Stevia is a native shrub Originally found growing wild in the highlands of Paraguay and has been used for over 1500 years by native Guarani Indians. The stevia leaf contains numerous phytonutrients and trace minerals. It contains Stevisoid, a natural sweetener, which is 300 times sweeter than sugar, yet it is not absorbed by the body and contains practically no calories or carbohydrates and is diabetic safe.

Stevia is said to nourish the pancreas and does not raise blood glucose levels making it safe for diabetics. Since there are no calories or carbohydrates stevia is an excellent weight loss aid.. Adding stevia to your diet on a regular basis has been reported to minimize hunger sensations, cravings for sweets or fatty foods, aide in digestion, decrease hypertension without effecting normal blood pressure, stabilize blood glucose levels, shorten recovery time from cold and flu and aide in addictions to tobacco and alcohol. When used in toothpaste or mouthwash, cavities and gum disease is reduced due to its antibacterial properties.

Today, health conscious Japan, (where aspartame has been banned) is one of the worlds largest users of stevia where after extensive research, stevia has been safely used for over 30 years. Other major countries around the world have also been using stevia as a sugar substitute in food manufacturing. Steviais often used in cooking and baking as a natural sweetener.

As Dr. Daniel Mowrey reported: "Almost every toxicity test imaginable has been performed on stevia extract (concentrate) or stevioside at one time or another. The results are always negative. No abnormalities in weight change, food intake, cell or membrane characteristics, enzyme and substrate utilization, or chromosome characteristics. No cancer, no birth defects, no acute and no chronic untoward effects. Nothing."

There are several reports that the use of stevia has reduced cravings for tobacco, alcohol, sweet and fatty foods.

For nearly 20 years, Japanese and Brazilian consumers by the millions have used Stevia extracts as a safe, natural, non-caloric sweetener where it is approved as a food additive. Japan is the largest consumer of Stevia leaves and extracts in the world where it is used to sweeten everything from soy sauce, pickles, and confections to soft drinks. Even multi-national giants like Coca Cola and Beatrice Foods use Stevia extracts to sweeten foods (as a replacement for Nutra Sweet and saccharin) for sale in Japan, Brazil and other countries where it is approved as a food additive. Not so in the United States however, where Stevia is specifically prohibited to be used as a sweetener or as a food additive. Why? Noncaloric sweeteners are a big business in the U.S. and the national sweetener giants have been successful in lobbying the FDA to prevent this all natural, inexpensive and non-patentable sweetener from being used to replace their patented, synthetic, more expensive sweetener products. Today, Stevia products and Steviosol extracts may only be sold in the U.S. as foods and food supplements, not as food additives. In fact, in 1991, the FDA had even banned all imports of Stevia into the country(6) and this political move with it's obvious monetary ties to the sweetener industries like Nutra Sweet, who stood to lose a lot, created a huge public outcry in the natural products industry. The import ban was lifted in 1995 after much lobbying led by the American Herbal Products Association, which allowed Stevia to be sold as a dietary supplement under new legislation passed called the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994. The FDA, in one of their more politically incorrect debacles of this century, has ruled that Stevia is presumed safe as a dietary supplement, but is considered unsafe as a food additive today - continuing to protect profit margins of the sweetener giants like Nutra Sweet. In the words of Rob McCaleb, president of the Herb Research Foundation and a newly appointed member of the President's Commission on Dietary Supplements, "The FDA may have painted itself into a corner on this one. Its policy simply makes no sense."(http://www.raintree-health.co.uk/cgi-bin/getpage.pl?/plants/stevia.html).

A total ban here in the uk followed a recent application by a Belgian company to have stevia licensed as a medicine for which you could make health claims. This application was kicked out and the UK ban swiftly followed, amid claims that there is no long-term evidence that the herb is safe.

As a result we can sell you stevia as long as its not for human consumption despite being considered safe and in use for many years in other countries such as Thailand, China, South Korea, Paraguay and Brazil whose population use stevia as a natural sweetner and in the USA as a dietary supplement (What you decide to do with once you have it on the otherhand is entirely your choice ).

Studies now show that stevias benefits include: pancreas nourishment, blood sugar regulation, stabilization of high blood pressure, digestive aid, prevention of tooth and gum decay, suppression of cravings, safe for diabetics as it does not raise blood sugar and as a great weight loss aid.

The information contained in this listing has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information or product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease