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One new thing that I added to my diet that I had never previously consumed is stevia. Ever since going LC/Paleo, I have used pure stevia powder as my primary sweetener. I have been putting it in coffee, whey protein PWO drinks, recipes, and even tried "Zevia" soda alternatives.

Apparently stevia is a vasodilator, and while that may be a good thing for some people, it might also not be for others.

I have never figured it could be giving me trouble, but I did some looking around and many people do in fact report some oddball side effects with stevia. It's supposed to be the best, most pure and natural non caloric sweetener available. I still believe it probably is, but now I am wondering if Stevia is messing with my blood flow enough to make me feel like I have some kind of heart problem when maybe I don't.

btw... I use a very pure stevia powder from Stevita. It's guaranteed to be at least 95% pure stevia crystals. (no fillers). But it should be noted that I do not consume stevia in large amounts. Usual dose in coffee and/or PWO drink is about 1/8 of a teaspoon at a time. So I really never have anything above 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon on any given day.

Has anyone else felt any unwanted symptons with stevia?

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You ought to switch to rice syrup. – Travis Culp♦ Oct 17 2011 at 20:11
Travis - I have rice syrup in the cupboard. Bummer is it's brown rice syrup and tastes like it. There is a white rice syrup out there, but I've never gotten ahold of one. I used to put the brown rice syrup in my PWO drink and some recipes. It sorta tastes like caramel. At any rate, I think I am gonna try removing stevia from my consumption agenda. – Jack Kronk Oct 17 2011 at 20:22
Why brown rice syrup? – Rogue Nutritionist Oct 17 2011 at 20:40
i get the same problems if i consume stevia, and i get hypoglycemic – Mallory Oct 17 2011 at 21:08
On the plus side, I doubt much of the phytate makes its way into the final product. I've always been highly skeptical about stevia. – Travis Culp♦ Oct 17 2011 at 21:08
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17 Answers

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Wow, that's great. That explains why stevia might be hypoglycemic. Also, if I have Raynaud's syndrome, I should have coffee with stevia, since coffee will vaso-constrict, while stevia will vaso-dilate. This will neutralize caffeine's constricting effects on microvessels.

Also, has anyone taken enough stevia to check if vasodilation works well enough down there for the macrocapillaries to perhaps supplant viagra or cialis?

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are you just goofin off here with this answer? you are talking about Raynauld's syndrome and coffee stevia balancing each other out and whether or not stevia might give a man a stiffy? sounds like a big bowl of sarcasm to me but I'm not actually certain. – Jack Kronk Oct 17 2011 at 19:32
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 I'm not goofing around. But I always felt good after taking stevia. Tose aborigines in Paraguay think it is an aphrodisiac. Think I know why now. – Namby Pamby Oct 17 2011 at 19:35
Well if that does work, I think Stevia is probably better than Viagra. – Jack Kronk Oct 17 2011 at 21:34
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 Also, I was thinking stevia could work as a blood pressure medication of sorts. This is how beta blockers and ARBs work, through vaso-dilation. – Namby Pamby Oct 17 2011 at 22:38
Jack, also some Raynaud's patients, male and female, are prescribed Viagra for exactly the same purpose, i.e., for vaso-dilation when their small blood vessels are being attacked. – Namby Pamby Oct 19 2011 at 3:11
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I've been sort of surprised by the rise in Stevia usage in the LC community. Stevia has a long history in Chinese medicine for treating diabetes. It apparently stimulates insulin (which is inconsistent with LC theory). Insulin is a vasodilator so it is possible you are experiencing this.

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Stevia seems to have been widely used in Japan. Those who defend the safety of stevia frequently point to Japan, that's it's been field tested there for eons (20-30 years?), where Coke and Cargill have not been able to lobby Japan's FDA to treat them as a "dietary supplement". Didn't realize Stevia also has history in Chinese medicine; I thought it was Lo Han that was used. – Namby Pamby Oct 18 2011 at 13:57
CarbSane - I wonder if stevia is indeed causing me constant insulin surges and therefore raising trigs and VLDL. 5-6 days per week (for many months now), I have consistently had stevia in my morning coffee, and stevia in my PWO drink. I stopped the PWO drink a few weeks ago, but I did that for quite a long and sustained time. I am going to drop stevia completely and see how I feel. – Jack Kronk Oct 18 2011 at 14:21
Instead of dropping stevia why not just test your blood sugar 30 minutes after you consume stevia? Put that in water or in coffee with nothing else. It's not supposed to be glycemic. But if you're allergic to it, and you think it's raising your insulin, that register as BG increase. – Namby Pamby Oct 18 2011 at 18:40
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This may be unrelated, but I noticed after a few week long trials, that Stevia makes me sweat a ton -unrelated to my temperature. (For example I will be chilly in my office, but sweating). Normally I hardly sweat at all -even when I am hot.

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I bought some organic powdered stevia to experiment with (green tea-ish powdery looking stuff) and it makes me feel sick every time without fail. Symptoms include headaches, tiredness, just want to sleep and can't get any work done. Luckily since then I've given up the taste for added sweetness.

