

description

 

A perennial shrub to 80 cm, with small leaves and

 

tiny flowers. It prefers sandy soil in elevated

 

terrain. Stevia is native to portions of

 

northeastern Paraguay and adjacent sections of

 

Brazil. It is now grown commercially and used in

 

many countries, including Brazil, Paraguay,

 

Uruguay, Central America, the United States,

 

Israel, Thailand and China.

 

It is estimated that there are over 80 species of

 

Stevia which grow wild in North America, and

 

possibly as many as 200 additional species native

 

to South America. However the sweetening

 

properties have only been found in Stevia

 

rebaudiana and in another species which is now

 

extinct.

 

historical use

 

Stevia rebaudiana has been used by the Guarani

 

Paraguayan Indians, Mestizos and others as a

 

sweetener for bitter drinks such as maté for

 

centuries.

 

European discovery of stevia occurred in the

 

sixteenth century by the Spanish Conquistadors.

 

American interest did not occur until the turn of

 

the twentieth century with research carried out in

 

Brazil. Stevia was described at this time by Dr

 

Bertoni, a South American natural scientist, who

 

compared it to saccharine, stating studies of Dr

 

Rebaudi on its ‘healthfulness’ and ability to

 

sweeten without providing calories.

 

1

 

In 1931, French chemists carried out exploratory

 

extraction work on stevia leaves, yielding a pure

 

white crystalline compound which they named

 

stevioside.

 

2

 

In its natural form the herb is

 

approximately 10 to 15 times sweeter than

 

common table sugar, however stevioside extracts

 

can range anywhere from 100 to 300 times

 

sweeter than table sugar. Stevioside has been

 

used for many years in the treatment of diabetes

 

among Indians in Paraguay and Brazil.

 

In 1941, due to scarcity of sugar and other

 

sweeteners in England, a substitute sweetener

 

was sought which could be cultivated in the

 

British Isles, and stevia was considered to be a

 

likely possibility.

 

2

 

At present Japan is the largest user of stevia.

 

This is due to the government’s ban on certain

 

artificial sweeteners in the late sixties because of

 

health concerns, and also due to concerns of

 

Japanese consumers toward sucrose. Stevioside

 

has been approved as a food additive in South

 

Korea and is widely available in China, Taiwan

 

and Malaysia.

 

indications

 

sweetener, hypoglcaemia, diabetes mellitus,

 

hypertension

 

actions

 

sweetener, hypoglycaemic, possibly hypotensive

 

constituents

 

Several glycosides are contained in the leaves,

 

including stevioside, rebaudioside A & B, steviol

 

and steviolbioside. Stevioside and a number of

 

other related compounds accounts for stevia’s

 

sweetness.

 

research

 

carbohydrate metabolism

 

Stevioside has been found to affect hepatic

 

glycogen synthesis. A study was undertaken on

 

the influence of stevioside and steviol on the

 

glycogen levels of fasted rats. In one set of

 

experiments single doses of stevioside or steviol,

 

with fructose, were given orally to rats, which had

 

fasted for 24 hours. Both stevioside and steviol

 

increased the initial glycogen deposition in the

 

liver. In another set ofexperiments, stevioside or

 

steviol were given to the rats in the drinking

 

water at the beginning of the fasting periods.

 

Increased hepatic glycogen levels were found with

 

stevioside; no effect was seen with steviol.

 

3

 

Stevioside and steviol stimulate insulin secretion

 

via direct action on beta cells. A study was

 

undertaken to reveal the mechanism for the

 

blood glucose-lowering effect of stevioside and

 

steviol, using normal mouse islets and the beta-

 

cell lines. Both stevioside and steviol dose-

 

dependently enhanced insulin secretion from

 

incubated mouse islets in the presence of

 

glucose. The effects on INS-1 cells were also

 

investigated. Stevioside and steviol both

 

potentiated insulin secretion from INS-1 cells.

 

Neither stevioside nor steviol influenced the

 

plasma membrane K+ adenosine triphosphate

 

sensitive channel activity, nor did they alter cyclic

 

adenosine monophosphate levels in islets.

