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.

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.

SOURCE: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., Publishers

Journal of Medicinal Food
Full bibliographic information: Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni: A Natural Alternative for Treating Diseases Associated with Metabolic Syndrome