Stevia is widely known as a natural sugar substitute. Many people use it to sweeten drinks and foods because it has no calories and does not raise blood sugar levels.
It comes from the leaves of the stevia plant and is often seen as a healthier alternative to regular sugar. However, new research suggests that stevia may offer much more than sweetness.
Scientists from Hiroshima University have found that stevia leaf extract, when treated in a special way, may help fight one of the deadliest forms of cancer. Their study was published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences and focuses on pancreatic cancer, a disease that is very difficult to treat.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most serious types of cancer. It often develops without clear symptoms in the early stages, which makes it hard to detect. By the time it is diagnosed, it has often already spread to other parts of the body.
Current treatments, such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, are not always effective. Because of this, the five-year survival rate is less than 10 percent, making it one of the most challenging cancers to manage.
Due to these difficulties, researchers around the world are looking for new ways to treat pancreatic cancer. Many are turning to natural plant compounds, which may offer safer and more effective options.
Stevia has already been studied for possible health benefits, including its ability to affect cancer cells. However, it has been difficult for scientists to identify exactly which parts of the plant are responsible for these effects.
In this new study, the researchers tried a different approach. They used a process called fermentation, which involves using bacteria to change the chemical structure of a substance. Fermentation is commonly used in foods like yogurt, cheese, and pickles, but it can also be used in scientific research to create new compounds.
The team used a type of bacteria called Lactobacillus plantarum SN13T. This bacterium is considered safe and is often found on plants, including banana leaves. The researchers mixed this bacteria with stevia leaf extract and allowed it to ferment. They then compared this fermented extract with regular, non-fermented stevia extract.
To test the effects, the scientists used two types of cells in the laboratory. One type was pancreatic cancer cells, known as PANC-1 cells. The other type was healthy human kidney cells, known as HEK-293 cells. This allowed them to see whether the extract could target cancer cells without harming normal cells.
The results were very encouraging. The fermented stevia extract was much more effective at killing pancreatic cancer cells than the regular extract.
At the same time, it caused very little damage to the healthy kidney cells, even when used in higher amounts. This is important because many cancer treatments can harm both cancer cells and healthy cells, leading to serious side effects.
The researchers then looked more closely at what was causing this effect. They discovered that a compound called chlorogenic acid methyl ester, or CAME, played a key role. In the original stevia extract, there was a substance called chlorogenic acid. After fermentation, the amount of this substance dropped, and a new compound, CAME, appeared.
This change likely happened because of enzymes produced by the bacteria during fermentation. These enzymes can transform one chemical into another. The new compound, CAME, was found to be more effective at killing cancer cells and better at triggering a process called cell death, where damaged or harmful cells are naturally removed by the body.
These findings suggest that fermentation can improve the cancer-fighting properties of plant-based substances. By changing the chemical structure of natural compounds, scientists may be able to create more powerful treatments.
The research team plans to continue their work by testing the fermented stevia extract in animals, such as mice. This will help them understand how it works in a living body and whether it is safe for future use in humans. They will also study the best dosage and how the compound behaves over time.
This study opens up an interesting possibility. It shows that not only plants, but also beneficial bacteria, may play a role in developing new treatments for cancer. Using natural ingredients and safe bacteria could lead to new, lower-cost therapies with fewer side effects.
Although this research is still in the early stages, it offers hope for the future. It also reminds us that simple natural substances, when carefully studied and modified, can have powerful effects on health.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that a low-carb diet could increase overall cancer risk, and berry that can prevent cancer, diabetes, and obesity.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how drinking milk affects the risks of heart disease and cancer and results showing vitamin D supplements could strongly reduce cancer death.
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