In an in-depth article, I exposed the FDA for what they truly are: Big Pharma’s and Big Agro’s enforcement agency. In a massive propaganda campaign, Cargill, the producers of Truvia, spread the disinformation that Truvia was the same as the natural sweetener Stevia, calling it “nature’s perfect sweetness”. The ugly truth is that Truvia is far from perfect and far from natural.

To be fair, not everyone experiences Truvia side effects:

My wife and I, along with many people we know, use Truvia daily with no ill side effects. Many of the reviews I read on your site that deal with headaches have similarities. Almost all of them have switched from an artificial sweetener such as Sweet & Low, Splenda, Equal, etc. One of the withdrawal symptoms from aspartame is severe headaches, this was the case when my wife quit drinking diet soda. After a week of being free of aspartame the headaches subsided.

As for the other reviewers with cramping, bloating, and loose bowel movements, perhaps they just have a sensitivity to Truvia. I think it is reckless to consider a product unsafe to the public due to a handful of reviewers sensitivities. For example, I’m allergic to processed chocolate; would it be foolish to insist that candy bars or fudge be banned or come with a warning label? I am aware of my adverse reaction to chocolate so I simply don’t consume it.

These are just my thoughts on the matter, for what they are worth. Besides, I’m not a doctor, much like your reviewers.

Sincerely,

Jerry Thоmpsоn

But here is another “handful” of people reporting bad effects of Truvia. I get one or two of those emails a day.

I have been using Truvia for about 2 months and I finally put the pieces together today about why my blood sugar has been so bad.  I have had low blood sugar for most of my life and I have had to watch what I eat so not to make it worse.  However for the last 2 months I have had a terrible time controlling it.  I finally made the connection the other day about Truvia.  Without a doubt, that stuff drops my blood sugar big time.  Very dangerous for me to use that stuff.  Plus it makes me feel very anxious and dizzy.  It should not be on the market at all and to relate it to Stevia is a marketing lie.  Stevia has never bothered me in all the years I used it.  I just thought Truvia was the same thing but a bit cheaper.  I was very wrong. They are nothing alike.

Rоbert Amidоn

As soon as I saw this new sweetener, I went right to google and began looking up info on it. i have always been an opponent of Aspartame (derived from a heart drug I heard?)

I noticed one person at least was mentioning that the Erythritol in it  was NOT a natural substance. I would like to point out that nearly everything on earth is “natural”, for instance Uranium is a natural substance but as you know it is NOT safe to even be near it. Mercury is also “natural”. I am left to wonder if a genetically modified plant can still be called “natural”?

Bеn LеMire – Salem, OR

Heart palpitations.  They were coming every day and really scary.  I couldn’t figure out what the heck, I eat an extremely natural diet, supplemented with Truvia.  The next day after stopping the Truvia they went away, and I finally felt normal.

Shеrеnе

“Suitable for people with Diabetes.”  Yes, it is – if the intent is to kill us off!  Just did search on Truvia because of the symptoms I am experiencing with the product (poison), are the same symptoms others have reported on your website.  I take care of myself, have become a full-blown vegetarian, eat organic, take high-quality vitamins and supplements, exercise, and stay away from all sugar substitutes.  But , I read about how good the product is and decided to try it.  Well, that was about 4 days ago and from the very first I noticed I was practically falling asleep at my desk – very early in the morning, and I am a morning person! The morning after I first used it, I woke up with my hands numb and very cold. Throughout the day, a kind of soreness remained. Sometimes they can be the symptoms of Hypoglycemia. Then I started feeling the sides of my stomach as if someone had used me as punching bag.  Then I got sharp abdominal cramps, gas, and very loose stools.  I also started getting weird cravings, and a craving for carbs.  I have become light-headed, losing my balance, and have become bloated, a very uncomfortable feeling!  I also noticed I started getting headaches and light symptoms of migraine which I used to suffer from 40 years ago.

Mіndy Sіlva

I switched from my usual Sweet & Low & Splenda about two weeks ago. I too was looking for a healthier alternative. I noticed (and couldn’t figure out until now) that I am having problems with constipation unlike any I have ever experienced in my life.  I do get quiet a bit of gas in my stomach but this is completely different.  Bleeding almost every time I go to the bathroom and alot of pain.  I also noticed strange twitching in different muscles & muscular pain.

