Organic Stevia

Article by: Dwayne N. Jackson, PhD CSO ATP LAB

I want to enlighten you on a big supplement formulation secret. Large doses of artificial sweeteners like sucralose and ACE-K are being pumped into supplements simply because they are cheap and make flavoring easier—but, most of all, they make great hidden fillers and increase profit margins.

If you use a sucralose, aspartame, or ACE-K sweetened supplements, you are sacrificing the expensive active ingredients in the formulation for cheap sweeteners. You heard it right, by ingesting the large amounts of chemical sweeteners commonly found in the tastiest candy flavored supplements, you detract from your gains in performance and health.

In recent years, the unnecessary addition of large amounts of sucralose and artificial sweeteners in fitness supplements has become epidemic. That’s right, under the guise of health and taste, chemical sweeteners are being added to most products simply as “non-medicinal ingredients”. In a review published in The Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, several health concerns of sucralose were raised:

• Sucralose and one of its metabolic by-products were found to increase genetic mutations at elevated concentrations in several testing methods. You want to avoid mutagenic compounds, as they are initiators to diseases like cancer.
• Cooking with sucralose was reported produce compounds called chloropropanols, a potentially toxic class of compounds that are also linked to cancers and other alterations in biological processes.
• Sucralose has been shown to negatively impact the microbiome and gut health by decreasing the number of healthy bacteria. Sucralose also modifies glucose handling through initiating insulin spikes and affecting glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) levels. This can be a major issue for those who engage in intermittent fasting for fat loss or in overweight individuals who are insulin insensitive or glucose intolerant.

If you care about your health, the negative impact of chemical sweeteners on your microbiome should be enough to convince you to STAY AWAY from companies that still use them!

At ATP Lab your health comes first!

At ATP lab we formulate supplements with your health in mind first. We take this so seriously that we take huge efforts to limit the non-medicinal ingredients in our formulations. If you look at any of our labels, you will find only necessary and healthy compounds in our products. You will never find fillers like artificial colours or chemical sweeteners in any of our premium grade nutraceuticals. We sweeten all of our sugar free products with organic non-GMO stevia extract, because, unlike chemical sweeteners, stevia enhances flavor while also boosting the nutrition of our products. So why isn’t everyone else doing this? Well, it simply comes down to profit margins.

FORMULATOR’S COST (per kilogram) FOR COMMON SWEETENERS FOUND IN YOUR SUPPLEMENTS

ACE-K: $4.80/kg

ASPARTAME: $6.20/kg

SUCRALOSE:  $18.90/kg

ATP LAB’s Organic GMO Free Stevia: $200.00/kg

That’s right, we spend 1000% to 4000% percent more to sweeten our products with healthy stevia over other sweeteners! No wonder our competitors, who still use chemical sweeteners, discount their supplements and still make record profits!

STEVIA PROMOTES HEALTH----- SUCRALOSE IS UNHEALTHY! 

WHAT IS STEVIA?

Stevia is the common term used for natural food sweeteners derived from the herb Stevia rebaudiana. Steviol glycosides is the scientifically accurate name for a group of intensely sweet compounds extracted and purified from stevia. Stevioside and rebaudioside A are the 2 most  predominant steviol glycosides found in stevia. Most steviol glycoside products sold today consist primarily of stevioside or rebaudioside A. At ATP Lab, our non-GMO Stevia extract is >98% pure rebaudioside A, as it’s the best tasting steviol glycoside.

Products containing a high level of rebaudioside A are also known as rebiana. It has been reported that rebaudioside A is 250-450 times sweeter than sucrose, is highly soluble in water and, is metabolized in the body without any side effects. Rebiana is pH-stable and heat- stable to cooking temperature.

Figure 1: Structures of steviol  glycosides, stevioside, rebaudioside A, and core metabolite, steviol. From: Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 46, Issue 7, Supplement, July 2008, Pages S1-S10.

Figure 1: Structures of steviol  glycosides, stevioside, rebaudioside A, and core metabolite, steviol. From: Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 46, Issue 7, Supplement, July 2008, Pages S1-S10.

STEVIA METABOLISM

Figure 2: Metabolism of rebaudioside A in humans and rats. From: Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 46, Issue 7, Supplement, July 2008, Pages S1-S10.

