Description

0% Calorie, **0% Sweet, **0% Nature All over world there is increasing tendency towards consuming natural products and thus living a natural life and. At the same time our life styles have changed so much over the last **5 decades that sweeteners (either high calorie natural or proceeded sugars or high potency and low calorie sweeteners such as Aspartame) have become integral part of our natural daily diet. Due to sedentary life styles that we all tend to lead these days the incidence of obesity and diabetic conditions are increasing dramatically. In India number of diabetic people in the age group of ****5 is about *5% and is increasing at an alarming pace. In addition, we are largest consumers of sugar in the world. This single factor, we have come to understand, would greatly contribute to increasing the number of diabetic people and related problems. Stevia, botanically known as Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni (Family- Asteraceae) is a sweet herb. A perennial herb, Stevia is a member of the daisy family. The leaves are mid green and intensely sweet. The compounds in the leaves are called stevioside and rebaudioside and they can be more than **0 times sweeter than sugar. The plant bears greenish cream flowers in autumn. Although Stevia has been in use in Asia and Europe for years, it was only in the past couple of years that is really started to capture attention in the India market as a healthy alternative sweetener to sugar. Stevia has no calcium cyclamate, no saccharin, no aspartame and no calories. It is safe for diabetics, as it does not affect blood sugar levels; it does not have the neurological or renal side effects associated with some of the artificial sweeteners. Stevia is a new crop in that is gaining very high popularity amongst all type of sweetener users as most ideal substitute for sugar. Sugar is basically a chemical that has grown in market over last many years. But in this age of changing life styles and people becoming more conscious of their healt