Brіtt Brоlund

The first time I saw Truvia on the market shelf I was excited that there was something more natural than splenda. I first tried Truvia on fresh strawberries… It was really good. The next day my tongue was swollen and painful. I had a few sores on it too! I had a serious migrain, and loose stools. Uggh! I couldn’t function.

Susanne- Hawaii

A few years ago I put up on a website info that Erythritol causes eye pains. No one knew that it had side effects then. How do I know this?  I’m in the R&D field of healthy beverages and personally test most nutraceuticals and food ingredients we receive. If I react badly, it doesn’t go into a drink. Of course, other people may not have a problem with what I react to, due to their bio-individuality. Those that use Truvia™ & PureVia™ and have reacted to it, may be affected by the erythritol in it (that is why they add in the erythritol…to cover that bitter taste).  But, it may also be the leftover chemicals used in the extraction of the stevia that are causing their problems.

I’ve used Stevia since 1980 when it was available as dried green leaves. Later the slightly bitter stevia powders became available. Now, I use only water extracted stevia which is sweet and without a bitter aftertaste. Organic stevia is preferred.

We were given samples of Erythritol for use in beverages. The first time I tried it, my eyes ached. I put that sugar substitute in the realm of Aspartame & Sucralose which also cause eye pains. And, I tested Aspartame in 1979. By 1981 I had to quit using it as it caused my eyes to flicker. It took a while to figure out that the problem was caused by a greedy aspartame manufacturer using less expensive methanol alcohol instead of ethanol alcohol in the bonding process of the two chem lab amino acids. Methyl alcohol was what old time alcoholics went blind with.

Sucralose in 1998 was okay until 2003 when I found the same effect as erythritol.

There are a number of other low-calorie sweeteners available such as Lo Han Kuo (licorice aftertaste), and a few new ones that we are testing now. Some are quite good without side effects, so far.

Whenever I go to an industry trade show where they give samples of their products out, I always ask if the product was sweetened with Aspartame, Sucralose or Erythritol. If no sign is present or they don’t know, I pass on the free sample.

J. David

After using two packets of Trivia yesterday in my coffee at work, I experienced the worst nausea that I have ever had.  Very disappointed in this effect of this very heavily advertised, expensive  product.

Lindа Wаxmаn

For several months now ive been using Truvia in my daily Chai tea, and my occasional coffee, i thought it was the perfect alternative to fattening sugar, and over-processed sweeteners. Shortly after i began using Truvia i devoloped headaches, in fact it was more of a constant headache that just got worse from time to time. I never had a steady diet, so i never considered any change in diet to be the cause. I also found that no matter how tired i was, i found it impossible to sleep most nights. Getting out of bed when i did get to sleep was even harder. I began going days without adequate sleep then sleeping for 14-15 hours a day for days at a time! It wasn’t until i quit drinking tea and coffee so i could whiten my teeth, that the headaches went away almost completely and i slept normally again. I thought it was the caffeine that may have been causing all my problems, so i began drinking diet sodas to test my hypothesis, but the only thing it did was make me hyper! I continued to be puzzled until my friend, who was trying to go completely organic, showed me your website. After reading all the side effects other people have gone through, i bucked up and made myself a cup of hot tea with two packets of truvia. Sure enough, i had a headache within the hour and has to take a supplement to get to sleep for the next two nights.

pesооkeiy@aol.com

I have been using Truvia for about 6 weeks.  I have noticed that I am tired all day long.  I was into my second phase of P90X and I had to quit.  P90X had taken from 175 to 158 and I was full of energy all day long.  I had switched from Stevia to Truvia.  I think I will go back to Stevia and see if I get my normal energy back.  I believe Truvia is the culprit for causing lack of energy.  This is the only diet change I have made.

Tony Bаtes

The day after I started using truvia in my coffee, (2packets per cup, 2 cups) I lost my sense of smell and taste. I just made the correlation today, but I stopped taking it. I hope my senses come back. Has this occurred with anyone else?

