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Recipes with Stevia: Happy Mind Mint Tea with Stevia
The extraordinarily powerful taste of stevia is difficult to ignore. The intensity makes your mouth water for a few minutes. Then, tingling sensations arise around the mouth. Your lip quivers.
It's simply unusual and unnatural to find a zero calorie sweetener. But leaves from the stevia plant are both. They are natural and zero calorie.
Stevia is very sweet, up to 150 times the sweetness of sugar. So a little goes a long way. When the sweet taste passes, it leaves a mild, licorice-like aftertaste that's slightly bitter and astringent.
It is light, cold, and sharp because of its intensity. Normally, sweet taste calms and sedates. But stevia is so intense that it has the opposite effect - adding to the quirky character of this unusual herb.
Some people love it. To others, it tastes terrible, almost like a chemical. That's because most stevia powders in the grocery store aren't whole stevia. They are a highly purified extract of stevia known as Reb-A.
What is It?
Stevia is a sweetener and sugar substitute derived from a remarkably sweet plant species called Stevia rebaudiana. It is an aster family plant native to Brazil and Paraguay. There, it has been used for more than 1,500 years by the Guaran? people of South America.
The secret to this zero calorie sweetener is the glucose residues bound to other non-sugar molecules. The glucose residues stimulate taste buds. However the sugary glucosides aren't digestible because they are firmly attached to the non-sugar molecules.
The stevia you buy in the grocery store does not contain the whole leaf, but a purified extract called rebaudioside A (Reb-A). This is because whole stevia hasn't been tested by the FDA. The FDA has tested the extract only. The FDA has approved whole stevia for use as an herbal supplement only. In Japan and Europe the raw stevia leaf has GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status.
Lowers Blood Sugar & Pressure
If you have diabetes, stevia may help keep your blood sugar levels in check. A 2010 study of 19 healthy, lean individuals, and 12 obese ones found that stevia significantly lowered insulin and glucose levels.
Most importantly, these study participants felt satisfied and full after eating, despite the lower calorie intake. So they didn't reach for cakes and cookies after the study.
The secret to stevia's magic is a protein that stimulates the ion channels of cells which influence your sensory input. This protein puts sweet taste receptors in hyperdrive and also stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin. Studies also show that stevia reduces your daily, normal, liver based, blood sugar level spike in the morning. One study even suggests Stevia leaves for treatment of central diabetic neuropathy. To boot, it helps regulate blood pressure levels as well.
Nevertheless, we're always suspicious when it comes to zero calorie sweetener. Will it trick the body, like fake news? Will the sweet taste reinforce a sugar addiction? When the body figures out it had a bunch of sugar but no calories, will it crave more sugar as a result? It's comforting to know that studies suggest otherwise. So far, stevia can be trusted, and seems to have some amazing qualities. While we're still cautious of refined products, stevia appears far superior to other sweeteners.
We advise caution with stevia as it can cause a blood sugar level drop if too much is taken.
Recipes with Stevia: Cucumber & Green Apple Smoothie with Sage & Spirulina
Happy Mind
A 2017 study suggests stevia is adaptogenic and a brain tonic. An adaptogen is an herb that helps you regulate stress, giving you a boost when you need it, but also calming you down when you need it.. In my personal experience, Stevia lightens the mind and lifts the mood. Its stimulating plus calming effects make it easier to concentrate and think. You might even feel more enlightened!
Kapha individuals will feel their spirits lifted, but Vatas and Pittas may find it too energizing, causing a racing mind. Avoid putting stevia in coffee, as the compound effect may be too stimulating.
For some, Stevia is so sweet that the taste alone is overstimulating, causing a gush of saliva. If you have a thin mucus barrier in the gut and a highly sensitive nervous system it can overstimulate, causing nausea, sourness, and acid reflux.
Once processed by the body, stevia has a cooling aftereffect, and can chill the stomach, something Vatas want to avoid.
Kapha individuals have a thicker mucus barrier in the stomach and a generally less sensitive nervous system - so they will only experience these cooling effects. The cooling effect is also stronger when stevia is used in cooking rather than teas, likely because the dilution reduces overstimulation.
Sugar is usually gassy and mucus forming - but stevia, as an indigestible sweetener avoids both of these. Even bacteria can't digest stevia.