Figure 2: Metabolism of rebaudioside A in humans and rats. From: Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 46, Issue 7, Supplement, July 2008, Pages S1-S10.

• Rebaudioside A is first metabolized to stevioside by human colon microbiome.
• Stevioside is then broken down to glucose and steviol.
• The resulting glucose is consumed by colon microbiome and is not absorbed into systemic circulation.
• A study on humans’ alimentary canal showed that steviol is the final product of stevia metabolism. Moreover, steviol glycosides are absorbed and undergo glucuronidation in the liver.
• Glucoronidated metabolites are filtered by the kidneys and excreted in urine.

None of the human digestive enzymes can break down steviol. Although the human microbiome of the alimentary canal hydrolyzes steviol to steviol alpha-epoxide, it is reconverted back to setviol and eventually excreted in urine as steviol-glucuronide.

STEVIA METABOLISM IS NOT LIKE SUCRALOSE METABOLISM

If you think that none of the sucralose you ingest is metabolized, you are incorrect! In fact, 15% of all the sucralose you ingest gets metabolized in the digestive tract! This exposes your body to the unhealthy chlorinated by-products of sucralose metabolism, which has significant health consequences. (SUCRALOSE ARTICLE HERE)

STEVIA PROMOTES HEALTH

Beyond being a zero-calorie sweetener, stevia compounds like the rebaudioside A (used in ATP Lab premium supplements) exhibit healthy pharmacological activities.

Improved blood glucose regulation:  Rebaudioside A and steviol, have antihyperglycemic effects. Clinical trials have shown that stevol glycosides lower blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes. Steviol glycosides have a direct effect on β cells in the presence of glucose, which improves insulin secretion. It has been reported that steviol glycosides protect the function of our insulin secreting pancreatic β cells when exposed to high levels of glucose.

Blood pressure and kidney function:  Stevioside produces a diuretic effect leading to a decline in plasma volume and modest reductions in blood pressure. Long term clinical trials of stevioside on humans suggest that continuous consumption decreases systolic and diastolic blood pressure with no change to blood lipids; albeit, some studies suggest no change in blood pressure in normotensive or hypotensive populations. Data suggest that stevioside decreases kidney vascular resistance and increases excretion of sodium and potassium in urine.

Antioxidant activity: In vitro assays suggest that stevia extract possesses antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity of Stevia leaf extract seems to be due to increased superoxide and free radical scavenging.

Anti-carcinogenic agent: Stevia leaf extracts have shown inhibitory effects on tumor initiation and progression. Stevioside, isosteviol, steviol, leaf aglycones and other metabolites are known to inhibit cancer tumor formation.

Anti-inflammatory agent: When pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-6 are overexpressed they promote inflammatory disease. Stevioside attenuates inflammation through decreasing gene expression of IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1β cytokines. Increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines is mediated by the MAPK pathway (TLR2 and NF-κB) and is inhibited by IκBα. It was found that stevioside inhibits gene expression of these cytokines via inactivating MAPK pathway, TLR2 and NF-κB. It was concluded that steviol and stevioside also inhibits pro- inflammatory cytokines through increasing IκBα level.

Weight loss: Stevia extract is calorie free and has a much cleaner safety profile than sucralose. Clinical studies have shown that sweetness of 1 gram of raw stevia leaf extract dissolved in water is 200-450 times sweeter than an equal amount of sucrose. Stevia based sweeteners can replace sugar and chemical sweeteners in low-calorie foods, thus safely restricting calorie intake and promoting reduced body weight.

Oral health: Continuous use of food sweeteners and carbohydrates promotes the growth of harmful bacteria in mouth, leading to the formation of dental plaques and gingivitis. Stevia acts as an anti-bacterial substance in the mouth, which prevents tooth decay and gingivitis. The leaf extract of stevia and most of its secondary metabolites, including steviol, isosteviol, stevioside, and rebaudiosides A do not cause tooth decay and blunt the build-up of the compounds produced by microorganisms that are responsible for tooth decay. Stevioside limits the growth and acid-producing capacity of streptococcus mutans which is the main microorganism that causes dental cavities.

Try our Pure EAA product made with Organic Stevia.

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