Rick

Dear Sarah,

I just googled Truvia and your website came up.  I’m so mad right now!  Let me tell you a little about my situation:

I’ve been a relatively healthy young adult who has always been aware of what I’m eating and maintained healthy eating habits.  With a history of diabetes on my grandparents side, I’ve also maintained a low sugar diet.  My artificial sweetener of choice has always been splenda.  I’ve purchased the same products for a while, and, never noticed the “switch” they did on me!!  I suppose I didn’t notice until today.

Memorial Day weekend, I got incredibly ill.  It started out as kidney spasms and has maintained as a severe left side ache.  (Upper abdomen through to my back).  This pain proceeded to get so bad that I was having difficulty eating, so, I went to me Dr.  My Dr told me I had a pretty severe kidney infection, gave me some antibiotics and told me to call him if I wasn’t better in a few days.  Well, since I was unable to really eat, I had switched over to a mainly liquid diet to stay healthy.  I’ve used Odwella drinks for a while, so, I stocked up on them.  I also continued to eat the same yogart, drink vitamin water 10, etc.  First round of meds didn’t work.  After 4 rounds of antibiotics, my side started to get better and kidney infection seemed to be cleared up.  A few days later, it was back and worse then the first time, so, I’m now on round 5 of antibiotics!

I’ve racked my brain trying to think of anything I’ve done differently that might have caused this?  Most of my meals I prepare myself, I don’t eat fast food, and, rarely eat out.  So, nothing was coming to mind.  Until tonight.  As I sat here eating yogart and drinking my vitamin water, I noticed this new symbol on my containers.  I had no idea what this was, or, when these products switched to Truvia!  I googled it, and, that’s when the side effects start making sense!!

*Uti’s
*Kidney infections
*Lightheadedness
*Insomnia
*Rashes
*Low blood sugar
*Carb Cravings

I got them, all of them!  I started getting a weird unexplained rash in April and it randomly comes and goes with no cause?  My sleep pattern has been completely irrational.  I’m always very tired.  I’ve been low carb for years, and, suddenly started craving weird carbs.  Unexplained blisters in my mouth.  It’s like a light bulb went off in my mind.

Of course, I know the first thing I have to do is eliminate all of these products!  I threw them all away!!  I’m really angry that the products I used for years switched without me even noticing.  Now, I’d like to know what else can I do?  If in fact by eliminating these things from my diet causes me to be over this month of hell, what’s the next step?  I called the 1-800 line on Truvia’s website and got a case number, but, I must say, the guy was a real ass.  Said there were no reported adverse side effects of Truvia, and, certainly nothing like I was saying.  Really?  Then why do you have the 800 number in the first place??

Jеssica Fischеr

Truvia makes it burn badly when I pee.  I tried truvia months ago for the first time.  I noticed that later in the day when it moved through my urinary system it really burned when I peed.  I stopped using the product and the burning went away.  Yesterday I took a sip of my wife’s Vitamin Water Zero.  Again, I only took one sip.  Last night, the burning was intense.  I went and checked the refrigerator and realized it was a coke product and sweetened with Truvia.

Please get this stuff off the market!

Mikе Albеrt

I have been using Stevia (with no sugar alcohols) for years and had absolutely no side effects.  We moved and couldn’t find it in this dinky town so I tried the Truvia.  Used it for a week and started having absolutely horrible migraine headaches that were accompanied with severe neck pain…..never had that. Stopped it and they went away.  Clearly I cannot handle Stevia mixed with other things.

Chris and Dawn Hakeem

I too tried to replace Sweet and Low with Truvia, the abdominal pain was unbearable. I thought I would give it some time to adjust but after reading your website I will send it back to the manufacturer. Thanks for all the info.

Gеrri, Olympia, WA

I am responding to your article about Truvia…I had the worst abdominal cramps of my life last night after drinking a very large cup of green tea sweetened with Truvia.  I got no sleep and felt like I swallowed knives pointing in 8 directions.  I will never touch the stuff again! I had no idea why I felt that way until I checked out other comments about this sweetener.  I am still slightly curious if it was something else, and am tempted to try it again – because I was initially attracted to a sweetener made from a leaf – but the experience was just too painful! I would not recommend.

Hеather E. Kеphart

I just found your site and thank goodness. I wanted to share that I started using Truvia and after 1 packet a day for about 2 weeks I developed this metallic taste and my tongue began burning. I am still having the issues, but only stopped using Truvia for the past two days. The mouth was significantly better today, but not gone. Hopefully, it will be gone soon.

