This is topic Stevia protocol in forum Medical Questions at LymeNet Flash.


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Posted by D Bergy (Member # 9984) on :
 
Hello. I am posting this information from one of the smartest people I know. They do not wish to have their names all over the net so I have
de-identified the information. My wife will be using it to hopefully eliminate the bothersome remnant of lyme that occasionally pops up.

I just thought this might help others as well.
Below is the information I received.


Hi Dan,

Here is the information about the stevia protocol. The only 2 brands of liquid extract recommended are from NOW and Nutramedix (it must be liquid extract, the powder does not work). I heard from one of my clients that used the NOW extract for some months, and he is doing well and is quite happy with the results. That is what we used here also.

General information with links:
https://www.eric-lyme.ca/
More specifically, a quick 1-page protocol information with dosing and best brands of stevia extract: https://www.eric-lyme.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Scheuneman-Protocol-2nd.pdf

This is the original research paper on use of stevia extract, and comparison with antibiotics:
https://www.eric-lyme.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Stevia-Paper-2015.pdf

The results from that research project showed that the stevia extract worked better than 3 antibiotics combined, and killed all the forms of the Borrelia bacteria including cyst and biofilm.

My husband started with 12 drops of the NOW liquid extract 3 times a day in fruit juice. We added a squeeze of lemon to the juice, because the stevia extract is so intensely sweet.
After 5 days, he went 18 drops 3 times a day; and then 5 days later, 24 drops 3 times a day.

He still takes a dropperful of the extract once or twice a day. We put some of the extract in a regular dropper bottle, because for some reason the dropper lid on the bottle of NOW extract creates a lot of waste.
 
Posted by jefff0 (Member # 52094) on :
 
http://buhnerhealinglyme.com/herbs/stevia/

The study, in my opinion, is useless and misleading,. Here are a few of the reasons why (I have similar problems with most of the New Haven group’s studies — though this does seem to be the first one they got a journal to accept):

1) The study is in vitro and hence has nothing to do with how the herb will actually work in a living body. It is not possible to extrapolate from a single in vitro study UNLESS there is corresponding data from centuries of historical use, etc (e.g. clinical use and so on).
2) Stevia is not a very systemic herb. To work in a live body against infection, especially with Borrelia, an herb has to be VERY systemic, that is it has to spread widely in the body, especially in hard-to-reach places. Stevia does not.
3) We have over a decade of clinical experience with stevia in the treatment of lyme disease; we suggest it as a supportive herb for a number of problems (blood glucose, etc). We have not seen ANY antimicrobial effects in clinical practice. NONE. However, the herb, because of effects on the GI tract, does help increase the bioavailability of herbs and pharmaceuticals (as does licorice, for example), as such it can help make antibacterials more effective.
4) The herb is also touted as helping break up biofilms. NOTE: Most herbs contain substances that help break up biofilms; plants figured out how to do that millions of years ago. Plants get sick, just like us, they can’t go to the doctor, they can’t call a medic, they have to treat their own diseases by figuring out what is wrong and crafting substances to deal with the infections they have. Part of the reason they are better than drugs is that they contain multiple substances that they have created to deal with bacteria – they had to deal with bacteria long before our species even existed, so they created antibacterials; they had to deal with bacterial resistance long ago so they create anti-resistance chemicals; they had to deal with biofilms so they created biofilm breaking agents, and so on. There is a list of perhaps 40 herbs that break up biofilms in the second edition of Healing Lyme, this is by no means exhaustive. ALL plants break up biofilms to varying extents. I’ll end it here, but if you want to read more on herbal remedies and how they can help, CFAH is a great resource.
So, in short, this study is not groundbreaking, it is not news, it is not the antibacterial cureall for lyme disease. Further, given the massive data on Borrelia from exhaustive research the past decades, including some of the really good work that has been done by other researchers, the study is not really all that good. (I have read, at a conservative estimate, some 30,000 journal articles on bacteria, viruses, and herbs over the past 5 years, many of them are listed in the bibliographies in my last 5 medical herbals. Some of the bibliographies run rather long, in Healing Lyme alone it is over 50 pages long.).

Stephen
 
Posted by D Bergy (Member # 9984) on :
 
Has anyone on lymenet actually used the protocol? If so, what have been the results? What dosages were used?

Best regards

Dan
 
Posted by Garz (Member # 52095) on :
 
in addition to Buhners remarks - or perhaps part of the explanation for his point 2 - one of the most obvious difficulties with the New Haven study is - to my knowledge they used stevia whole plant extract in their in-vitro experiments on biofilms etc.

however, it is very well established that the stevioside glycosides in the plant extract do not pass through the gut barrier and instead are all converted to steviol by normal gut bacteria in the colon.

