Natural Sweetener Stevia Loaded With Antioxidants; Protects Against DNA Damage

Wednesday, July 3 , ! " #y$ %i&e Adams, the 'ealth (anger, NaturalNews )ditor *ey conce+ts$ Stevia, DNA and The FDA ,iew on NaturalPedia$ Stevia, DNA and The FDA NaturalNews- )xtracts .rom the lea. o. the Stevia +lant have #een .ound to #e high in antioxidants that +revent the DNA damage that leads to cancer, according to a new /ndian study +u#lished in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry0 12hese results indicate that Stevia re#audiana may #e use.ul as a +otential source o. natural antioxidants,1 said lead author Sri3ani 4hanta, o. the /ndian /nstitute o. 5hemical 6iology in *ol&ata0 2his is good news .or stevia, the natural sweetener that has #een su++ressed .or decades #y the FDA, #ut which is now a#out to go mainstream than&s to interest .rom Coca-Cola and 5argill0 Stevia re#audiana is a South American shru# that grows in semi7arid areas o. Brazil and Paraguay0 2he leaves o. the +lant have #een used .or generations as a sweetener, originally #y the 4uarani +eo+le and more recently throughout South America and Asia0 A cam+aign o. intimidation against stevia com+anies #y the 8DA has so .ar +revented the sweetener .rom #eing a++roved .or use in .oods in the United States or )uro+e, #ut it is currently sold as a su++lement and has gained mainstream acce+tance as a sa.e, natural, calorie7.ree sweetener0 2he 8DA, o. course, su++ressed stevia as a way to +ro+el the sales o. aspartame, the arti.icial chemical sweetener that was +ushed through 8DA a++roval #y none other than Donald (ums.eld0 As+artame has never #een shown to #e sa.e .or human consum+tion in any honest studies0

Stevia as a powerful antioxidant

/n the research on stevia mentioned here, researchers used two di..erent chemicals 9methanol and ethyl acetate- to o#tain extracts .rom the leaves o. the stevia +lant0 2hese extracts were .ound to contain a variety o. antioxidants including a+igenin, &aem+.erol and :uercitrin0 2he antioxidant activity o. the extracts was tested with a !,!7di+henyl7;7+icrylhydra<yl 9DPP'- radical scavenging assay to determine how much extract would #e needed to remove hal. o. the .ree radicals .rom a solution0 8or methanol extract, =>0?? micrograms +er milliliter extract were needed, while only @0!? micrograms +er milliliter were needed o. ethyl acetate extract0 When tested against hydroxide radicals, the amount o. ethyl acetate needed dro++ed to 30 " micrograms +er milliliter0 2he researchers then tested the extractsA a#ility to +rotect DNA strands against damage #y hydroxide radicals0 /t only too& 0; milligrams +er liter o. ethyl acetate extract to inhi#it DNA strand damage0 DNA damage has #een lin&ed to a variety o. diseases, es+ecially cancer, re+roductive +ro#lems and develo+mental de.ects0 'alting DNA damage is also a &ey to longevity0 2he recent research may add a #oost to antici+ated e..orts to secure 8DA a++roval .or stevia as a food additive in the Bnited States0 Stevia extract has 3 times the sweetness o. sugar, and it mixes easily into .oods or everages0 /t causes no signi.icant increase in lood sugar levels, ma&ing it sa.e .or dia#etics0 While many stevia extracts have a slightly #itter a.tertaste reminiscent o. licorice, a num#er o. manu.acturers claim to have .igured out how to eliminate this0