Stevia (steviodside)

Introduction

Natural sweetner derived from plant of the daisy family.

Contraindications

Safety in pregnancy: unknown

Adverse effects

• GI symptoms: abdominal fullness, nausea
• headache, dizziness, myalgia, numbness
• animal studies suggest oligospermia, renal toxicity
• mutagenicity of steviol
• probably safe in low doses.
• stevia contains erythritol linked to thrombosis, stroke, myocardial infarction & death

Mechanism of action

• Stevia leaf contains glycoside stevioside, non-caloric 300x sweeter than 0.4% sucrose.

More general terms

• pharmaceutical herb; medicinal herb; herbal supplement; botanical