nutrients Article Effects of the Daily Consumption of Stevia on Glucose Homeostasis, Body Weight, and Energy Intake: A Randomised Open-Label 12-Week Trial in Healthy Adults Nikoleta S. Stamataki 1 , Benjamin Crooks 1,2 , Abubaker Ahmed 1,3 and John T. McLaughlin 1,2,* 1 Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology & Gastroenterology, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, The University of Manchester, Oxford Rd, Manchester M13 9PL, UK;
[email protected] (N.S.S.);
[email protected] (B.C.);
[email protected] (A.A.) 2 Department of Gastroenterology, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Stott Lane, Salford M6 8HD, UK 3 Department of Gastroenterology, Manchester Foundation Trust, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WL, UK * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 3 September 2020; Accepted: 2 October 2020; Published: 6 October 2020 Abstract: Stevia is a non-nutritive sweetener, providing sweet taste with no calories. This randomised, controlled, open-label 2-parallel arm trial examined the effects of daily stevia consumption on glycaemia in healthy adults. Secondary endpoints included body weight (BW) and energy intake (EI). Healthy participants (n = 28; aged 25 5y, body mass index 21.2 1.7 kg/m2) were randomised ± ± into either the stevia group (n = 14)—required to consume a stevia extract daily—or to the control group (n = 14). At weeks 0 and 12, the glucose and insulin responses to an oral glucose tolerance test were measured; BW and EI were assessed at weeks 0, 6, and 12. There was no significant difference in the glucose or insulin responses.