We need to have a conversation about a little green leaf. Lately, we’ve been seeing all manner of headlines pop up with attacks against stevia. Apparently, this plant that has been used by the Guaraní people of South America for centuries is now public enemy number one. Ahhh… but we’ve seen this before. We’ve been using stevia as our chief sweetener for the past twenty years, and this is not the first time we’ve had to clear its good name. After all this time, not only is our health the best it’s ever been, but honestly, the science just keeps rolling in to make us super peaceful about keeping it in our cupboards. So pour yourself a tall glass of Good Girl Moonshine (sweetened with you-know-what) and let’s gently push back on what the critics keep getting wrong.
Myth 1 … “But Stevia Raises Your Cortisol!”
This is one of the newer concerns we’ve been fielding on our podcast and in our newsletter, and it deserves a careful response because it contains a grain of real research, which is what makes it feel persuasive…
The claim traces to a very small (16-person) 2017 study published in the American Journal of Pharmacology and Toxicology. The study subjects consumed stevia for one week, and the researchers measured a small rise in urinary free cortisol. But here is what happened. The study used whole-leaf stevia extract, not the purified steviol glycosides found in modern commercial products. And this is the very same distinction at the heart of the old fertility scare from the 1960s rat studies — whole leaf is a different molecular profile than purified extract. The study authors admitted this was non-definitive and more studies would be needed. Okay, so let’s look at other studies. Corcuff and Brossaud examined this exact question using 23 subjects consuming purified rebaudioside A — the form most of us actually consume — there was no significant modification of cortisol or cortisone ratios (Corcuff & Brossaud, 2014). The title of their paper says it best: Sweet News for Consumers.
One more piece of context bears mentioning. If stevia were truly disrupting cortisol metabolism in any meaningful way, we would also expect to see rising blood pressure, the way we do with chronic licorice consumption. Instead, every major human meta-analysis of purified steviol glycosides shows the opposite: blood pressure tends to fall (Anker et al., 2019). The mechanism of stevia glycosides simply does not behave the way the scary headlines insist. But even if so… just say there is a small cortisol rise in the first week of ditching sugar and replacing it with stevia. It makes sense… the body can get stressed when what is known as “The Sugar Flu” hits, and the body has to adjust to lower blood sugar overall.
Myth 2… “But Stevia Makes You Run to the Bathroom!”
We will be honest with you here — partly. Stevia does have mild diuretic properties. This is not new science, and it is not a scandal. Researchers established as far back as 1992 that steviol gently encourages sodium and water excretion through the kidneys. But please put this in the proper context… Coffee makes you visit the bathroom more. So does green tea. So do dandelion tea, parsley, hibiscus, watermelon, and asparagus.
The list of mild natural diuretics in any whole-foods kitchen is long, and no one is writing alarmist articles about asparagus. A gentle diuretic action in a plant compound is unremarkable. In fact, it is one of the very mechanisms by which stevia helps lower blood pressure. And if stevia were genuinely hard on the kidneys, the population where harm would show up first is patients with chronic kidney disease, right? A 2025 randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial in Bangladesh examined precisely that group — stage I through III CKD patients consuming stevioside — and found stevia to be safe, with improvements in inflammatory markers and renoprotective effects (Rizwan et al., 2025). If you do notice more frequent bathroom trips when increasing your stevia intake, treat it as your body’s gentle reminder to mind your minerals. A pinch of good mineral salt in your water, plenty of magnesium-rich foods, and steady hydration will keep you balanced. This is the same advice we give every time someone shifts toward a cleaner, lower-sugar way of eating. The diuretic effect is mild and manageable. Myth … busted. Oh… and by the way… after twenty years of use, our own kidneys look exceptionally healthy on our labs.
Myth 3… “But Stevia Wrecks Your Gut!”
This concern made the rounds quickly, and we understand why people got nervous. Gut health is everything around here … we never stop talking about baobab and kefir for good reason. The hypothesis went something like this: Stevia compounds travel down to your colon, where bacteria break them down into steviol, so wouldn’t they disrupt your microbiome on the way through?
