.
.
SPORTS MEDICINE :
MEDICAL: CONDITIONS: OBESITY :
FOOD DRINK NUTRITION DIET: ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS AND SUGAR SUBSTITUTES:
Can Stevia Nix Obesity?
.
.
Can Stevia Nix Obesity?
It's natural, calorie-free and as sweet as sugar no wonder the food
industry is excited. But does stevia pass the taste test? Kristen Herhold
reports
Kristen Herhold
Friday 05 July 2013
The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/
features/can-stevia-nix-obesity-8688754.html
.
A shorter URL for the above link:
.
http://tinyurl.com/od2uyqg
.
.
After trying stevia myself as a sweetener in a drink, I did not notice a
bad or liquorice-like aftertaste. I was, however, surprised by how
chemical it tasted, which is surprising considering it is the only natural
sugar substitute.
.
Products made successfully with stevia may also have potential for helping
to combat the growing problem of obesity. According to the National Health
Service's 2013 Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet, 65 per
cent of men and 58 per cent of women are overweight or obese in England,
and the numbers continue torise. As the population increases in size, more
and more people are looking for ways to shrink down and cutting out sugar
could certainly help. There are, of course, other zero-calorie sugar
substitutes, but stevia is the only one of natural origin and that is
something consumers find appealing.
.
"Stevia can help people enjoy natural-origin sweetness while reducing
calories as part of a healthful, balanced diet," says Dr Margaret Ashwell,
a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Global Stevia Institute,
an information service provided by the main suppliers of stevia. "There
are enormous opportunities for industry to meet national and international
pledges to reduce sugar in products to help the obesity crisis." Stevia
also allows consumers to satiate their sugar cravings guilt-free. Food
scientist Professor Jeya Henry, professor of nutrition and director of the
Functional Food Centre at Oxford Brookes University, agrees it has a lot
of potential for sating our collective sweet tooth.
.
"It's much easier for people who don't have diabetes to tell people not to
eat sugar, but one of the driving forces of our life is the pleasure of
food," he says. "So if you can apply the pleasure of food to stevia, why
not? At the end of the day, we are creatures of food desire." But
Professor Henry is cautious about hailing it as a cure-all. "Stevia can
make some contribution, but it is not a panacea for obesity," he adds.
.
In the UK, stevia can be found in the reduced-calorie versions of Sprite,
Nestea, Tropicana Orange Juice and various yoghurts, sometimes alongside
sugar and sometimes replacing it.
.
In 2010, a panel of 21 European food safety scientific experts read
reports on stevia, including its toxicity and its possible effects on
genes and the reproductive system and deemed it to be safe. Though the
long-term effects of stevia have yet to be extensively analysed, Brooks
said consumers should not be worried. "We invested in years of rigorous
safety studies," he said. "We would not bring a product to market unless
we were confident we could recommend it to our consumers and customers."
.
Professor Henry says he believes consumers have no need to fear any
negative health effects from stevia, with its long history. "It has been
used for more than 3,000 years by the South Americans," he says.
"Everything we eat and do has a potential risk. I would certainly think
that stevia is probably a pretty good bet in our contemporary society
where people are always saying Mother Nature is better than anything
synthetic."
.
.
The complete article may be read at the URL above.
.
.
Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
[log in to unmask]
http://workface.com/e/daviddillard
Net-Gold
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/net-gold
http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/net-gold.html
Index: http://tinyurl.com/myxb4w
http://groups.google.com/group/net-gold?hl=en
Handouts
http://tinyurl.com/6pvglb4
General Internet & Print Resources
http://guides.temple.edu/general-internet
COUNTRIES
http://guides.temple.edu/general-country-info
EMPLOYMENT
http://guides.temple.edu/EMPLOYMENT
TOURISM
http://guides.temple.edu/tourism
DISABILITIES
http://guides.temple.edu/DISABILITIES
INDOOR GARDENING
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/IndoorGardeningUrban/
Educator-Gold
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Educator-Gold/
K12ADMINLIFE
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/K12AdminLIFE/
The Russell Conwell Learning Center Research Guide:
THE COLLEGE LEARNING CENTER
http://tinyurl.com/yae7w79
Information Literacy
http://guides.temple.edu/infolit
Nina Dillard's Photographs on Net-Gold
http://tinyurl.com/36qd2o
and also at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neemers/
Twitter: davidpdillard
Temple University Site Map
https://sites.google.com/site/templeunivsitemap/home
Temple University Degree Programs
http://tinyurl.com/coaecxr
Bushell, R. & Sheldon, P. (eds),
Wellness and Tourism: Mind, Body, Spirit,
Place, New York: Cognizant Communication Books.
Wellness Tourism: Bibliographic and Webliographic Essay
David P. Dillard
http://tinyurl.com/p63whl
INDOOR GARDENING
Improve Your Chances for Indoor Gardening Success
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/IndoorGardeningUrban/
http://groups.google.com/group/indoor-gardening-and-urban-gardening
SPORT-MED
https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/sport-med.html
http://groups.google.com/group/sport-med
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sports-med/
http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/sport-med.html
HEALTH DIET FITNESS RECREATION SPORTS TOURISM
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/healthrecsport/
http://groups.google.com/group/healthrecsport
http://healthrecsport.jiglu.com/
http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/health-recreation-sports-tourism.html
.
.
Please Ignore All Links to JIGLU
in search results for Net-Gold and related lists.
The Net-Gold relationship with JIGLU has
been terminated by JIGLU and these are dead links.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Net-Gold/message/30664
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/healthrecsport/message/145
Temple University Listserv Alert :
Years 2009 and 2010 Eliminated from Archives
https://sites.google.com/site/templeuniversitylistservalert/
.
.
|