The health benefits that stevia offers

Health benefits of stevia
Stevia has many health benefits :

1. Calorie-free
2. Hypoglycemic action – does not cause hypoglycemia (low sugar which causes tiredness)
3. Cardiovascular action – it lowers blood pressure (unless taken at high concentrations where blood pressure increases)
4. Cardiotonic effect – given long term usage, stevia will provide mild strengthening of the heart
5. Antimicrobial effect – it inhibits the growth and reproduction of harmful organisms. Firstly, it research shows that the Streptococcus mutantss, Pseudomonas aeruginos, Proteus vulgaris and other microbes do not flourish in places where there are Stevia constituents.
6. Paraguayans say that Stevia is helpful for hypoglycemia and diabetes because it nourishes the pancreas and thereby helps to restore normal pancreatic function
7. In Brazil, Stevia ranks high among the list of plants used for centuries by the "gauchos" (a south American nomadic race) of the southern plains to flavour the bitter medicinal preparations used in their nomadic culture. After, much experimentation, these people found out that Stevia improved digestion significantly. They also discovered that it improved overall gastrointestinal function.
8. When Stevia was introduced in China, Stevia tea, made from either hot or cold water, is used as a low calorie but sweet-tasting tea. It is used to stimulate appetite and to aid digestion and weight management.
9. On the internet, a doctor suggests switching to stevia when there is fungal / yeast overgrowth in the bowels as sugar is what the yeast feeds on.
10. Stevia shows lower incidence of dental cavities than sugar
11. Female rats that consumed stevia had decreased incidence of breast cancer while the males had decreased incidence of kidney damage.
12. Stevia has been tested on rats and mice and the results show that stevia is not toxic, does not affect tissues, general appearance and organs and does not affect the 2^nd generation either. The test results show that caffine is actually 10 times as toxic as stevia.
13. The results from the test on rodents only show that the rodents that consumed stevia versus the ones that consumed sugar weighed less which is of course expected as stevia has zero calories.

Sources:http://www.stevia.net/safety.htm

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