A warning regarding the natural sweetener "Stevia"

SalonGeek

Help Support SalonGeek:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

'chelle

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2007
Messages
1,985
Reaction score
107
Location
bradford, west yorkshire
Hello,

I just want to share this with you all. My mums friend works in the food industry, specifically whole foods/food supplements etc. She really knows her stuff. She has just been talking to me about Stevia, the natural sweetener that you see advertised, and how potentially harmful this product is. I have copied and pasted below what she has said about it:



"The main thing with Stevia is that studies have linked fertility problems, reproductive development, and some genetic mutations with the consumption of large amounts ..also people with high... blood pressure should not use it or anyone with Blood sugar problems..i used to sell it the wholefood shop I helped run...but then it was banned not just in this country but several others. I have heard all usual stuff from the companies producing it..that native indians have used it for years and have not had any problems.. they have never used it in such large quantities as the average UK or USA consumer.but there ARE issues....there is a lot of negative press amongst top nutritionists around the world.. why use a sugar substitute? just cut it out from your diet slowly..or reduce the amount..substitutes are not healthy they all can have side effects, some definitely do..from a bad tummy to cancer cell growth.Try using small amounts of malt , honey, rice syrup, maple Syrup instead..it really doesn't take long to re-educate the palate.."


Since there seems to be a lot of hype surrounding this product at present I just thought I would share this with you all so that you can make an informed decision with regards to whether you choose to use it or not.
 
Cr*p! I use it all the time. :(
 
Can you link/reference the studies (i.e. which medical journal etc) please :)
Thanks
 
This is information from a friend who works in the food trade so I'm not sure which articles or journals she is referring to, but I will ask and post details soon
 
Also, nutritionist isn't a protected term in the UK, so I don't exactly have a lot of confidence in anything they say. Has anybody with proper qualifications said anything about this topic?
 
I read something similar, I also read that it isn't harmful that it is actually governments seen how cheap it was and going into everything that they banned it for food use.

Who knows what's true! I don't even know WHY I read those two articles I have sugar lol!

I do believe it has been banned at some point, for whatever reason.

I am not sure our government would allow truvia (think that's the brands name) if it was harmful? Xx
 
l
I am not sure our government would allow truvia (think that's the brands name) if it was harmful? Xx


Oh you poor naive soul!!

Ever heard of asbestos or thalidomide? They were assured to be safe by our wonderful government.

Not to mention alcohol, cigarettes, saturated fat....
 
Oh Lordy, my Oh would have a FIELD day here :lol:


Sugar is bad enough for us, why add to that with pretend sugar? And margarine - in fact ALL low fat stuff is a swizz!
 
Oh Lordy, my Oh would have a FIELD day here :lol:


Sugar is bad enough for us, why add to that with pretend sugar? And margarine - in fact ALL low fat stuff is a swizz!

Id rather eat sugar than some artficial rubbish

Sent from my GT-I9100 using SalonGeek
 
ScienceDirect.com - Food and Chemical Toxicology - A critical review of the genetic toxicity of steviol and steviol glycosides

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400318/Is-Stevia-Really-Safe

Ever since artificial sweeteners have been around, there have been people trying to say consumption of them can cause cancers and ect. Truth is, sweeteners are a godsend to people like my mom's best friend who is a diabetic. I, myself have been using splenda in my coffees, order my macchiato at Starbucks with sugar-free syrup (sweetener based most likely), and have been consuming diet pop for like 5 years now. Nothing wrong with me health-wise so far.

P.S. Safe amount to consume, should you choose to consume, is 4mg/kg body weight/ day. Anything in massive amounts is just asking for trouble.
 
Last edited:
ScienceDirect.com - Food and Chemical Toxicology - A critical review of the genetic toxicity of steviol and steviol glycosides

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400318/Is-Stevia-Really-Safe

Ever since artificial sweeteners have been around, there have been people trying to say consumption of them can cause cancers and ect. Truth is, sweeteners are a godsend to people like my mom's best friend who is a diabetic. I, myself have been using splenda in my coffees, order my macchiato at Starbucks with sugar-free syrup (sweetener based most likely), and have been consuming diet pop for like 5 years now. Nothing wrong with me health-wise so far.

P.S. Safe amount to consume, should you choose to consume, is 4mg/kg body weight/ day. Anything in massive amounts is just asking for trouble.

I suppose its personal opinion, i dont like arteficial sweetened things anyway i think they taste funny lol x

Sent from my GT-I9100 using SalonGeek
 
I suppose its personal opinion, i dont like arteficial sweetened things anyway i think they taste funny lol x

Sent from my GT-I9100 using SalonGeek

So strange isn't it! I actually prefer Stevia in coffee, as I think it tastes gorgeous with the flavour of coffee, but I cannot stand it in tea or cakes
 
I suppose its personal opinion, i dont like arteficial sweetened things anyway i think they taste funny lol x

Sent from my GT-I9100 using SalonGeek

Technically speaking, nearly everything is artificially sweetened, and all table sugars, in a sense, are artificial sweeteners. Table sugar is sucrose, a compound sugar (disaccharide) made from extracted simple sugars (monosaccharide). They all go through an extraction/refinement process before it becomes the white (or brown) stuff we put in our food and drinks. It's not pure form, so therefore its artificial. Naturally sweetened would be if they used real fruits, honey, sugar cane, ect which we know, sometimes doesn't quite satisfy the sweet tooth. :lol:
 
It's not pure form, so therefore its artificial.

Not everything that isn't pure is artificial. Sugar is artificial as it isn't manufactured by humans, only exatracted from its pure form. The term artificial sweetener refers to the fact it is a replacement for sugar, not that it is actually artificially manufactured.
 
Last edited:
I'm well aware artificial sweetener is a term for sugar substitutes. I was just trying to say most of the foods we eat are technically artificially sweetened, just not by the said sweeteners. :)
 
Technically speaking, nearly everything is artificially sweetened, and all table sugars, in a sense, are artificial sweeteners. Table sugar is sucrose, a compound sugar (disaccharide) made from extracted simple sugars (monosaccharide). They all go through an extraction/refinement process before it becomes the white (or brown) stuff we put in our food and drinks. It's not pure form, so therefore its artificial. Naturally sweetened would be if they used real fruits, honey, sugar cane, ect which we know, sometimes doesn't quite satisfy the sweet tooth. :lol:

Well true but still dont like them sweetner things you mentioned or like when you get sugar free pop or juice etc x
Sent from my GT-I9100 using SalonGeek
 
Oh you poor naive soul!!

Ever heard of asbestos or thalidomide? They were assured to be safe by our wonderful government.

Not to mention alcohol, cigarettes, saturated fat....

Little bit patronising the way you wrote your reply.

I am too young to recall asbestos/thalidomide being allowed, altho I agree these were unsafe as I have heard of the devastating effects these caused.

As for cigs- well with the drain on the nhs they cause, they should be banned-but they earn too much tax like alcohol and fuel!
 
Little bit patronising the way you wrote your reply.

I am too young to recall asbestos/thalidomide being allowed, altho I agree these were unsafe as I have heard of the devastating effects these caused.

As for cigs- well with the drain on the nhs they cause, they should be banned-but they earn too much tax like alcohol and fuel!


No offence meant whatsoever! Simply a light hearted joke.

I'm only 19 but I know all about thalidomide after studying genetics in biology, and obviously heard about asbestos due to media coverage.

What I'm saying is the government couldn't give two shiny sh*ts about if products making them money are killing us or not! x
 

Latest posts

Back
Top