Buying & Preparation
Stevia is sold in many packages, as a purified extract or whole leaf. It can be in a glycerin base or tinctured in an alcohol base. You can even grow it in your garden. Sold as a powder, it is typically mixed with other substances like dextrose, maltitol, and erythritol to dilute the intensity. Others are blended with inulin and anti-caking agents.
These additives also have effects on your body. For example, dextrose is especially cooling. Transitioning from whole leaf stevia to stevia extract with erythritol can cause a headache. So, make sure you look on the label.
Herb suppliers will typically sell the whole, unadulterated, dried leaf. Remember, a little goes a long way when using the leaf. The fresh leaf was found to be less bitter as compared to the dried leaf. The purified extract was most bitter. The powdered leaf can become sticky in humid conditions so be sure to seal and keep it dry.
When using the raw leaf, 4 leaves are enough for a gallon of water. For mixed powders sold in grocery stores, 1/8 tsp is enough for a cup of tea.
Cooking Stevia
Stevia is versatile as a sweetener because it is heat-stable, pH-stable, and not fermentable. That means you can cook with it or squirt a lemon on it, and it won't be gassy in your stomach.
When cooking, sometimes you want to accentuate one effect of an herb, and diminish another. Here are the main effects you may want to balance in stevia.
Stimulating effect
Use with mint to increase the mentally stimulating effect of stevia. If stevia is too intense for your stomach pair it with something grounding. Use almond or coconut milk instead of water as a base for stevia. The dull, heavy qualities will alleviate feelings of nausea or sourness in the stomach, and prevent hypoglycemia. Almond or coconut milk will provide some substance to this etheric herb in a Vata body.
Cold effect
If the coldness of stevia aggravates your system, warm it up with turmeric. Turmeric is unique because it is hot without being spicy, so it won't make Stevia even more stimulating. To accentuate the cold or bitter effect, pair with cilantro or cucumber.
Diluting Stevia
If having trouble getting the dose right, try placing 1/8tsp of the powder in a cup of hot water, then using a tbsp of that for your drink.
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You'll learn your body type, and whether 'Stevia' is a good fit.
Complete the basic quiz in 1 minute, or go deeper with additional quizzes
at your own leisure to learn more about your body.
AYURVEDA'S GUIDE TO VITALITY & WHOLESOME NOURISHMENT
Your Ayurvedic diet is tailored to your individual body and your specific imbalances.
With an Ayurvedic diet you feel joy and satisfaction because what you are eating truly nourishes and balances you.
Disease results from diets and lifestyles that are incompatible with your nature.
By eating a personalized diet matched to your body, you experience optimal health.
See How it Works.
Ayurveda assesses metabolic imbalances through 20 main biocharacteristics
(gunas).
Aggravating them weakens your body and causes imbalance.
By knowing which biocharacteristics are habitually imbalanced in your body, you will be able to identify and correct metabolic imbalances before you get sick.
Every biocharacteristic has an opposite which balances it (i.e. hot balances cold).
You restore balance by favoring diet and lifestyle choices that increase the opposite biocharacteristic.
Taste is used to sense the most basic properties and effects of food.
Each taste has a specific medicinal effect on your body.
Cravings for food with certain tastes indicate your body is craving specific medicinal results from food.
Taste is experienced on the tongue and represents your body's reaction to foods.
Sweet taste causes physical satisfaction and attraction whereas bitter taste causes discomfort and aversion.
Kapha should use less sweet taste while Vata and Pitta would benefit from using more sweet taste.
One of the first signs of illness is that your taste and appetite for food changes.
The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent.
Do you crave foods with any of the tastes below?
Ayurveda is a metabolic theory of medicine that explains individual health, tendencies, and disease patterns through the concept of doshas, which can be understood as your metabolic patterns and tendencies.
Each dosha reflects a distinct metabolic nature and describes strengths & weaknesses in bodily function, and how these affect energy levels, digestion, susceptibility to disease, and many other tendencies.
Your metabolic nature not only affects your physical characteristics, but also influences your mental thought patterns, confidence, and enthusiasm.
Ayurveda balances these metabolic strengths & weaknesses to support your body's vitality and prevent recurrent disease cycles. This support is a critical aid, especially in chronic or incurable disease conditions.
The 3 metabolic body types
(doshas),
are Catabolic (Vata), Metabolic (Pitta), and Anabolic (Kapha).
Through dosha, Ayurveda empowers people to identify metabolic imbalances early, break repetitive patterns of disease, and cultivate habits that support long-term vitality and well-being.
