Can stevia help treat metabolic syndrome?

Public Release: 25-Sep-2017 https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-09/mali-csh092517.php Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers New Rochelle, NY, September 25, 2017--Increasingly popular as a calorie-free sweetener, steviol, as well as other extracts of the Stevia rebaudiana (SR) plant have pharmacological and therapeutic activity, including effects that make them natural alternatives for treating obesity, hypertension, and elevated levels of blood sugar and lipids, all disorders associated with metabolic syndrome. The potential for using SR extracts to combat this growing public health problem is the focus of a timely article in Journal of Medicinal Food, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Medicinal Food website. In the article "Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni: A Natural Alternative for Treating Diseases Associated with Metabolic Syndrome," coauthors Areli Carrera-Lanestosa and Maira Segura-Campos, Autonomous University of Yucatan and Yolanda Moguel-Ordóñez, National Institute for Forest, Agronomic, and Livestock Research, Yucatan, Mexico, review the antiobesity, antihyperglycemic, antihypertensive, and antihyperlipidemic effects reported for the steviol compounds and aqueous and alcoholic extracts derived from the leaves, flowers, and roots of SR. ### About the Journal Journal of Medicinal Food is an authoritative, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal published monthly online with open access options and in print. Led by Editors-in-Chief Sampath Parthasarathy, MBA, PhD, Florida Hospital Chair in Cardiovascular Sciences and Associate Dean, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, and Yangha Kim, PhD, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea, the Journal publishes original scientific research on the bioactive substances of functional and medicinal foods, nutraceuticals, herbal substances, and other natural products. The Journal explores the chemistry and biochemistry of these substances, as well as the methods for their extraction and analysis, the use of biomarkers and other methods to assay their biological roles, and the development of bioactive substances for commercial use. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Medicinal Food website. About the Publisher Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishersis, a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website. Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.