Why Muscle Protein Choose Organic Stevia To Sweeten Our Products
What is Stevia Extract?
There are so many health benefits of Stevia including ability to aid in weight loss, lower blood pressure, control diabetes, prevent certain forms of cancer and much more. Let’s have a look in a snapshot of what Stevia is -
Stevia is the name given to a green leafy herbal plant, which is native to South America and has been used for hundreds of years because of its extremely sweet leaves. Stevia has received its recent fame as being a sweetener that is more than 40x sweeter than sugar but does not affect blood sugar levels. It also does not have the negative side effects on the body, unlike normal sugar and is useful especially for diabetics.
Stevia is valued most for the sweet taste, which makes it capable of replacing sugar in a diet. Importantly, it also has a very low calorific count pushing it in the ‘no-calorie’ food zone.
Health Benefits of Stevia
Helps to Control Diabetes
The most widely praised aspect of stevia for human health concerns is its ability to regulate blood sugar levels in the body. This is an ideal replacement for normal sugar for diabetics or people on carbohydrate-controlled diets because they can eat sweet foods without having to worry about diabetic complications.
Opposed to sucrose, which is what normal table sugar consists of, stevia sweetens food in a similar way as sugar, but it contains stevioside, which is a non-carbohydrate glycoside compound. As explained above, when stevioside breaks down, the glucose-containing particles are absorbed by the bacteria in the colon, rather than being absorbed into the bloodstream and affecting glucose levels in the body.
Weight Loss
Stevia is very low in calories and is anywhere from 40-300x sweeter than sugar, depending on the prevalence of certain extracts in the species variety. This means that people can eat foods like cakes, cookies, and candies made with stevia without worrying about gaining plenty of calories from sugars, so they won’t hurt their chances of successfully losing weight. This can also help in controlling excess sugar content in children’s diet.
Regulates Blood Pressure
As mentioned, stevioside is a type of glycoside, but there are other glycosides in stevia that can actually relax the blood vessels, increase urination, and facilitate the elimination of sodium from the body. This means that less stress is put on the cardiovascular system and there can be a drop in blood pressure, which protects heart health and prevents certain conditions such as heart attacks, and strokes.
Prevents Cancer
The rich source of antioxidant compounds found in stevia makes it an ideal dietary supplement for the prevention of various cancers including pancreatic cancer.
Quercitin, kaempferol, and the other glycoside compounds in stevia help to eliminate free radicals in the body, thereby preventing them from mutating healthy cells into malignant ones. Antioxidants also help to prevent premature aging, cognitive malfunction, and various other conditions like heart disease.
Lowers Cholesterol Levels
Studies show that consumption of stevia leads to a significant reduction in bad LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels and an increase in the HDL cholesterol levels, which is healthy cholesterol and is essential for good lipid profile.
Prevents Osteoporosis
Stevia, unlike sugar, aids in increasing bone mineral density and helps to treat osteoporosis.
Other Benefits
Along with all the health benefits mentioned above stevia is also known to possess anti-diarrheal, anti-hyperglycemic, antihypertensive, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diarrheal, and immune-modulatory actions.
Side Effects
Although there aren’t any major side effects of stevia it is better to consume in moderation.
That's why here at Muscle Protein, we sweeten our shakes with organic stevia to ensure you get the cleanest, premium quality protein shakes on the market.