This steviol compound is then absorbed but does not enter systemic circulation in that form either as it is first transported to the liver where it is converted into steviol glucuronide which then enters the systemic circulation and is eventually excreted via the kidneys.

so unless I misunderstood(it's a while since I read it) - the new haven researchers tested a very different molecule to the one that circulates in humans if they consume stevia.

This means whilst stevia extracts could have anti-Lyme effects, the evidence presented by new haven to date does not go a long way towards proving it and in fact has a kind of schoolboy error built into the in-vitro experiments.

I am not saying it can't work - maybe it does - maybe teh glucuronide have anti-lyme effects too
- maybe even more so - we simply do not know yet - and it it helps you, great. At least the potential downsides look minimal.


To my mind there are so many things that are supposed to help and as a sufferer, I really want to prioritize the things that have the most compelling evidence otherwise I could spend my entire life trying the less well-supported things and get no-where unless I have a great deal of luck, which I simply cannot bank on.

Others follow different paths, which is, of course, fine, but think we should all have access to a balance of the information out there.

New Haven study here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4681354/#ref54/

metabolism of stevia reference here
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Natural-sweeteners-and-their-effects-on-gut-microbiota-Stevia-extracts-have-been_fig1_331181722
 
Posted by Bartenderbonnie (Member # 49177) on :
 
New !!!
February 2020
"Evaluation of Natural and Botanical Medicines for Activity Againest Growing and Non-growing Forms of B.burgdoferi"
John Hopskins Universiy
Dr Ying Zhang

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2020.00006/full

"Stevia rebandina was recently reported to have strong anti-borrelia activity. However, in our testing, Stevia failed to show any activities againest B.burgdoferi."
https://tinyurl.com/vc6w2qy
 
Posted by spookydew (Member # 8432) on :
 
I didn't see anything on Herxheimer reaction with Stevia. I know this is debatable but I'm surprised


that more desperately ill haven't tried this and reported on it. I couldn't see any side effects either.

In my earlier Lyme years I did all kinds of stupid stuff I was so desperate I would have eaten an Eastern fence lizard had I seen one.

I'm going to look for this in my herbal PDR book.
 
Posted by D Bergy (Member # 9984) on :
 
I found Doctor Zhangs study interesting because one of the most effective substances he found for Bb was Cryptolepis.
Yet, I have not heard of anyone using it for that purpose.

I have used it for mycoplasma and I had no problems with it except it isn’t very tasty. It is one of the very few herbals that work well for this.

It is difficult to know by the studies if Stevia could actually work or not. Extract details are often not given and in vitro results appear conflicting.

Since my wife no longer has full blown lyme but probably what is referred to as persister form, the testing of Stevia will have to take place when she is symptomatic. I will wait for that and see what effect it has, if any.

If that doesn’t work then Cryptolepis is a possibility. That seems like a no brainer for anyone treating lyme. The problem with that is she generally does not tolerate any type of antibiotic for longer use. That is why frequency treatments have been the primary treatment.

Her symptoms are really a minor problem. Lyme testing only shows a past infection now. That doesn’t mean even this type is harmless. I don’t like that it is there and would like to get rid of it.

Dan
 
Posted by Garz (Member # 52095) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by D Bergy:
I found Doctor Zhangs study interesting because one of the most effective substances he found for Bb was Cryptolepis.
Yet, I have not heard of anyone using it for that purpose.

Dan

yes, I found that interesting too.

I have used it in the past when we really didn't know what was causing our symptoms, but because both of us were affected at the same time with teh same symptoms an infection of some sort was the logical cause.
Cryptolepis is one of the broadest and most powerful antimicrobials so we used this along with sida acuta and a berberine plant.

we both had overwhelming herx like symptoms despite trying to ramp up in stages ( fatigue, body ache, sore head etc.)

we hoped to stay on the protocol until symptoms improved/resolved but with no end in sight after 12 weeks we had to stop.

there was a brief period when the herx like symptoms subsided that we felt better than before - but then symptoms seemed to return to pre-treatment levels.

not clear how to interpret that sequence of events - but have since had a positive test for lyme and now think the most likely explanation is lyme plus co-infection of Bartonella and or mycoplasma making it very hard to resolve.
 
Posted by Badtick (Member # 9794) on :
 
I was at the conference when Eva Sapi first presented this work which was about 10 years ago. Stevia was just one of many compounds/herbal preparations which demonstrated some in-vitro activity against BB.

Myself and a few other attendees tried stevia in all manner of preparations, powder, whole plant extracts prepared in various solvents etc., and compared notes. None of us noticed any effect.

This was disappointing but not unexpected given the odds of a simple dish experiment translating to in-vivo efficacy of any compound for Lyme are small.
 
Posted by D Bergy (Member # 9984) on :
 
Thank you for sharing your experience.

Dan
 


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