Stevia Project from Bigdogs Collection

[lovekush®]

Hi folks, I would like to share with you the "Stevia Project".. If everything will go in the right way, we will have the product 100% "Natural Sweetener", Aspartame free.

You know this plant and its properties?
I remained fascinated immediately and now ... this project

See you soon for updates and information for those who want to..

 

[paulo73]

Nice!!!
I was offered some Stevia seeds and i´m waiting for next Spring to try and germinate them.
I chased cuts of it with no success whatsoever.
I´ve even asked Josep Padmies in Cataluña but no answer was givem
What are your plans?

 

[lovekush®]

Hey Paul, I wanted to create a sort of natural liquid sweetener, using maceration or cold pressing.
She uses as like a candy, eat the leaf directly from the plant alive, surprising for how long remains the sweet mouth after eating!
Very good use in the preparation of desserts, herbal teas.
I'm still documenting so I do not want to unbalance ahead of time, but I think it's an excellent replacement for REFINED sugar.
Thank you for your interest and publish news, if you have them.

 

[paulo73]

Well done mate!
It sounds to me your on the right track but be aware all the big corporations are already into Stevia big time. Sadly i predict serious restrictions to Stevia cultivation on a near future.
So you´re just doing fine by being ahead of it
In Portugal, where i stand now, in England where i lived for many years and even in South America, Stevia based sweeteners are readily available, sadly just for the ones with plenty of money because it´s a fashionable item related with New Age dieting, not good in my book.

If you need any more testers or cooperators for this project please just drop me a pm.
I am most interested mainly because Diabetes runs deep in my family.

Take it easy and thanks for sharing

 

[lovekush®]

Well done mate!
It sounds to me your on the right track but be aware all the big corporations are already into Stevia big time. Sadly i predict serious restrictions to Stevia cultivation on a near future.
So you´re just doing fine by being ahead of it
In Portugal, where i stand now, in England where i lived for many years and even in South America, Stevia based sweeteners are readily available, sadly just for the ones with plenty of money because it´s a fashionable item related with New Age dieting, not good in my book.

If you need any more testers or cooperators for this project please just drop me a pm.
I am most interested mainly because Diabetes runs deep in my family.

Take it easy and thanks for sharing

You are right my friend, I have seen several companies taking stevia to create the powdered and liquid sweeteners. Ethics and methods of some multinationals, we know that ...
Many of my little projects are born from the needs of people or animals, close to me. CBD for severe epilepsy in dogs, stevia for diabetes and organic vegetables for intolerance linked to products used in agriculture.
We will contact you via PM and thanks to you.
Jah bless. LK

 

[lovekush®]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia

From "science live"
Stevia is perhaps unique among food ingredients because it's most valued for what it doesn't do. It doesn't add calories. Unlike other sugar substitutes, stevia is derived from a plant.The stevia plant is part of the Asteraceae family, related to the daisy and ragweed. Several stevia species called "candyleaf" are native to New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.But the prized species,*Stevia rebaudiana*(Bertoni), grows in Paraguay and Brazil, where people have used leaves from the stevia bush to sweeten food for hundreds of years. In traditional medicine in these regions, stevia also served as a treatment for burns, colic, stomach problems and sometimes as a contraceptive.


Stevia has no calories, and it is 200 times sweeter than sugar in the same concentration. Other*studies*suggest stevia might have extra health benefits."Available research is promising for the use of stevia in hypertension," said Catherine Ulbricht, senior pharmacist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and co-founder of Natural Standard ResearchCollaboration, which reviews evidence on herbs and supplements. Ulbricht said Natural Standard gave stevia a "grade B for efficacy" in lowering blood pressure. Other studies suggest stevia could benefit people with*Type 2 diabetes, but Ulbricht says more research is needed.A no-calorie source of sweetness is an obvious diet solution in theory. But a few studies show that replacing sugar with artificial or low-calorie sweeteners may not ultimately lead to weight loss in real life.A 2004*study*in rats found low-calorie sweeteners led the animals to overeat, possibly because of a mismatch between the perceived sweetness and the expected calories from sugar, according to the paper in the International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders. The author of that study later argued that people who use artificial sweeteners may suffer*health problems associated with excess sugar, including metabolic syndrome, which can be a precursor to diabetes."A number of studies suggest people who regularly consume ASB [artificially sweetened beverages] are at*increased*risk compared with those that do not consume ASB," Dr. Susan E. Swithers said in a 2013 opinion letter in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism.Yet there is also evidence that stevia does nothing to change eating habits or hurt metabolism in the short term. A 2010 study in the journal Appetite tested several artificial sweeteners against sugar and each other in 19 lean people and 12 obese people.The study found people did not overeat after consuming a meal made with stevia instead of sugar. Their blood sugar was lower after a meal made with stevia than after eating a meal with sugar, and eating food with stevia resulted in lower insulin levels than eating either sucrose and aspartame.


The question of whether stevia is safe to consume largely depends on what someone means by "stevia." The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved stevia leaves or "crude stevia extracts" for use as food additives. Studies on stevia in those forms raise concerns about the*control of blood sugar*and effects on the reproductive, cardiovascular, and renal systems, the FDA warns.However, the FDA has allowed companies to use an isolated chemical from stevia as food additive, calling the chemical "generally recognized as safe." Now, products such as Truvia and others have the legal go-ahead to use Rebaudioside A, which is also found in stevia, in their no-calorie sweeteners.But there are some health concerns surrounding the stevia plant. Stevia may cause low blood pressure, which would be of concern to some taking blood pressure medications."Caution is advised when using medications that may also lower blood sugar. People taking insulin or drugs for diabetes by mouth should be monitored closely by a qualified health care professional, including a pharmacist," Ulbricht said.Stevia may also interact with anti-fungals, anti-inflammatories, anti-microbials, anti-cancer drugs, anti-virals, appetite suppressants, calcium channel blockers, cholesterol-lowering drugs, drugs that*increaseurination, fertility agents and other medications, Ulbricht said. People should talk with their doctor before deciding to take stevia in large amounts, she said.

 

[lovekush®]

New battle between the truth and the large companies?

 

[supermanlives]

I grew it years ago.

 

[lovekush®]

I grew it years ago.

What do you think?

 

[supermanlives]

I never did anything with it. I got it as a freebie in an order . I wanted the medusa pepper plant and it came with. I sampled a few leaves it was sweet and ok .it grew great. eventually it died.i had other projects. are you gonna process yours?

 

[Commonwealth]

Stevia cultivation will never be restricted because a company uses it. That is ridiculous fear-mongering based on no reality. If that were the case we wouldn't be allowed to grow mint, lavender, etc because they have commercial use. I grow stevia every year, every garden catalog and nursery seems to carry it these days. It's an ok substitute in processed form but naturally I find the leaves to end with a slight bitter taste. If you have any questions about it toss them my way but treat it like you would any other herbacious annual and you'll be more than fine.