Could stevia be bad for your health? New study raises red flag
Popular sugar substitute found to impair gut microbiome communications, but Israeli scientists say further experiments needed.
By MAYA MARGIT/THE MEDIA LINE
, DECEMBER 3, 2020
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| WHY IS sugar addictive? (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons) |
The natural sweetener
stevia may disrupt communications among gut bacteria, leading to health
issues, a team of researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
have discovered.
Scientists
examined the effect of the popular sugar substitute and its purified
extracts and found that while it did not destroy bacteria it did inhibit
their communication pathways. In higher concentrations, it also led to
an imbalance of the gut microbiome, the microorganisms that live in the
digestive tracts of humans and other animals.
The research was recently published in the scientific journal Molecules.
While
the initial findings are concerning, Dr. Karina Golberg, the lead
researcher of the study from BGU’s department of biotechnology
engineering, cautioned that additional experiments are needed to give
conclusive results.
“Regarding
safety, [at] this stage of the study we cannot say that stevia is toxic
or not safe, and further in vivo studies are required,” Golberg told
The Media Line, noting that the experiments were conducted in a lab
setting and not on animals or humans.
“We’re
not coming to say that ‘you are forbidden from taking stevia because
there is a health implication,’” she stressed. “However, [those] taking
stevia need to take into consideration that we can actually harm the
microbiome by affecting its communication system.”
Golberg
added that scientists also are still unsure of the overall health
implications of such disruptions and how they would translate into
health issues.
Earlier studies carried out by Ben-Gurion University in 2018 showed
that artificial sweeteners such as aspartame or sucralose were toxic to
the bacteria found in the digestive system and could cause a wide range
of serious health problems from weight gain to diabetes, and even
cancer.
Unlike its
artificial counterparts, however, stevia is natural. Derived from a
plant that is native to South America, for centuries indigenous groups
have used stevia in local teas and medicines. It was first introduced to
the US market in 2008 and to Israel in 2012.
“We showed that even a natural supplement can actually disrupt bacterial communication,” Golberg said.
The
biological communication process between cells is known as quorum
sensing. Several species of gut bacteria rely on it for a variety of
functions, including synchronizing their activity or monitoring their
environment.
“Bacteria
are talking with a chemical language,” said Prof. Ariel Kushmaro of the
department of biotechnology engineering at BGU, who supervised the
study.
“What we
saw in our research is that these [stevia] molecules are actually
interfering with this communication and they can specifically bind to
receptors that are related to this communication,” he said.
Nevertheless, he also cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the effects of stevia.
“It
could be that in the human gut it will behave a bit differently,” he
said. “I would not state it firmly, but we can consider that a high
concentration of stevia long-term … I’m not sure if it would be good for
us.”
As an
alternative to sugar, stevia has grown in popularity in recent years in
the food industry, amid rising obesity and diabetes rates and as more
and more people attempt to reduce their sugar intake. It is about
100-to-300 times sweeter than regular table sugar but has no calories or
carbohydrates.
The
popular sweet leaf has replaced aspartame and other artificial
sweeteners in everything from soft drinks and baked goods, to candy and
chocolate milk. According to market analyst Emergen Research, the global
stevia market is expected to reach nearly $1.2 billion by 2027.
In
addition to Golberg and Kushmaro, the BGU research team included Prof.
Robert Marks, students Orr Share of BGU and Victor Markus of Near East
University in Cyprus, Prof. Kerem Terali from Near East University and
Prof. Nazmi Ozer from Hacettepe University in Cyprus.
The
next stage of the research will be conducted on animals, most likely
mice, to see if stevia displays the same worrying effects as those
observed in the lab.
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| I don't need sugar, I'm sweet enough already ( and so handsome too ! ) |
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