 

4

 

Stevia rebaudiana

 

medicine

 

phyto

 

©Michael Thomsen – Phytomedicine

 

Page 1 of 2

 

Stevia increases glucose tolerance. This study

 

investigated the effect of aqueous extracts of

 

Stevia rebaudiana leaves on a glucose tolerance

 

test in 16 normal volunteers. Aqueous extracts of

 

5 grams of leaves were administered to

 

volunteers at regular 6 hourly intervals for 3

 

days, with glucose tolerance tests performed

 

before and after extract administration. The

 

extract of Stevia rebaudiana increased glucose

 

tolerance; it significantly decreased plasma

 

glucose levels during the test and after overnight

 

fasting in all volunteers.

 

5

 

hypertension

 

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised,

 

multicentre study was undertaken to evaluate the

 

effect of stevioside in hypertension. The study

 

group consisted of 106 Chinese hypertensive

 

subjects with ages ranging from 28 to 75 years

 

and diastolic blood pressure between 95 and 110

 

mmHg. Of the subjects there were 60 allocated

 

to active treatment and 46 to placebo treatment.

 

Each subject was given capsules containing

 

stevioside (250 mg) or placebo thee times daily

 

and followed-up at monthly intervals for one year.

 

After three months, the systolic and diastolic

 

blood pressure of the stevioside group decreased

 

significantly, and the effect persisted during the

 

whole year. There was no significant changes in

 

blood biochemistry parameters including lipid and

 

glucose, no significant adverse effects, and no

 

deterioration in quality of life.

 

6

 

contraindications and cautions

 

There are no known contraindications. Although

 

stevia taste sweet, it is not cariogenic. Stevioside

 

and rebaudioside A was found not to cause caries

 

in animals.

 

7

 

Stevia is thought not to adversely

 

affect children. Very high daily doses of stevioside

 

has been shown not to affect growth and

 

reproduction in animals or their off springs. The

 

offspring of hamsters continuously received

 

stevioside via drinking water until one month old

 

and were daily force-fed stevioside afterwards,

 

and showed normal growth and fertility.

 

Histological examinations of reproductive tissues

 

from three generations revealed no evidence of

 

abnormality that could be linked to the effects of

 

consuming stevioside.

 

8

 

dose

 

5 to 15 mL per week (1:2) as a flavouring qgent.

 

Higher doses may be necessary for therapeutic

 

effect.

 

references

 

1. McCaleb R, Stevia Leaf - Too Good To Be Legal?,

 

Herb Research Foundation.

 

2. Richard D, Stevia Rebaudiana, Nature’s Sweet

 

Secret.

 

3. Hubler MO, Bracht A, Kelmer-Bracht AM,

 

‘Influence of stevioside on hepatic glycogen levels

 

in fasted rats’, Res Commun Chem Pathol

 

Pharmacol 1994 Apr;84(1):111-8.

 

4. Jeppesen PB, Gregersen S, Poulsen CR, Hermansen

 

K, ‘Stevioside acts directly on pancreatic beta cells

 

to secrete insulin: actions independent of cyclic

 

adenosine monophosphate and adenosine

 

triphosphate-sensitive K+-channel activity’,

 

Metabolism, 2000 Feb;49(2):208-14.

 

5. Curi R, Alvarez M, Bazotte RB, et al, ‘Effect of

 

Stevia rebaudiana on glucose tolerance in normal

 

adult humans’, Braz J Med Biol Res

 

1986;19(6):771-4.

 

6. Chan P, Tomlinson B, Chen YJ, et al, ‘A double-

 

blind placebo-controlled study of the effectiveness

 

and tolerability of oral stevioside in human

 

hypertension’, Br J Clin Pharmacol, 2000

 

Sep;50(3):215-20.

 

7. Das S, Das AK, Murphy RA, et al, ‘Evaluation of

 

the cariogenic potential of the intense natural

 

sweeteners stevioside and rebaudioside A’, Caries

 

Res 1992;26(5):363-6.

 

8. Yodyingyuad V, Bunyawong S, ‘Effect of stevioside

 

on growth and reproduction’, Hum Reprod 1991

 

Jan;6(1):158-65.

 

medicine

 

phyto

 

Phytomedicine PO Box 1995 Dee Why NSW 2099

 

telephone 02 9939 1380 facimile 02 9939 1333

 

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Herbal Monograph: Stevia rebaudiana

 

©Michael Thomsen – Phytomedicine

 

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