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The powder is green? I've never seen green stevia powder. The kind I've bought is 100% stevia and it is pure white. – Amanda Oct 17 2011 at 20:30
After months of no sweeteners at all (except whole fruit) during which time I felt fabulous, I tried stevia and got sick almost immediately. After several days of trying smaller doses but still getting sick I stopped and the symptoms totally disappeared after a few days. My symptoms were headache including aching eye sockets (both rather than one as in my migraine attacks which stopped on primal) and an all-over sick feeling. – Nance Oct 17 2011 at 20:42
It's the powdered leaf, less processed than the extract, which is white. – Rogue Nutritionist Oct 17 2011 at 20:42
Correct, it was the powdered leaf that I bought - dull, muddy green powder. Was going to try fresh stevia leaves, as I think my MIL has some growing in her garden, but I ain't touching any more stevia with a 40 foot pole, lol! – Grottenolm Oct 18 2011 at 1:33
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 The powder is a less refined form of stevia - I grow it in my garden and when I dry it and grind it it is a dull green. It looks pretty much like any dried herb. The white crystals are the result of alot of processing that makes it look like, feel like, and have the "weight" of granulated sugar - this is very prized by the fake sugar industry! It can still be 100% stevia but if it is white it is highly processed – ivymcivy May 16 at 23:16
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Whenever I consume stevia I feel awful. Sharp headache, pain behind the eyes, slightly dizzy, upset stomach. I've only tried it 3 times, but each time I've had the same reaction.

If I need a sweetener I just use honey or sugar; but I try to limit my sweet intake as much as possible.

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There seems to be some allergic reaction to stevia. Try Truvia, a mix of stevia and erythritol. – Namby Pamby Oct 17 2011 at 20:26
Good for those who abhor the "bitterness" of stevia and can stand sugar alcohol. – Namby Pamby Oct 17 2011 at 20:27
Also, some brands of stevia are cut with maltodextrin. I read the ingredients labels and buy only 100% powdered stevia and it is so potent that the serving size is this ridiculously small little "pinch" of a scoop! – Amanda Oct 17 2011 at 20:29
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 Yes, I also had aching in my eye sockets, which was mildly scary. – Nance Oct 17 2011 at 20:43
Amanda, the serving size caveat goes along with the potency; that's why any pure powder form of stevia is just not sellable. It is so fine and dusty that it will just blow away. Maltodextrin or sugar is used as a bulking agent. See those powder stevia products: you need a Lilliputian's wooden spoon to drop it into drinks. That's why bottles with droplets are used. – Namby Pamby Oct 17 2011 at 22:42
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Stevia made my throat burn and itch, every time (I stopped using it, obviously). Doesn't matter what formulation. I can tell if it's in my food just based on the intense reaction. It's not totally benign; plenty of people have adverse reactions to it.

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It gives me diarrhea.... -_-

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it gives me diarree and sleeping problems.

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I posted last year asking if anyone had experienced dizziness after Stevia use (as I did).

Turns out that I'm not alone!

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I use it only when I use my organic vanilla cut back from 5-6 to 2-3 drops maybe 3-4 times/week. Have not found any effects but was definitely stalled when using splenda and sugar alcohols in no sugar added Wethers.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/sisson/sisson41.1.html

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Stevia A two-year randomized, placebo-controlled study of Chinese patients with mild hypertension (which a rather large swath of society probably suffers from) found that oral stevioside intake significantly reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Patients either took a 500 mg capsule of stevioside or a placebo three times a day

Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/stevia/#ixzz1u140o5FL

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My husband tried Truvia for the first time on Christmas Eve morning. (One of Truvia's main ingredients is stevia.) He has hay fever and is allergic to ragweed, so perhaps that is why he reacted to stevia, and like the woman with lips that looked like she had had bad collagen injections, his lips ballooned so that they resembled Homer Simpson's protruding muzzle. At first his upper lip swelled, and he had an enormous blister on the inside of it. Then the blister popped and the inside of his upper lip was raw and painful. We also noticed that he had several red, raised patches on his torso. He took benadryl, and the swelling lessened a bit, but we didn't know what was causing the allergic reaction, and he put Truvia in his coffee again on Christmas morning. His upper lip was still swollen and raw, and as the day wore on, his tongue began to swell, his throat began to ache, and then his tongue blistered. He has been in agony, and he finally went to the doctor today (two days after Christmas) where he was given a shot and prescribed prednisone and some kind of mouthwash compounded with lidocaine.

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I experience Dizziness and my heart skips beats, using Stevia... Anne Murray

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me too, heart palpitations, anxiety attacks that become worse with increased use.then it takes a few days for the symptoms to go away. I am not allergic to anything, just very mild hayfever occasionally

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If anybody reading this thread (an old one, I know) has the inclination to grow stevia - it is SUPER easy and a couple of leaves in a drink gives alot of sweetening power with virtually none of the side effects from using the highly processed and concentrated stuff. When you use it in "sugar" form, you are getting a huge whallop of it. I imagine our paleo ancestors would have just chewed a couple of leaves for a treat. That's how I make my mojitos - a few leaves of stevia and mint muddled in the bottom of a glass then top with rum. YUM.

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That's awesome, where would you be able to get seeds or cuttings to grow from? What kind of environment do they need? – raydawg May 17 at 17:24
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It didn't happen at first, but after using organic stevia a few weeks, I noticed my throat would burn/itch and I'd cough up slag for hours and hours. Of course if I took an oral med like Bendadryl-which was my first clue-it got better. I had to stop using it... must be allergic to the ragweed, etc., used in it. Another "magic bullet" sugar substitute used, measured and found wanting. Had to discontinue use.

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I love Stevia, never had an issue with it and have been using it daily for almost 3 years.

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I developed hives at the back my neck and ears 6 days ago and it it now spreading to the front. I have been using Stevia for about a month. I didn't love it at first and so wasn't using it everyday but now quite like it and have been using it in my coffee or tea twice a day in the last week or two. I am trying to figure out the hives... guess I will give it up and see... too bad if that is it.

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