The rodent studies caused quite a stir, but here’s the thing: you are not a rat being fed cartoon-sized doses. In 2024, researchers from the University of Manchester finally did the work that should have been done years ago. They had healthy adults consuming stevia daily for twelve full weeks (this was not a small sample, but real, regular consumption), and then they measured everything about their gut bacteria.
The result? No significant changes. Not in the alpha diversity, not in the beta diversity, not in the relative abundance of bacterial families. Zero microbial disruption.
In fact, stevia is excellent for your gut in a profound way. It helps your body produce an incretin hormone called GLP-1. Sound familiar? Yup, stevia may actually help you stay full longer, and your blood sugar and insulin work better because your gut senses the bitter compounds inside the sweet and produces more of this trimming hormone.
And here is the fascinating science to back that up… Your gut is actually lined with specialized little cells that have taste receptors just like your tongue. While your mouth tastes the intense, beautiful sweetness of the stevia leaf, those brilliant little gut cells actually pick up on the plant’s underlying bitter molecular profile… that triggers an incredible signaling pathway that tells your body to release GLP-1.
So… the next time someone passes you an article claiming stevia is destroying your gut, you can simply ask whether they have read the Manchester study. Or if you want to get sassy, you could simply say… it’s my gentle GLP-1.
Myth 4… “But Stevia Spikes Your Blood Sugar Somehow!”
This claim always strikes us as odd because stevia is one of the main sweeteners we recommend for sugar-stable, trim healthy living. It goes like this… the sweet taste somehow makes your blood sugar rise. But it’s just not so. This is a mix-up of sweeteners. There are a couple of artificial sweeteners that have been known for this in studies (we see you sucralose and saccharin), but stevia is not artificial, and it doesn’t cause a rise in blood sugar. Naturally sweet does not always mean naturally spiking. Sweet potatoes have a sweeter taste than their white cousins but have a lower glycemic index.
Research-wise, you needn’t take our word for it. Researchers Anker, Rafiq, and Jeppesen at Aarhus University published a thorough systematic review and meta-analysis in 2019, drawing on randomized controlled trials — the highest standard of evidence available. They synthesized the human data across multiple studies and 462 participants. What did they find? Steviol glycosides do not disrupt human metabolism. They observed non-significant reductions in fasting blood glucose and cholesterol, alongside a meaningful, statistically significant reduction in systolic blood pressure of over 6 mmHg compared to placebo (Anker et al., 2019). So we have actual human data, in peer-reviewed journals, from independent scientists — showing that stevia does not spike your sugar and may even support healthier blood pressure. Try getting that result out of a Wendy’s Frosty.
Myth 5… “But It’s Not Really Natural!”
Here’s where we get fired up. Stevia comes from a leaf… A bloomin’ leaf! You can grow the plant in your garden right next to your basil. The Guaraní people have been using it for hundreds of years. Stevia has been widely used in Japan as a sweetener for many decades (and they have a much longer life span than we do here in the West). Now, of course, there are differing methods of extraction. We prefer simple water-extracted stevia powder. In this case, you are simply getting the sweet compounds extracted from that leaf using water …much the way our great-grandmothers would have brewed an herbal tea, only concentrated. There is no bleach used, the sterol compounds are white, the chlorophyll is green, and that is soaked out. Are some of the bulking agents in cheap grocery-store stevia packets less than ideal? Yes, sometimes. Yes. Read your labels… But please don’t throw the stevia out with the maltodextrin.
The Bottom Line
Stevia is not the only natural sweetener we endorse. Monk fruit is wonderful, allulose is becoming a great friend to us, and a little bit of raw honey? Great. We also use some non-blood sugar-spiking sugar alcohols. You can choose which works best for your body. Critics love to point to a single rat study or a sensational headline, but we have always encouraged you to consider the whole body of evidence. Pure steviol glycosides have been evaluated by the FDA, EFSA, the World Health Organization, and JECFA — every major regulatory body in the world. They have been used safely across the globe for decades.
And the newest, best human research continues to confirm what we have been saying all along: Stevia is a beautiful, blood-sugar-friendly, plant-given way to sweeten your life.
With love, Pearl & Serene
