A double‐blind placebo‐controlled study of the effectiveness and tolerability of oral stevioside in human hypertension

Abstract

Aims Stevioside is a natural plant glycoside isolated from the plant Stevia rebaudiana which has been commercialized as a sweetener in Japan for more than 20 years. Previous animal studies have shown that stevioside has an antihypertensive effect. This study was to designed to evaluate the effect of stevioside in human hypertension. Methods A multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was undertaken. This study group consisted of 106 Chinese hypertensive subjects with diastolic blood pressure between 95 and 110 mmHg and ages ranging from 28 to 75 years with 60 subjects (men 34, women 26; mean t s.d., 54.1t3.8 years) allocated to active treatment and 46 (men 19, women 27; mean t s.d., 53.7t4.1 years) to placebo treatment. Each subject was given capsules containing stevioside (250 mg) or placebo thrice daily and followed-up at monthly intervals for 1 year. Results After 3 months, the systolic and diastolic blood pressure of the stevioside group decreased signi®cantly (systolic: 166.0t9.4±152.6t6.8 mmHg; diastolic: 104.7t5.2±90.3t3.6 mmHg, P<0.05), and the effect persisted during the whole year. Blood biochemistry parameters including lipid and glucose showed no signi®cant changes. No signi®cant adverse effect was observed and quality of life assessment showed no deterioration. Conclusions This study shows that oral stevioside is a well tolerated and effective modality that may be considered as an alternative or supplementary therapy for patients with hypertension.

The Effects of Rebaudioside A on Microbial Diversity in Mouse Intestine

“…In addition, some beneficial functions of RA, including nontoxicological effects, antioxidant, antihypertensive, anti-Inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities, and antihyperglycemic activities had also been proved (Boonkaewwan et al, 2006;Chan et al, 2000;Gregersen et al, 2004;Jeppesen et al, 2002;Lee et al, 2001;Tadhani et al, 2007). However, few studies were carried out to study the effects of RA on the microbial diversity in the gastrointestinal tract.…”

Stevioside and rebaudioside A - predominant ent-kaurene diterpene glycosides of therapeutic potential: a review

“…However, more patients in the placebo group developed left ventricular hypertrophy (Hsieh 2003), high blood pressure may often cause the abnormal thickening of the heart muscle. A placebo-controlled double-blind study established that stevioside taken orally at doses of 250 mg three times a day in patients with mild to moderate hypertension for one year resulted in a significant, long-term decrease in both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure (Chan et al 2000). Following the initial study by a similar research team by means of an increased dose of stevioside (1.5 mg) stimulated the decrease in blood pressure (Hsieh et al 2003).…”

“…Besides sweetness, various medicinal activities of stevioside and rebaudioside A have been identified which include antihyperglycaemic ( Jeppesen et al 2002;Gregersen et al 2004), antineoplastic (Mizushina et al 2005), anticariogenic (Das et al 1992), antihypertensive (Chan et al 2000), antiinflammatory (Yasukawa 2002), and antioxidant activity (Žlabur et al 2015). Currently, numerous reviews have been published concerning the valuable and abundant potential of steviol glycosides as a sweetener in beverages and variety of food products including soy sauce, sea foods, pickled vegetables, and confectionary or bakery products.…”

A Review of Recent Investigations on Medicinal Herbs Possessing Anti-Diabetic Properties

“…Botanically it is Curcuma longa belonging to the family Zingiberaceae. The dried powdered rhizomes of Curcuma, have extensively been used for centuries as a spice, food preservative, and a yellow colourant for food, drugs, and cosmetics [246]. Curcumin along with its mono-and bisdemethoxy derivatives, collectively called curcuminoids, constitute the major orange-yellow colouring matter and the biologically active constituents of turmeric.…”