Is Truvia the same as Stevia?

Of all my blog posts over the years, this topic has engendered the most hits and responses.  The latest response is from a gentleman who was given the impression from my original blog that the sweetener developed by Coca-Cola under the name of "truvia" is the same as the herbal sweetener, "stevia."  I apologize that my blog caused this confusion.  Here are the facts:

Stevia is an herb native to Paraguay that is 300 times sweeter than sugar. It has been used for centuries as a sweetener and has been found in many studies to be completely safe. It even has some health benefits. Apparently, it improves insulin sensitivity to fight obesity and diabetes and can reduce hypertension (high blood pressure).

Stevia comes in many forms. It comes dried, powdered, and in a concentrated liquid extract. Make your choice based on the amount of sweetness you want (white extract powders are the sweetest). High grade products that use only grade A and B plants and separate out as much of the stems, roots, and leaf veins as possible will have a much better, sweeter taste, without the bitter aftertaste that many stevia products have.

"Truvia is not made from whole Stevia, just two of the sweetest compounds extracted from Stevia. It was developed jointly by The Coca-Cola Company and Cargill. Truvia contains erythritol, known to be derived from GMO corn. Rebiana is the trademarked name for rebaudioside A (Reb-A), a steviol glycoside that is thought to be responsible for the sweet taste of Stevia. It takes a 42-step procedure to derive Rebiana. This process of extraction, which is patented by Coca-Cola and deemed a safe sweetener by the FDA, is chemically driven, using acetone, acetonitrile, methanol, ethanol and isopropanol for extraction and likely starts with genetically modified stevia leaves. Rebiana is a chemically modified form of stevia — it is NOT pure stevia. There have been concerns about Rebiana being a “mutagen”, defined as any substance that may alter genes. Truvia also contains dextrose and erythritol. The erythritol constitutes approximately 3g of carbohydrates per 3.5g packet of Truvia.

Research on the safety of this product has thus far been limited to several studies sponsored by Cargill itself. Truvia also contains natural flavors — that means that your guess is as good as mine as to what is in the natural flavors. Since the term natural flavors is unregulated, it could be MSG or some other nasty neurotoxin."

We have Wendy Myers to thank for the above information about Truvia.

I truly hope this clears up any mistaken impressions my original  blog may have given about the safety of truvia.

Dr. Esther
drkollars@gmail.com
fixdhealthcare.com