Stevioside sweetener is found in the stevia plant and is a powerful natural sweetener becoming more popular

Stevioside is an extract from stevia sweetener, a natural herb from South America. Stevia has been available in the USA since the mid 1990s, and thus far no significant side effects have been reported. Stevioside is an active extract from stevia herb and appears to have health benefits such as potential anti cancer and blood pressure lowering effects. Consider stevia, a natural artificial sweetener alternative. Forms of stevia sweetener include stevia clear liquid, stevia packets, and Stevia powder. Several studies have shown that this substance is safe for human consumption and can be used by those with blood sugar elevation.

Specific immunomodulatory and secretory activities of stevioside and steviol in intestinal cells.
J Agric Food Chem. 2008. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Stevioside, isolated from Stevia rebaudiana, is a commercial sweetener. It was previously demonstrated that stevioside attenuates NF-kappaB-dependent TNF-alpha and IL-1beta synthesis in LPS-stimulated monocytes. The present study examined the effects of stevioside and its metabolite, steviol, on human colon carcinoma cell lines. High concentrations of stevioside (2-5 mM) and steviol (0.2-0.8 mM) decreased cell viability in T84, Caco-2, and HT29 cells. Stevioside (2 mM) potentiated TNF-alpha-mediated IL-8 release in T84 cells. However, steviol significantly suppressed TNF-alpha-induced IL-8 release in all three cell lines. In T84 cells, steviol attenuated TNF-alpha-stimulated IkappaB --> NF-kappaB signaling. Chloride transport was stimulated by steviol (0.1 mM) > stevioside (1 mM) at 30 min. Two biological effects of steviol in the colon are demonstrated for the first time: stimulation of Cl(-) secretion and attenuation of TNF-alpha-stimulated IL-8 production. The immunomodulatory effects of steviol appear to involve NF-kappaB signaling. In contrast, at nontoxic concentrations stevioside affects only Cl(-) secretion.

Stevioside and cancer
Cancer preventive agents. Part 8: Chemopreventive effects of stevioside and related compounds.
Bioorg Med Chem. 2009; Takasaki M, Konoshima T, Kozuka M, Tokuda H, Takayasu J, Nishino H, Miyakoshi M, Mizutani K, Lee KH. Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba Institute of Science, Choshi, Chiba, Japan.
In a search for potential cancer chemopreventive agents from natural resources, stevioside, a sweetener, and six related compounds, including two aglycones steviol and isosteviol, were screened in an in vitro assay for inhibitory effects on Epstein-Barr virus early antigen activation. these compounds showed significant activity in this assay and also exhibited strong inhibitory effects in a two-stage carcinogenesis test using mouse skin induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). The inhibitory effects of these three compounds were greater than that of glycyrrhizin. Furthermore, these three compounds significantly inhibited mouse skin carcinogenesis initiated by peroxynitrite and promoted by TPA. Their activities were comparable to that of curcumin. These results suggested that stevioside, as well as steviol and isosteviol, could be valuable as chemopreventive agents for chemical carcinogenesis.

Stevioside and blood pressure
Investigation of the antihypertensive effect of oral crude stevioside in patients with mild essential hypertension.
Phytother Res. 2006. Ferri LA, Alves-Do-Prado W, Yamada SS, Gazola S, Batista MR, Bazotte RB.
Programa de Pós Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, UEM, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, Av Colombo, PR, Brazil.
The antihypertensive effect of crude stevioside obtained from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) on previously untreated mild hypertensive patients was examined. Patients with essential hypertension were submitted to a placebo phase for 4 weeks. The volunteers selected in this phase were randomly assigned to receive either capsules containing placebo during 24 weeks or crude stevioside 3.75 mg/kg/day (7 weeks), 7.5 mg/kg/day (11 weeks) and 15.0 mg/kg/day (6 weeks). All capsules were prescribed twice a daily (b.i.d.), i.e. before lunch and before dinner. After the placebo phase and after each dose of crude stevioside, body mass index, electrocardiogram and laboratory tests were performed. During the investigation blood pressure (BP) was measured biweekly and the remaining data were collected at the end of each stevioside dose step. All adverse events were prospectively recorded but no major adverse clinical effects were observed during the trial. Systolic and diastolic BP decreased during the treatment with crude stevioside, but a similar effect was observed in the placebo group. Therefore, crude stevioside up to 15.0 mg/kg/day did not show an antihypertensive effect. Moreover, the results suggest that oral crude stevioside is safe and supports the well-established tolerability during long term use as a sweetener in Brazil.