International Stevia Council

The International Stevia Council Celebrates the World Health Day

Did you know that stevia has no effect on blood sugars and can therefore be used as part of a healthy life to help managing blood pressure? Stevia, a plant-based calorie-free sweetener, has many advantages such as offering no effect on glycemic index and being suitable for people suffering from diabetes.

7 April is the World Health Day where people around the globe celebrate the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The International Stevia Council welcomes that high blood pressure has been selected as the theme for the World Health Day 2013 (1), as clinical studies and scientific evaluations have demonstrated that stevia has no effect on blood sugars or blood pressure in humans (2).

Stevia does not alter blood pressure and the International Stevia Council therefore recommends including stevia as part of a natural and well-balanced diet to anyone wishing to achieve a healthy lifestyle. 

1 Data from the WHO show that about 40% of the worldwide adult population suffer from high blood pressure: http://www.who.int/gho/ncd/risk_factors/blood_pressure_prevalence/en/index.html

2 Carakostas et al., Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 46, Issue 7 (2008) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), 2010 ‘Scientific Opinion on the safety of steviol glycosides for the proposed uses as a food additive’ from http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/doc/1537.pdf

 

 

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