the halo around sugar is gone it is no longer considered the food of gods but the cause of obesity and several lifestyle diseases according to ram kumar an eminent ayurveda expert and founder nirogstreet in ayurveda refined white sugar is extremely kaphaprovoking and can create heaviness congestion and toxins in the system herbs possess an infinite amount of healing benefits and it is no surprise that they can help us overcome our addictions and sugar damages with more and more awareness about the threat of over indulging in sugar an alternative has become imperative but sadly most artificial sweeteners not just have a synthetic after taste but they also come with an array of sideeffects most of them like aspartame and saccharine have been linked to deadly diseases like alzheimers and cancer a new much talked about sweetener these days is stevia it is said to be derived from the leaves of a plant and is pitched as a safe alternative but how far is it true or is it also a marketing gimmick lets explore what is steviawhat is steviastevia is extracted from the leaves of a herb known as stevia rebaudiana which was originally grown in south america it is 100300 times sweeter than sugar but the good news is it does not raise blood sugar its leaves have been used as a sweetening agent since more than a thousand years by several native tribes of south america it traditionally was used to sweeten teas drinks and local food according to navneet singh head and vice president regional south east asia purecircle that manufactures stevia perfecting the art and science of stevia can unleash its potential as a magic ingredient for the benefit and wellbeing of people national medicinal plant board nmpb under national ayush mission nam has listed stevia as a priority medicinal plant for cultivation multiple major global regulatory organisations including whos joint expert committee on food additive jecfa the food and drug administration fda have determined highpurity stevia leaf extracts to be safe for consumption by children adults and special populationsis stevia safeis stevia safethe glycosides in stevia are not metabolized by the body and hence it contains no calories stevia as a food additive has different levels of legal acceptance in different countries united states laws allow the sale and consumption of highpurity stevia glycoside extracts but stevia leaf and crude extracts have not yet been approved by fda the european union allowed the use of stevia as recent as in 2011 even though the people of japan have been using it since several decades with the growing concern over consumption of refined sugar research to find a healthy alternative has naturally intensified huge amounts of money have been invested in researches to find a sugar substitute which is completely untainted and has no side effects stevia seems quite a reasonable alternative for diabetics who cannot consume sugar however we should be wise in choosing our alternatives anything refined is processed with a