Stevia – The Dark Side of This Natural Sweetener

Stevia is unaffected by stomach acid, pancreatic enzymes and the process of digestion. It travels essentially “untouched” by the digestive process until it reaches the large intestine. There it “reacts” with the gut flora. It is then absorbed in the colon and travels to the liver. It is then bound to glucuronic acid via the glucuronidation pathway and eventually excreted through the urine. The glucuronidation pathway is a major liver pathway that detoxifies drugs, pollutants, estrogen, and steroids, etc.

Results showed increased food intake, body weight gain and an increase in body fat in the animals fed food and beverages with stevia just like saccharin. The glucose/table sugar treated group did not have the same effect.

[..] Nutrients published findings in 2019 and 2020 [..] 2019 report found diminished levels of various beneficial Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus.

Bifidobacteria [..] health benefits [..] protection from childhood obesity and immune health [..] Animals given prebiotic and fiber-rich diets fared better with less gut flora disruption than animals that consumed stevia-containing food and a low fiber diet.

Findings also showed that stevia intake increased levels of short chain fatty acids (SCFA) valerate and acetate found in the colon.

Imbalanced high levels of valerate and acetate relative to other SCFAs in the colon are linked with obesity and higher fat mass and may also increase cholesterol levels.

[..] Low dose intake of stevia (Reb-A) reduced enzyme activity that affected dopamine [..] in [..] rats. [..] stevia lowered dopamine-reward system activity in the brain. [..] diminished dopamine activity in [..] obese humans leads to decreased physical activity [..]

Scientists observed adverse changes in progesterone receptor site activity concluding that stevia acts as a potential endocrine disruptor.