Stevioside and Two Generations of Hamsters

Reprinted from Stevia.net

In 1991 a study was done by researchers at the Chulalongkorn University Primate Research Center in Bangkok, Thailand (Yodyingyuad, 1991). The researchers' objective was to study the consequences of daily ingestion of stevioside -- the main active sweetening agent in the stevia plant -- in hamsters and its effects on two subsequent generations.

This study involved four groups of 20 hamsters (10 males and 10 females) who were one month old. The first group was fed a daily stevioside dosage of 500 mg/kg; the second group received a higher dose at 1,000 mg/kg; and the third group dosage was the highest at 2,500 mg/kg. The fourth group, which served as the control, received no stevioside. (Chinese researchers have estimated that the daily human consumption of stevioside is about 2 mg/kg; Xili, 1992).

The study showed no significant difference in the average growth of the first generation of hamsters in the groups receiving stevioside -- no matter what dosage they were given. Even the third generation of hamsters, at 120 days of age, showed no significant differences in body weight -- no matter which group they were in.

As to the mating performance, all three generations performed the same, no matter which dose of stevioside they received. Their performance was equal to the controls.

In summary, no growth or fertility abnormalities were found in hamsters of either sex. Mating was efficient and successful.

The researchers agreed, "The results of this study are astonishing. Stevioside at a dose as high as 2,500 mg/kg did not do any harm to these animals. We conclude that stevioside at a dose as high as 2.5 grams per kilogram of body weight affects neither the growth nor reproduction in hamsters."

Posted January 2006 | Permanent Link

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