Ultimately, these metabolic patterns also provide a framework for understanding yourself, including body, mind, and spiritual tendencies.
Ayurveda & Greek Medicine were the dominant form of medicine along the Silk Road from England to China and South Asia.
They work by assessing your metabolic type, patterns, and nature.
Greek medicine recognizes 4 metabolic temperaments, Melancholic, Choleric, Sanguine, and Phlegmatic.
Has a hot and dry metabolic nature. Enthusiastic, vibrant and bright. In excess burns up fluids and ojas, irritable. Corresponds to high bilirubin in the blood that irritates and heats up the body and liver.
Cold and dry with a slow, variable or erratic metabolism. Colicky, tense. Withdrawn, pensive, anxious, and hesitant. Analytical, intelligent, detail oriented and creative. Prone to ojas depletion, dehydration, an overactive nervous system, and depression.
A Phlegmatic has a cold and wet metabolic nature. The coldness implies a slow metabolism, the moisture that you are well-nourished. Phlegmatics tend towards sluggishness and thickened fluids, including mucus.
A hot and oily nature with a moderate metabolism and a well nourished body makes Sanguine individuals vigorous, vivacious, outgoing and generous, and prone to impulsivity and self indulgence. Bullish and intense when out of balance.
Medicinal Benefits, Uses & Herbal Actions of Stevia
Experiences are Personal
Experiences vary according to the person and constitution. Individual results may vary.
The list of herbal-actions below has not be approved by the FDA and should not be used to treat a medical condition.
Creates a feeling of awareness or tension in the area in the forehead. Activates the frontal lobe - the area responsible for motor function, emotional expression, thinking, and decision making.
Herbs that promote stabilization of physiological processes and homeostasis. Adaptogens increase the body's ability to resist the damaging effects of stress and promote or restore normal physiological functioning.
An antioxidant is a molecule that inhibits oxidation. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals that lead to a chain reaction causing damage or death to cells. Antioxidants terminate these oxidation reactions.
Scrapes fats / cleanses blood vessels by 1) purging bile, 2) strengthening the liver's ability to metabolize fats, 3) by increasing uptake of cholesterol in the liver, and 4) by inhibiting fat cells.
Stevia may be beneficial for these symptoms.
The suitability of any food for a condition is highly dependent on the individual.
Please see your doctor before using this food to treat a medical condition.
We will use this information to better predict food that helps you.
CONTRAINDICATED FOR THESE SYMPTOMS
Stevia may be harmful or contraindicated for these symptoms.
Note this is not a complete list of all possible contraindications.
Please see your doctor before using this food to treat a medical condition.
Herb Drug Interaction Risk
Here are some potential herb drug interactions with Stevia. Please see your health care provider for more information.
Antidepressant: Do not combine with antihistamines.
Hypolipidemic: May magnify the effect of cholesterol lowering drugs.
Hypotensive: Herbs that lower blood pressure can magnify the effect of blood pressure reducing pharmaceuticals.
Lowers-blood-sugar: Avoid if taking diabetes or other blood sugar lowering medication
Nerve-stimulant: Avoid combining with sedatives such as alcohol, etc.
View other ingredients for Summer
Stevia is recommended for Summer. Check out these other Summer foods here.
Eating Ayurvedically makes you feel nourished and energized. Food digests with ease when
right for your body type (dosha). Healthy digestion is seen as the cornerstone of well-being in
Ayurveda. Healthy digestion generally prevents illness. If you do get sick, a strong digestive fire
reduces the severity of illness and increases your resilience. It also improves your mood. Once
you begin eating Ayurvedically, you will feel refreshed, vital and strong.
John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly, teaches people how to have a
healthy diet and lifestyle with Ayurveda.
His approach to Ayurveda is clinical, yet exudes an ease which many find enjoyable and insightful.
John also directs the Joyful Belly College of Ayurveda,
offering professional clinical training in Ayurveda for over 15 years.
John's hobbies & specialties include advanced digestive disorders, medieval Catholic philosophy,
& botany. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University.
John, his wife Natalie and their 7 kids live in Asheville, NC
“The "natural" version of Stevia...the leaf....is very very concentrated and very very sweet. If you don't care for the powdered versions of Stevia, you might try the liquid."
“How did you come to the conclusion that stevia is vata pacifying? The sweet taste, perhaps? In reading this article, the effects led me to believe that stevia would be considered vata aggravating."
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* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
The information and products on this website are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
disease.
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