What is Stevia?
It's always a truism that the best things in nature have been used by somebody around the world for centuries, even millennia; they just needed re-discovering by the wider world. This couldn't be more true of stevia. Stevia is a small shrub that is a member of Asteraceae family of plants, more commonly referred to as the “sunflower family.” The scientific name for stevia is stevia rebaudiana.
A Little Stevia History Lesson
The native people of Paraguay have known about the stevia plant for centuries and have employed it to sweeten their beverages for many generations. They have valued its incredible sweetness for a long time. The rest of the world only really “discovered” stevia at the end of the 19th century, through the efforts of the Swiss Dr. Moises Santiago Bertoni, from the University of Ascuncion, who in 1899 received a sample of stevia leaf from a colleague. He named it Stevia Rebaudiana, after the Paraguayan chemist Rebaudi, who later became the first person to isolate the naturally sweet compounds contained therein.
So What is Reb-A (Stevia Extract)?
Rebaudioside A, otherwise known as Reb-A (Stevia Extract) is one of the sweetest and best-tasting sweet compounds found in the stevia leaf. And there are more than 10 of these 'steviol gycosides' in the leaf! This all natural sweetener is commonly used in powder or liquid form to heighten sweetening intensity and improve taste. In its highly purified form, it has sweetness between 250 to 350 times that of an equal weight of sugar but with no calories and no effect on blood glucose levels!
For more information on Stevia
Is Stevia Safe?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has affirmed Reb-A as “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) when used as a sweetener in food products over 10 times since December 2008. Extensive studies have shown that Reb-A (Stevia Extract) does not affect blood glucose or insulin levels. Studies have shown that high purity stevia extracts are safe for diabetics.
Reb-A has also been shown to be non-mutagenic and at normal levels of use does not affect the GI tract, giving a very satisfying and natural sweetening alternative to sugar.
Where Does Zevia’s Stevia Come From?
All Zevia’s stevia is grown right here, in the United States at Sweet Green Fields (SGF). We chose SGF to be our stevia supplier as we love their commitment to innovation & technology, among being a leader in the industry and a founding member of the International Stevia Council.
