Yesterday night I visited Ilana at her amazing retreat place in Los Gatos, California.

The trip to the center (It is a Yogi community center in the middle of the redwood forest, up in the mountains) was awesome.  We drove through the curved road and since we arrived when it was getting dark, it had some mysterious feeling too, as if we where going to the unknown regions of the wilderness.

Anyways, once we got inside Ilana asked if we wish to have a cup of tea and we said of course.  We chose a non caffeine one (yogi tea of course) and I mentioned that I would like to have some sweetener.

Naturally, in a retreat place like that, they would have alternative answers to sugar, which one of them was Stevia.

The Stevia in its final form looks like a very fine white dust and very attractive (for me at least) and as someone that used to drink his tea/coffee with 2 teaspoons of sugar (now just one!), I decided, in spite Ilana's warning to drop into my cup something like 1/8 of a teaspoon.

When I tried to drink it I had this strong, but really strong, sweet taste, which made me after 2-3 sips (which trying to convince myself to drink more and not look as a dumb), give up on the tea and move to a complete clean of any sweetener tea. I did try to dilute the previous tea with some hot water, but didn't really help... was still too sweet.

So... today morning I woke up with a very strong headache.  Since I am well familiar with my body, I was puzzled about this headache, because I didn't drink anything, didn't smoke anything (for almost 4 weeks now!) and didn't see any reason for this headache to pop up like that. I would go further and say that I never had any such headache in the morning in my entire life.

From being so puzzled and shocked, I went back with my thoughts to yesterday and tried to find what happened to me, and after calculating (and accusing) the free of smoking period I am experiencing, the Stevia came up to my thoughts as a possible cause.

At first I did not think it is possible and after short research I found few websites that where talking about the Stevia and its side effects.

I will quote here few of the paragraphs.  Though as anything you research for, you can never be sure in 100 percent, yet, I can absolutely put my cause on the Stevia in this case, since I am in the field of herbs for some time and in the field of alternative medicine for 8 years.  But moreover than experience (which was lacking the Stevia info apparently), I am extremely sensitive and aware to my body's reaction to any kind of supplement and can say that there is imbalance because a specific reason in my own body.  Of course, after analyzing it and bringing some other components that might be affecting the situation.

Here is an interesting conversation about the Stevia side affects I found on the net:

Why does Stevia give me a headache?
I couldn't find any scientific report directly related the intake of Stevia to
headache. However, some web-articles suggest dizziness, headache,
muscle weakness, bloating, nausea, muscle tenderness and kidney toxicity
as its side effects or toxic effects. Some of these side effects are also
symptoms of hypoglycemia. Let us relate the activities of Stevia,
hypoglycemia and headache together.

It is known that Stevia has anti-hyperglycemic properties. In a study,
researchers recruited 12 patients with Type 2 Diabetes. They found that
the intake of Stevioside could reduce the postprandial blood glucose levels.
In addition, Stevia also has blood pressure lowering activities. Thus,
overdose or excessive intake of Stevia will lead to hypoglycemia and
hypotension.

If the blood sugar levels fall below the normal range (70-110 mg/dl),
episode of hypoglycemia may occur. symptoms of mild-moderate
hypoglycemia include nausea, hunger, nervousness, coldness, rapid pulse,
numbness, dizziness, headache, blurred vision, weakness and difficulty
walking. While, the basic symptoms for headache are dizziness, nausea,
fainting etc. Thus, it makes sense that excessive dose of Stevia causes
headache. However, this is just my thought; experiment is needed to prove
this idea. Thanks.

Was taken from thissite.

Another interesting point about the parts of the Stevia:

Whole foods proponents draw a distinction between consuming (and safety testing) only parts, such as Stevia extracts and isolated compounds like Stevioside, versus the whole herb. In his book Healing With Whole Foods, Paul Pitchford cautions, "Obtain only the green or brown [whole] Stevia extracts or powders; avoid the clear extracts and white powders, which, highly refined and lacking essential phyto-nutrients, cause imbalance". However, this statement is not backed by any scientific evidence.

In 1991, at the request of an anonymous complainant, the United States Food and Drug Administration labelled stevia as an "unsafe food additive", and restricted its import. The FDA's stated reason was "toxicological information on stevia is inadequate to demonstrate its safety" [2]. This ruling was controversial, as stevia proponents pointed out this designation goes against the FDA's guidelines, under which any natural substance used prior to 1958 with no reported adverse effects should be recognized as safe.

In 1995, the FDA revised its stance to permit stevia to be used as a dietary supplement, although not as a food additive. Currently, it is legal to import, grow, sell and consume Stevia products in the United States if it is contained within or labelled for use as a dietary supplement.

To conclude, one should be aware of his/her own body when taking the Stevia, especially if there is any issues concerning sugar level in the blood.

Note!  The text above reflects the writer’s personal opinion and DOES NOT COME TO ALTERNATE ANY PROFESSIONAL OPINION (AND TREATMENT) ABOUT YOUR HEALTH.  FOR YOUR HEALTH IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO VISIT YOUR DOCTOR.