Thanks for your site,

Maria Keyes

I use artificial sweeteners, mostly to sweeten my coffee, because I have Type 2 Diabetes.

For the past 6 years, I’ve used another brand of stevia without experiencing the acid reflux which the new product, Truvia, has caused.  During the first few months of using the other brand of stevia back in 2004, onions and garlic, whose taste I really like, tasted and smelled really bad.  After a few months that taste change went away, and onions and garlic tasted and smelled normal again.  However, after trying the new stevia brand of Truvia over about a two-week period, I woke on three successive mornings with acid reflux and the most horrible taste in my mouth that I’ve ever experienced.  During the past week since I stopped using Truvia and returned to the other brand of stevia which I’ve used since 2004, I’ve not experienced any acid reflux or bad tastes in my mouth.

Darlеnе Ford

I started using Truvia several months ago and I started noticing that every time I used it my chest would feel tight and achy.  The doctor says it’s not my heart.  I went to an allergy doctor and he says I have developed asthma.  I’ve never had asthma before and I’m 62!  I started making the connection with the Truvia and skipped it for several days and the asthma symptoms went away.  Started using it again and the symptoms came back.  I truly believe it is the Truvia.

Cheryl

Having a lot of allergies and chemical intolerances, I called Truvia after purchasing the sweetener and using it a couple of times because the ingredients listing was not detailed enough.  They refused to tell me what the “natural flavorings” are derived from saying that it is proprietary information and was not derived from any of the “major” allergens which she named off.  The problem is that the major allergens as defined by the FDA exclude many other food and plant products that many are allergic to, such as corn.  I asked her if they are derived from corn, which I am very allergic to, and got the run-around in relation to the flavorings, answering that the erythritol comes from corn. I asked her a few more times about the flavorings and she would beat around the bush and say various things such as ” I don’t have any information here that indicates corn”, or something similar.

I am taking it back to Walmart to get my money back.

Rick Hаnsen

I used Truvia for the first time this morning, and within 90 minutes I started having diarrhea every hour for about 3 hours.  So much for this sweetener it’s going in the garbage.

Pеtеr Wеnson

Hi Sarah,

Thank you for creating this forum for people to discuss their experience with the product Truvia.  I was so excited to see an all natural product on the market, especially one that tasted great.  I had been using it and had not seen any adverse effects initially.

Over the past month however, I began to have severe pain in my upper back, neck, arms, and hands (with numbness).  I had a back injury a few years ago and was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.  I thought that this medical issue must be the cause (or Multiple Sclerosis-when you feel that bad, your mind starts thinking the worst).

I would wake up feeling crippled and reach for the coffee in hope to revive.  It wasn’t working; in addition to my pain, I was feeling exhausted, foggy, and depressed.  Last Wednesday, after the first cup of coffee didn’t work, I made another, and yet another later.  I found myself worse after every cup. Midday lying on the couch, at my end, something clicked and I found your site.  Though most of the people have abdominal issues (and I had some of those too), the first post I saw was in regards to upper back, neck, and arm pain.

I have not had Truvia since last Wednesday and I am slowly feeling better.  It is important that until more research is done, we, the public save others from this dangerous product.

Sincerely,

Jane

This as-of-yet unknown organism then “eats” the many compounds in the Stevia plant and metabolises them into as-of-yet unknown medicinal compounds that are alleged to have wide-ranging beneficial effects on gastrointestinal problems, skin problems and just any other ailment one can think of.

I admit this all sounds a bit hocus-pocus, but then again, researchers don’t work for peanuts and international patents are notoriously expensive to aquire and maintain, so here we go with the patent: It is US patent nr. 5,262,161 granted to Fumio Dozono on November 16, 1993.

It describes how Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni stems are fermented to make a skin lotion against a variety of skin diseases. I wanted to corroborate this somehow, and I found evidence for the “fermented-Stevia-is-a-universal-cure” theory: In Paraguay, there was even a company that sold fermented Stevia beverages for medicinal purposes! They even described their production process, which I have translated from scanned pages of an old brochure:

And then I found another US patent (nr. 5,958,419) for fermented Stevia stems and leaves, with an alleged antihistaminic action.

