I am so going to be kicked off this Telegram group…
One of the messages on the group, quoting a book published in 1970, read as follows; “A South American weed, Stevia rebaudiana, has traditionally been used by the Indians in Paraguay as a contraceptive. Each day the women drink a cup of water in which the POWDERED WEED has been boiled. Stevia is the new ‘hot’ sweetener, at every Starbucks and wherever else. It often goes by the name ‘Truvia’ as well.”
There have been 3 noted studies conducted on the effects of Stevia on Reproduction:
1968: The Kruc Study – a small number of rats were given a very high doses of stevia, it was concluded that the rats given the herbal extract produced less offspring than those who were not. The problem, even Kruc admits today, is that the rats in the study were given such high doses of Stevia for such a short period of time that, even if it did cause the fertility problems noted, it could have been because of an overdose of the compound. People ingesting Stevia as a sweetener would never be able to consume such a large amount in such a short period of time.
1988: The Alvarez Study – Mauro Alvarez of Brazil’s University of Maringa Foundation repeated the Kruc study, reporting in a Brazilian pharmaceutical journal that female mice given Stevia experienced a contraceptive effect similar to those reported by Kruc. The problem with the results, argue critics is that the Alvarez study lacks the information and analysis required by such a research study and cannot be considered valid. According to the Herb Research Foundation the study lacks any credibility at all and should be disregarded. Even Alvarez himself now claims that further research has led him to believe that Stevia is completely safe for human consumption.
1999: Chulalonhkorn University Study – the primate research center of Chulalonhkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand gave high doses of Stevia to both male and female hamsters to see if their fertility would be affected. Even though 2,500 mg a day was administered (a human dose is about 2 mg), there was no evidence of decreased fertility. Then, in 2008, researchers reported in the Journal of Endocrinology and Reproduction (vol 12, 2008) that Stevia rebaudiana had absolutely no adverse effects on the fertility of female mice.
The same conclusion has been reached in a number of other studies including those conducted by The Herb Research Foundation, Medicinal Plant Research of the USDA, and The Division of Pathology, National Institutes of Health, Japan.
Stevia is prized for it’s anti-diabetes properties and one would assume that Stevia is most consumed by diabetics.
As of recent estimates, approximately 537 million adults aged 20-79 years are living with diabetes, which is about 10.5% of the adult population in that age range. This number is projected to rise to 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045.
Of the above numbers the major amount of diabetes sufferers fall into the NON CHILD BEARING ages ranging from 41 and up.
So, while there are some animal studies suggesting a potential effect on fertility, the consensus in human research is that Stevia is not a contraceptive.
Add the fact that only ONE culture in the world believes that Stevia has contraceptive properties then the possibility that the now freely available Stevia s is a mass attempt to sterilise the world is a bit of a ‘mind fuck’. Surely a mass contraceptive would target the fertile and not the feeble?
