Stevia

Stevia A Natural Alternative to Sugar

BY RIDER THOMPSON

Diabetics have known about Stevia for years and have sworn by it. Stevia is a small perennial plant native to Central and South America that is sweet, much sweeter than sugar (some extracts are up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar) yet it has little or no effect on blood glucose, therefore it has drawn a lot of attention as a natural sweetener for diabetics and others on carbohydrate sensitive diets whose other alternative sweeteners are Splenda or Nutrasweet – both chemical sweeteners. Stevia has also shown promising signs in medical research for treating obesity and high blood pressure.