And another one (nr. 5,250,301) for fermented Stevia stems to cure digestive ailments.

From the patent: “The liquid internal medicine of the present invention may be administered to patients as a drink, whereby the blood circulation of the patients will be promoted and the disorders of their digestive organs may be cured. As the characteristic aspect of the present invention, the raw material for preparing the medicine is, as mentioned above, a liquid as obtained by concentrating, fermenting and ripening an extract from only the stems of Stevia so that the medicine has a potent curative effect on various disorders.”

And:

“Where the liquid internal medicine of the present invention thus obtained is perorally administered, it may be diluted before use to a mixture from 1/5 to 1/50, preferably from 1/10 to 1/15, with water or a soft drink, in accordance with the condition of the patients.

Since the liquid internal medicine of the present invention is totally composed of a natural Stevia extract only, it is free from any harmful side effects when absorbed into the body. The internal medicine of the present invention has the effect of promoting blood circulation so that disorders of the digestive organs may be cured. Additionally, if the medicine is externally applied to the skin, the effect of treating skin disorders can be observed.”

I have not even begun to seriously make my way through the thousands of Japanese-only patents for fermented Stevia and their benefits. From what I understand, the reason those products work against so many ailments is that the fermented Stevia not only contains a high concentration of beneficial substances, but that the substance also kills bacteria, yeasts, fungi, virii and parasites. Scientists in Japan say that it even kills H5N1 (bird flu) and H1N1 (pig flu).

Truvia has gotten GRAS (“generally regarded as safe”) status – but not Stevia.

First of all, it took chutspa to call it “Truvia”, as if Stevia somehow isn’t the real thing! Secondly, tales of Truvia™ side effects are starting to appear.

All those editorials about how wonderful it is that “Stevia is now FDA-approved” were just grossly misleading advertisements for Coca Cola’s new “Stevia-sweetened” soda pop. It’s a hoax, folks! And the dime-a-dozen “health sites” are taking the bait hook, line and sinker. The FDA was bribed, blackmailed and bullied to approve Aspartame.

Truvia™, AKA Rebiana® is an abbreviation for Rebaudioside A, one of the many sweet-tasting compounds in Stevia. Rebaudioside A has the least bitter after-taste of all compounds in natural Stevia, that’s why the Coca Cola Company, faced with mounting consumer pressure to remove Aspartame from their products got it rushed to FDA approval.

There are worrying reports about Truvia side effects.

But Stevia is still banned as a food additive or sweetener in the US, Europe and many other countries.

The Australian and New Zealand food standards authority recently approved Steviol glycosides (including natural Stevia) for use in foods, while in June 2008 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) concluded that Stevia extracts containing 95 percent steviol glycosides are safe for human use in the range of four milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day. The corrupt FDA only made Cargill/Coca Cola’s product Truvia™ legal to use in food and beverages.

Why was Stevia banned by the FDA?

Aspartame: Sweet Misery

Donald Rumsfeld didn’t just help a few million people into an early grave by “managing” the US slaughter in Viet Nam and Iraq – he also “managed” millions of his fellow countrymen into an early grave by getting Aspartame FDA-unbanned by corrupt and nepotistic means. Since the stuff was being used in softdrinks and other foods, people were dropping like flies, but the US government and the FDA refused to disclose reports of bad side effects, let alone disclosing that Aspartame causes cancer.

It was hard to do tests on lab animals, because Aspartame producers refused to sell to scientists. Dr. Ralph Walton, in the mid-nineties, was one of those academics. It finally took a Freedom of Information request to get the Aspartame side-effect data, and it wasn’t pretty:

List of Aspartame side effects / symptoms

This is only the tip of the iceberg – the report excludes long-term symptoms like cancer and Alzheimer. Since Aspartame got FDA-approval, Alzheimer incidency doubled. Nowadays the toxicity of Aspartame is well established and it is held responsible for everything from ADHD to brain damage. No wonder – Aspartame’s main metabolites are formaldehyde (embalming fluid) and wood alcohol (terrible poison), amongst a few toxic others.

