Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0028754 (obesity)
 124,988 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is a sweet and nutrient-rich plant belonging to the Asteraceae family. Stevia leaves contain steviol glycosides including stevioside, rebaudioside (A to F), steviolbioside, and isosteviol, which are responsible for the plant's sweet taste, and have commercial value all over the world as a sugar substitute in foods, beverages and medicines. Among the various steviol glycosides, stevioside, rebaudioside A and rebaudioside C are the major metabolites and these compounds are on average 250-300 times sweeter than sucrose. Steviol is the final product of Stevia metabolism. The metabolized components essentially leave the body and there is no accumulation. Beyond their value as sweeteners, Stevia and its glycosdies possess therapeutic effects against several diseases such as cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, inflammation, cystic fibrosis, obesity and tooth decay. Studies have shown that steviol glycosides found in Stevia are not teratogenic, mutagenic or carcinogenic and cause no acute and subacute toxicity. The present review provides a summary on the biological and pharmacological properties of steviol glycosides that might be relevant for the treatment of human diseases.
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PMID:A Review on the Pharmacology and Toxicology of Steviol Glycosides Extracted from Stevia rebaudiana. 2778 41

The rapid increase in the prevalence of obesity worldwide has been partially attributed to the overconsumption of added sugars. Recent guidelines call for limiting the consumption of simple sugars to less than 10% of daily caloric consumption. High intensity sweeteners are regulated as food additives and include aspartame, acesulfame-k, neotame, saccharin, sucralose, cyclamate and alitame. Steviol glycosides and Luo Han Guo fruit extracts are high intensity sweeteners that are designated as generally recognized as safe (GRAS). Commonly used non-caloric artificial sweeteners may have unfavorable effect on health including glucose intolerance and failure to cause weight reduction. The nutritive sweeteners include sugar alcohols such as sorbitol, xylitol, lactitol, mannitol, erythritol, trehalose and maltitol. Naturally occurring rare sugars have recently emerged as an alternative category of sweeteners. These monosaccharides and their derivatives are found in nature in small quantities and lack significant calories. This category includes d-allulose (d-psicose), d-tagatose, d-sorbose and d-allose. Limiting consumption of any sweetener may well be the best health advice. Identifying natural sweeteners that have favorable effects on body weight and metabolism may help achieving the current recommendations of restricting simple sugar consumption.
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PMID:The role of artificial and natural sweeteners in reducing the consumption of table sugar: A narrative review. 2913 32

Steviol glycoside sweeteners are extracted and purified from the Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni plant, a member of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family that is native to South America, where it has been used for its sweet properties for hundreds of years. With continued increasing rates of obesity, diabetes, and other related comorbidities, in conjunction with global public policies calling for reductions in sugar intake as a means to help curb these issues, low- and no-calorie sweeteners (LNCSs, also known as high-potency sweeteners) such as stevia are gaining interest among consumers and food manufacturers. This appeal is related to stevia being plant-based, zero calorie and with a sweet taste that is 50-350 times sweeter than sugar, making it an excellent choice for use in sugar- and calorie-reduced food and beverage products. Despite the fact that the safety of stevia has been affirmed by several food regulatory and safety authorities around the world, insufficient education about stevia's safety and benefits, including continuing concern with regard to the safety of LNCSs in general, deters health professionals and consumers from recommending or using stevia. Therefore, the aim of this review and the stevia symposium that preceded this review at the ASN's annual conference in 2017 was to examine, in a comprehensive manner, the state of the science for stevia, its safety and potential health benefits, and future research and application. Topics covered included metabolism, safety and acceptable intake, dietary exposure, impact on blood glucose and insulin concentrations, energy intake and weight management, blood pressure, dental caries, naturality and processing, taste and sensory properties, regulatory status, consumer insights, and market trends. Data for stevia are limited in the case of energy intake and weight management as well as for the gut microbiome; therefore, the broader literature on LNCSs was reviewed at the symposium and therefore is also included in this review.
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PMID:Stevia Leaf to Stevia Sweetener: Exploring Its Science, Benefits, and Future Potential. 2998 48