For hundreds of years, indigenous peoples in Brazil and Paraguay have used the leaves of stevia as a sweetener. The Guarani Indians of Paraguay call it kaa jheééand have used it to sweeten their yerba matéétea for centuries. They have also used stevia to sweeten other teas and foods and have used it medicinally as a cardiotonic, for obesity, hypertension, and heartburn, and to help lower uric acid levels.In addition to being a sweetener, stevia is considered (in Brazilian herbal medicine) to be hypoglycemic, hypotensive, diuretic, cardiotonic, contraceptive, and tonic. The leaf is used for diabetes, obesity, dental caries, hypertension, fatigue, depression, sweet cravings, and infections.The great interest in stevia as a non-caloric, natural sweetener has fueled many studies on it - including toxicological ones. Stevioside has been found to be nontoxic in acute toxicity studies with rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and fowl; it was excreted without structural modification. It also has been shown not to be mutagenic or genotoxic, nor did it produce effects on fertility. The stevia leaf also has been found to be nontoxic and has no mutagenic activity. |