Meet Victoria Innes-Brown – MA & BA Mathematics UCSD from La Jolla California. She set out to prove once and for all that Aspartame causes cancer, and what she found stunned the world. Victoria set up a controlled Aspartame experiment with 108 rats over almost 3 years – the natural lifespan of the animals. No rats were killed during the experiment, such as to honor their sacrifice to us, potential Aspartame consumers. Most rats developed large tumors. Victoria, having a degree in mathematics, took great care to set up a bona-fide experiment. In fact, in a way she greatly exceeded the requirements that are common to such experiments, by not using genetically identical rats, but using as varied a population as possible. The people of the world aren’t all identical clones either.

Victoria used commercially available NutraSweet packets dissolved in the rats’ drinking water. The daily dosage was approx. 40 mg/kg per animal per day for the life of the animals until they died a “natural” death. She used 30 males + 30 females for the experiment, and 24 males + 24 females as the control group. She did everything to assure that the experiment was professionally conducted. The results were horrifying. Most, if not all rats became severely ill, many of them with cancer. Rats lost their skin, became blind, obese or developed other serious ailments. Some of her pictures:

Rat with side tumor

Rat with large tumor below

Many say: “Aspartame is poison” and consider it common knowledge. Here’s the evidence – I’d call it proof.

The documentary “Sweet Misery” shows how Aspartame is slowly killing us:

This Chinese article on Stevioside production in China says that most Chinese Stevia producers produce “low grade and bad quality”. They mention a more modern “enzymatic modification” method, of which I found a patent. This method uses mashed Stevia leaves in water, microorganisms and Ethanol to yield a high-purity Rebaudioside A concentrate. I do not know what process SunWin uses. Meanwhile, Zevia bullies Wikipedia contributors with litigation and effectively censors Wikipedia articles about Zevia:

A very interesting patent by Japanese researchers to people who suffer from Osteoporosis (brittle bones) is US patent nr. 6,500,471 by Minoru Sato. In this patent it is described how adding a tiny percentage of powdered Stevia stems and leaves to chicken feed dramatically reduced egg shell breakage. They also state in their marketing materials for their company (JBB Stevia Laboratory/B&L corporation) that pigs that had a little Stevia-extract in their food had double as much Calcium-content in their meat than other pigs.

They go on to say that adding Calcium to chickens’ diet does not adequately increase Calcium uptake, but that the dried and powdered Stevia herb does!

Osteoporosis is the scourge of the Western world, and Calcium supplements don’t seem to help much.

Interestingly, the higher the per-capita consumption of diary products, the higher the incidency of Osteoporosis. Perhaps Stevia can contribute to healthy bones? Remarkably, Osteoporosis in Japan is almost non-existent, Japan being a nation where they eat a lot of foods that have proven to be beneficial to the bones and to prevent Osteoporosis, like Natto (contains vit. K). Stevia is not just consumed as a sweetener in Japan, but they use it liberally in all kinds of brews – fermented, powdered leaves etc. One would be able to test this by growing a patch of Stevia in one’s garden and drying and powdering the whole plant. The Stevia extract powder can then be mixed into yoghurt, for example. It will surely taste sweet! Will this be the cure for Osteoporosis? Only more research will find out.

During my research into the role medicinal Stevia extracts can play into the prevention and treatment of Osteoporosis, I came across scanned pages of a booklet published in Paraguay. I translated it into English, and have reproduced the process of making an Osteoporosis-treatment beverage in the picture. The added minerals for increased bone density are Phosphorus, Calcium and Magnesium. I suggest adding vit. K and D as well. Vitamin K is abundant in AlfAlfa, and the best way of adding both Calcium and vitamin D is to combine them as commercially available Calcium citrate with vitamin D powder.

If you suffer from Osteoporosis and you want to experiment with Stevia leaf powder, you’ll need a large amount. The medicinal dosage of Stevia as a medicinal substance is much higher than that of Stevia as a sweetener, and you would need several years’ supply. If it really helps against Osteoporosis, it’s still dirt cheap. 25 pounds / 365 years is about an ounce a day, which should be more than enough.

Again – I’m not a doctor. All I can say is that I am sincerely very interested in using herbal Stevia as a medicinal plant, and would be delighted to hear of any successes in the treasment of Osteoporosis.

If you decide to use it, and if your doctor tells you a year later that your bone density has gone up, I would be delighted to hear your story!