juneroca

1 cup

Glycemic Load =126

(estimated 100 a day)

1 cup

Glycemic Load=169

(estimated 100 a day)

With its steviol glycoside extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, stevia has garnered attention with the rise in demand for low-carbohydrate, low-sugar food alternatives. Because stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose, it is attractive as a natural sweetener to people on carbohydrate-controlled diets.

Rebaudioside A has the least bitterness of all the steviol glycosides in the stevia plant. To produce rebaudioside A commercially, stevia plants are dried and subjected to a water extraction process. This crude extract contains about 50% rebaudioside A; its various glycoside molecules are separated via crystallization techniques, typically using ethanol or methanol as solvent. This allows the manufacturer to isolate pure rebaudioside A.^[41]

A 1985 study reported that steviol, a breakdown product from stevioside and rebaudioside (two of the sweet steviol glycosides in the stevia leaf), is a mutagen in the presence of a liver extract of rats pretreated with a PCB blend^[43] — but this finding was criticized on procedural grounds that the data were mishandled in such a way that even distilled water would appear mutagenic.^[44] Over the following years, bioassay, cell culture, and animal studies have shown mixed results in terms of toxicology and adverse effects of stevia constituents. While reports emerged that found steviol and stevioside to be weak mutagens,^[45][46] the bulk of studies show an absence of harmful effects

Xylitol ( /ˈzaɪlɪtɒl/; Greek: ξύλον, xyl[on], ”wood” + suffix -itol, used to denote sugar alcohols) is a sugar alcohol sweetener used as a naturally occurring sugar substitute. It is found in the fibers of many fruits and vegetables, and can be extracted from various berries, oats, and mushrooms, as well as fibrous material such as corn husks and sugar cane bagasse,^[2][3] and birch.^[4] Xylitol is roughly as sweet assucrose with only two-thirds the food energy.

As with other sugar alcohols, with the exception of erythritol, consumption in excess of one’s laxation threshold (the amount of sweetener that can be consumed before abdominal discomfort sets in) can result in temporary gastrointestinal side effects, such as bloating,flatulence, and diarrhea. Adaptation, an increase of the laxation threshold, occurs with regular intake. Xylitol has a lower laxation threshold than some sugar alcohols, but is more easily tolerated than others such as mannitol and sorbitol.^[5][6]

ne gram of xylitol contains 2.4 kilocalories (Cal),^[9] as compared to one gram of sugar, which has 3.87 Cal.^[10] Xylitol has virtually no aftertaste, and is advertised as “safe for diabeticsand individuals with hyperglycemia.” This tolerance is attributed to the lower effect of xylitol on a person’s blood sugar, compared to that of regular sugars as it has a very low glycemic index of 13 (glucose has a GI of 100).^[11]

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