Stevia is not healthier than other sugar substitutes
Since the removal of diabetic products from the market applies that all healthy foods are basically equally suitable for diabetic patients as for non-diabetic patients. Only for people who suffer from phenylketonuria of the congenital metabolic disorder but need sweeteners, stevia is a good alternative, so Matthaei.
Steviol glycosides, commonly known as "stevia", have been authorized by 2011 since December under the name "food additive E 960" as a sweetener in the European Union. Stevia is extracted from the plant "Stevia rebaudiana", also known as "sweet herb" or "honeywort". Stevia is two hundred to three hundred times sweeter than sugar and practically energy-free. Consumption of steviol glycosides is considered acceptable if the tolerable daily allowance (ADI) of four milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day is maintained. Whether there is a risk of overdose is still unclear. Stevia is neither caries-promoting nor carcinogenic, does not damage the genome and does not interfere with the fertility or development of the unborn child.
This applies equally to other sweeteners, emphasizes med. Andreas Fritsche, press spokesman of the DDG from Tübingen. For example, the American Diabetes Association has tested and approved five artificial sweeteners: acesulfame, aspartame, saccharin, sucralose, and neotame. "There is no strong scientific evidence to show that these sweeteners are carcinogenic in the amounts recommended for consumption," explains Fritsche.
The DDG expert also counters the allegation that sweeteners or allegedly related insulin release may cause hunger pangs and even addiction. "If anything, insulin mediates a saturation signal to the brain in lean people," says Fritsche. In overweight people, on the other hand, the brain is probably insensitive to insulin. Therefore, the saturation signal may no longer arrive in the brain. "From what we currently know scientifically, neither sugar nor sweeteners can be addictive," explains Fritsche. Regardless, everyone should be careful not to consume more than the recommended amount of sweetener or more than 50 grams of sugar per day.
Stevia is a good alternative only for people who suffer from phenylketonuria, a very rare metabolic disease and at the same time need sweeteners because of diabetes. People who have phenylketonuria do not tolerate the amino acid phenylalanine. Since the sweetener contains aspartame phenylalanine, sufferers must avoid it - Stevia, however, contains like other sweeteners no phenylalanine. "But that should not affect a total of more than a dozen people in Germany," emphasizes Fritsche.
In the meantime, it has been researched why Stevia tastes not only sweet but also bitter. This is ensured by the two taste receptors hTAS2R4 and hTAS2R14, as scientists from the Technical University of Munich and the German Institute for Human Nutrition Potsdam Rehbrücke (DIfE) found. In high concentrations stevia triggers licorice-like, bitter flavors.
Source: Berlin [DDG]
