STEVIA: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BITTER

Stevia comes from a South American herb that has been used by the indigenous people of Brazil and Paraguay for thousands of years as a sweetener and as a folk remedy for diabetes. It is hundreds of times sweeter than table sugar, but in its original form it has a bitter aftertaste that some people find objectionable. Many of the new stevia products that are now available, such as Truvia, Nuva, and PureVia, use only the sweet-tasting part of the leaf combined with erythritol as a bulking…

Continue reading

WE NEED A HERO, Part 2

default image

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia about ten years ago. In looking back, I realize that many traits that didn’t seem to be related were all part of one syndrome. When I was in high school, I would have to lie down to rest after walking home from school. I was the only one who went back to my room to brush my teeth after lunch in college, and yet I was the one who needed frequent dental work. Wool was intolerably scratchy, and the tags…

Continue reading

WE NEED A HERO

default image

It’s official. Fibromyalgia is real. How do I know? Because I just saw an ad for a drug to treat it. Lyrica (pregabalin) is now allowed to claim that it may help patients with fibromyalgia (FMS). When The New York Times ran the story on January 14, 2008, the headline was: “Drug Approved. Is Disease Real?” In clinical trials Lyrica has been shown to reduce pain by about 2 points on a scale of 10, compared to 1 point for a placebo. It has significant…

Continue reading