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I went to a new doctor today. He seemed to know his stuff….until he said stevia was not a plant and was developed in a lab and it is a chemical. He went in this direction after I said I did not want to take a statin and refused the pneumonia vaccine.
I am confused. What does a sweetener have to do with a statin?
It had nothing to do with a statin….he was giving me all the information that he had been saying to his patients…take a statin, get a vaccine, take this take that…I prefer to do more natural methods by taking supplements….which seem to be working fine..I am very healthy for 67..he even said so. He said natural like Stevia? and I say yes, altho I do not use it. He then went on to explain that it was a chemical that was developed in a lab. He asked if I had ever seen a stevia plant…I have in print….That is why I questioned he other info….It seemed that he had stevia and aspertaine confused. I do not want a confused doctor.
your doctor is either lying, or misinformed. Or as you say, it could be he has it confused w/aspertame, but not likely. And no, you don't want a doc who gets important things confused, or who has an axe to grind re: alternative medicine.
From Wiki:
Stevia (/ˈstiːvɪə/, /ˈstiːvjə/ or /ˈstɛvɪə/) is a sweetener and sugar substitute extracted from the leaves of the plant species Stevia rebaudiana.
Discovered by a Swiss researcher in Paraguay, it had been used by local Native people for centuries as a sweetener, or a sweet treat.
I went to a new doctor today. He seemed to know his stuff….until he said stevia was not a plant and was developed in a lab and it is a chemical. He went in this direction after I said I did not want to take a statin and refused the pneumonia vaccine.
Never trust a medical doctor when it comes to advice about herbals and natural remedies. They just don't get education in that stuff. I asked my doctor if I could take SAM-e before some lab testing and he didn't know what it was.
I went to a new doctor today. He seemed to know his stuff….until he said stevia was not a plant and was developed in a lab and it is a chemical. He went in this direction after I said I did not want to take a statin and refused the pneumonia vaccine.
FYI, Doctors are not experts on herbs. They in fact know nothing about them. If you want to learn about stevia, look in books about herbs or talk to an herbalist. Stevia has been around since well before colonial days and was usually grown in backyard gardens and used as a sweetener. It also happens to be great for diabetics as it regulates blood sugar.
Location: St Thomas, USVI - Seattle, WA - Gulf Coast, TX
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It's a plant. I've grown it in my herb garden many times and used the leaves to sweeten teas, cocktails, etc. Looks like it's time for a new doctor...
Quote:
Originally Posted by emilybh
FYI, Doctors are not experts on herbs. They in fact know nothing about them.
My issue with the OP's doc would not have been his herbal ignorance necessarily, but that he was both combative regarding his patient's preferences and spoke about something as if he was an expert when he was completely wrong. Pretending to have the answers and being wrong is definitely not a good way to practice medicine.
Specific to the stevia, I do think that a doctor should have some intelligence about sugar alternatives to pass along to his patients who are dealing with diabetes, weight issues, or a myriad of other things.
Last edited by IslandCityGirl; 06-03-2015 at 10:25 PM..
This idea that 'natural' chemicals are better than 'synthetic' ones is something I do take issue with. There's plenty of 'natural' items out there that will kill you plenty quick and plenty of 'synthetic' items that are harmless.
Ultimately you're just talking about strings of atoms that combine to form molecules and it really doesn't matter their 'origin' .. only their effects matter... which is why I just use the neotame and sucralose and don't subject myself to the bitterness of the stevia. To each their own.
This idea that 'natural' chemicals are better than 'synthetic' ones is something I do take issue with. There's plenty of 'natural' items out there that will kill you plenty quick and plenty of 'synthetic' items that are harmless.
Ultimately you're just talking about strings of atoms that combine to form molecules and it really doesn't matter their 'origin' .. only their effects matter... which is why I just use the neotame and sucralose and don't subject myself to the bitterness of the stevia. To each their own.
Great post.
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