Does artificial sweetener stevia help in treatment of metabolic syndrome?

In an article in Journal of Medicinal Food, a peer-reviewed journal in studies on Stevia rebaudiana, SR have demonstrated that besides being suitable as a sweetener, the aqueous and alcoholic extracts of this plant, as well as its steviol, are also a pharmacological alternative. In other words, these compounds have the required therapeutic potential for naturally treating endocrine diseases (such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia) that are relevant in the current context.

Increasingly popular as a calorie-free sweetener, steviol, as well as other extracts of the Stevia rebaudiana (SR) plant have pharmacological and therapeutic activity, including effects that make them natural alternatives for treating obesity, hypertension, and elevated levels of blood sugar and lipids, all disorders associated with metabolic syndrome.

The potential for using SR extracts to combat this growing public health problem is the focus of a timely article in Journal of Medicinal Food, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Medicinal Food website.Stevia rebaudiana (SR) is often used by the food industry due to its steviol glycoside content, which is a suitable calorie-free sweetener. Further, both in vitro and in vivo studies indicate that these glycosides and the extracts from SR have pharmacological and therapeutic properties, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, and anticancer.

In the article "Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni: A Natural Alternative for Treating Diseases Associated with Metabolic Syndrome," coauthors Areli Carrera-Lanestosa and Maira Segura-Campos, Autonomous University of Yucatan and Yolanda Moguel-Ordóñez, National Institute for Forest, Agronomic, and Livestock Research, Yucatan, Mexico, review the antiobesity, antihyperglycemic, antihypertensive, and antihyperlipidemic effects reported for the steviol compounds and aqueous and alcoholic extracts derived from the leaves, flowers, and roots of SR