Some potential disadvantages to using stevia sweeteners include: Side effects. Stevia can cause gastrointestinal side effects in some people, including gas, nausea, and bloating.
Stevia sweeteners are broken down by bacteria in the large intestine, but gastrointestinal symptoms like bloating and diarrhea haven't been reported in studies. However, some products containing stevia also include sugar alcohols like erythritol, which can cause digestive complaints if consumed in large amounts.
Side Effects From Stevia
Gastrointestinal symptoms: Sugar alcohols, sometimes added to stevia products, may cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bloating, and abdominal pain in people who are sensitive to sugar alcohol. However, Stevia itself is not known to cause gastrointestinal issues.
Allulose Digestibility. In small amounts, allulose should not cause any digestive discomforts, which makes it a favorable sugar substitute to sugar alcohols like xylitol, and maltitol.
Possible side effects include nausea, bloating, low blood pressure, and hormone disruption. Stevia is a non-nutritive or zero-calorie sweetener made of steviol glycosides. These are compounds extracted and refined from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana plant.
The review found that people who regularly used stevia and other non-nutritive sweeteners had some weight gain, along with a higher average BMI and a higher risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome and heart disease.
In cases where there's no stomach or bowel blockage, gassiness may be caused by diet, constipation, a dietary intolerance, certain medications such as narcotics or irritable bowel syndrome. Depending on the cause of gassiness, there may be some things you can try to improve your symptoms.
Though widely available throughout the world, in 1991 stevia was banned in the U.S. due to early studies that suggested the sweetener may cause cancer.
Sugar-free sweeteners like artificial sweeteners, alcohol sugars, and natural non-calorie sugars such as stevia may trigger IBS symptoms like abdominal pain.
A high dose of stevia may decrease fertility and cause kidney issues. The stevioside in stevia may irritate your stomach and cause gastrointestinal issues. Stevia may interact with antidiabetic medications and lower your blood sugar levels too much.
Antimicrobial—stevia has the ability to evade the growth and reproduction of harmful bacteria and prevent other infections. Anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory—stevia is also helpful in decreasing inflammation and immuno-modulation.
Results showed that stevia might lead to microbial imbalance, disrupting the communication between Gram-negative bacteria in the gut via either the LasR or RhlR receptor proteins of P. aeruginosa. However, even if stevia inhibits these pathways, it cannot kill off the bacteria [36].
Stay on the safe side and avoid use. Allergy to ragweed and related plants: Stevia is in the Asteraceae/Compositae plant family. This family includes ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds, daisies, and many other plants. In theory, people who are sensitive to ragweed and related plants may also be sensitive to stevia.
Stevia is also widely sold in other East Asian countries and India. Stevia is approved for sale in the United States and Canada despite some resistance among nutritionists and medical researchers, but the European Union has for decades banned it owing to health concerns.
Anecdotal evidence links older age to increased gas production. This has been attributed to the metabolic changes that take place at this time of life. These include a general slowing of the metabolism, a decrease in muscle tone and less-effective digestion.
When you swallow food, water or saliva, you also swallow small amounts of air. This collects in the digestive system. The body needs to get rid of the build-up by farting or burping. Gases can also build up when you digest food.
Stevia is healthy for you as long as you consume it in moderation, according to dieticians. However, too much Stevia may cause gas, nausea, and inflammation in the kidney and liver.