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  #1   ^
Old Tue, Sep-26-17, 03:07
ketopaul's Avatar
ketopaul ketopaul is offline
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Default Stevia: legit or not?

I'm not wondering whether it tastes good, or whether it is keto-friendly. I keep reading comments and articles questioning Stevia as a healthy alternative to other artificial sweeteners (aspartame, etc.) and just want to know if this is indeed a "healthy" option.
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  #2   ^
Old Tue, Sep-26-17, 03:51
teaser's Avatar
teaser teaser is offline
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Plan: mostly milkfat
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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas...70411104441.htm

I find it a bit funny that stevia gets a pass so often in the low carb and ketogenic community. Other sweeteners are accused of increasing insulin, meanwhile the most vigorous research showing a sweetener increasing insulin is with stevia. Lots of researchers go so far as to suggest increased insulin release as a benefit of stevia. I don't actually worry about this, I use stevia myself.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas...70411104441.htm

Quote:
Researchers unravel how stevia controls blood sugar levels


Quote:
Stevia extract is very popular as a non-caloric substitute for sugar. The plant-based sweetener is also believed to have a positive effect on blood sugar levels, although nobody understood why. Koenraad Philippaert and Rudi Vennekens from the KU Leuven Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine have now revealed the underlying mechanism. They collaborated with other KU Leuven scientists and with researchers from Université catholique de Louvain and University of Oxford.

"Our experiments have shown that the active components of stevia extract, stevioside and steviol, stimulate the ion channel TRPM5," Dr Philippaert explains. "The proteins known as ion channels are a kind of microscopic pathway through which minuscule charged particles enter and leave the cell." These channels are behind many processes in the body."

"TRPM5 is first and foremost essential for the taste perception of sweet, bitter, and umami on the tongue," Philippaert continues. "The taste sensation is made even stronger by the stevia component steviol, which stimulates TRPM5. This explains the extremely sweet flavour of stevia as well as its bitter aftertaste."

TRPM5 also ensures that the pancreas releases enough insulin, for instance after a meal. Therefore, it helps prevent abnormally high blood sugar levels and the development of type 2 diabetes. This condition develops if the pancreas releases insufficient amounts of insulin, often as a result of an unhealthy lifestyle.

"If mice consume a high-fat diet for a long period of time they eventually develop diabetes," Professor Vennekens explains. "But this is less the case for mice that also receive a daily dose of stevioside: they are protected against diabetes. Stevia did not have this protective effect on mice without TRPM5. This indicates that the protection against abnormally high blood sugar levels and diabetes is due to the stimulation of TRPM5 with stevia components."


This isn't to say, stevia increases insulin, so is bad.

From the study itself;


Quote:
In perifusion experiments, we analysed the effect of steviol on the dynamics of GIIS (Fig. 4d,e; Supplementary Fig. 5). Steviol supplementation has no effect in low glucose. The 10 mM GIIS displays a rapid peak phase (phase 1), and a more sustained level of insulin release (phase 2). Insulin secretion during both phases is increased in the continuous presence of steviol


https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14733#discussion

Type II diabetics have a poor or absent first phase insulin response. The first phase insulin response helps the body to prepare, makes it more insulin sensitive while the nutrients from a meal are being absorbed. So while if you keep glucose artificially elevated as in this experiment, steviol might increase both phase 1 and phase 2 insulin, in the body, if phase 1 insulin increases insulin sensitivity, more efficient glucose clearance is likely to mean that less insulin will need to be secreted in phase 2.
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  #3   ^
Old Tue, Sep-26-17, 07:34
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ketopaul ketopaul is offline
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Damn, man you're like a hormonal/nutritional encyclopedia. Much appreciated! That was very helpful.
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  #4   ^
Old Tue, Sep-26-17, 11:37
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TucsonBill TucsonBill is offline
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Plan: ≤ 20 carbs & IF
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Obviously I have not spent my life eating a healthy diet. Now that things are catching up with me, (being diagnosed T2), I've decided to try to do better.

The opinion I came to regarding artificial sweeteners is that if I'm not eating a healthy diet, then they probably are not going to do me much good, and if I am, then they're probably not going to do me much harm. At this point, I figure they are better than sugar.

Just my two cents.
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Old Wed, Sep-27-17, 06:04
ketopaul's Avatar
ketopaul ketopaul is offline
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Plan: keto
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Good stuff, Bill. Glad to see you've committed to living the healthier lifestyle.
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