Myths Around Stevia Plant

Short Introduction

A myth is defined as a traditional story that is dated back to ancient history. It can also be categorized as natural or common phenomenon that may or may not implicate the presence of supernatural individuals or occurrences. Usually, these folklores are considered to be true or sacred set by the ancient people. There are many myths and folklores that revolve around stevia. It holds many therapeutic values that have been used by people historically. Despite being a newly founded herb, stevia is one of the natural herbs that Earth is gifted with. Even then, there is couple of myths about stevia. The Guarani Indians of Paraguay were the first to have founded Stevia centuries ago. This can then be considered as the early history of the herb. The Guarani people only discovered the herb as a sweet grass where it was used for sweetening the Paraguayans’s yerba mate. Nonetheless, it has only been the past thirty years that scientists have been putting research in stevia because of the discovery made by a European scientist. Since it is still relatively new to the market, stevia may be lacking folklores, albeit some interesting ones. It definitely needs more folklore to make stevia more interesting.

Stories, Myths, Superstitions

Historians have put in many efforts in looking for more folklore that are related to stevia. Unfortunately, there is a lack of evidence in manifesting the relationship between man and stevia (Kinghorn 57). Many authors who have been studying stevia for years made an observation that many history books failed to mention or acknowledge the existence of stevia. Nonetheless, the most popular folklore of stevia is the use of the sweet plant to sweeten the traditional mate drinks of Paraguayan. This natural tea drink tastes bitter without any addition of sugar or other sweetening ingredients. Just like any other tea, the maté tea is usually steeped in hot water. It is a popular drink that is consumed during festivals and family events. Other words, it is a recreational drink that can be consumed at any time. According to the culture of the Paraguayans, despite being a recreational beverage, consuming the maté tea requires a mood, a time, a definite spiritual state (Kinghorn 57).

Furthermore, the folklore expression of drinking maté tea with stevia is expressed as friendship. That explains the folklore that came out with stevia. To balance out the bitterness of the maté drink with sweetness is equivalent in finding the perfect match. The bitterness and sweetness in a drink formed a good balance like a friendship. In today’s society, people are still drinking their traditional drink along with stevia. This is one of the folklore that still exists in Paraguay. Furthermore, ever since the discovery of stevia, people in Paraguay worshipped the plant. It is the reason that makes the herb plant to be used along with their traditional drink. This brings about spiritual meaning to the culture that was developed by the people in Paraguay.

Knowing that stevia is a sweet plant, it was not only used for maté drink. When stevia was first discovered, people were not entirely stoked as it only has one winning factor that is sweetener. When the knowledge started to spread to other countries, the Paraguayan knew that they had discovered the future of all sweetening ingredients. The Paraguayans used it to treat diseases naturally. Since it is a natural plant, the Paraguayans believed that stevia comes with a lot of healing power. According to other folklore, stevia aids in stimulating alertness and defeating fatigue. Furthermore, when tobacco was first found, people were hooked to smoking. Basically, the number of smokers back then continued to increase alarmingly. When the smokers started to chew the stevia leaves as for leisure purposes, it was observed that people would smoke less. After consumption of stevia tea, people have less desire to smoke or drink alcoholic beverages. This means that stevia has put a good use in benefiting the society by reducing the bad habit in the society. Furthermore, the Guarani people believe that stevia helps to strengthen the heart, and also cardiovascular risk is lowered. It is indeed a medical plant for the society.

One of the many historical stories about stevia was about the ancient Guarani legend. Happened centuries ago, there was an old Guarani man, who was a healer in his village. This healer was very wise in treating his patients with local herbs and plants, as he was knowledgeable of the healing values in each herb. When it came to his passing, the healer specifically told his attending that he would be taking the spirit of stevia and the knowledge of its healing qualities with him. After his passing, farmers began to lose interest in planting and producing stevia, as the knowledge of stevia’s healing properties began to fade along each generation. Soon, there was completely no market for stevia to strive on. Then couple of years ago, a meeting conducted by the Extension Service of Paraguay took place in a tiny village. A frail elder from the village attended the meeting. When asked what brought him to the meeting, the old man then said that the spirit of his grandfather came to him and told him about Kaa he-he. He had the mission to pass on the message from his grandfather to the people who were concerned about the growth of stevia in Paraguay. According to the spirit of the grandfather, stevia was a sacred herb that should only be used for virtuous purposes and healing mankind. Stevia would be a blessing to the world, as said by the spirit. Indeed, stevia has brought about great benefits to the people in an effort to reduce chronic ailments such as diabetes.

Another folklore was that Paraguayan women had used stevia as a form of natural contraceptive. The use of stevia as birth control method was not found in the history literature of 1901 – 1960 (Kinghorn 57). This was only established in literature around 1968. It was used to decrease fertility back in the past. The leaves of stevia contain certain compounds and substances that may have an effect on reproduction.

Traditionally, the women in Paraguay would drink stevia tea as a birth control method. Usually, the dosage that the women would take is one cup of stevia tea. The stevia tea was made of powdered weed of stevia that had been boiled. Daily consumption of stevia may affect these women’s menstrual cycle adversely. It was this very reason that causes the Food and Drug Administration of America to disapprove stevia from being sold in the market. The government body was afraid and had concerns on whether it would bring about an effect on infertility on both men and women. However, it was later on that this particular concern had been dismissed by scientific studies. The scientific studies showed no evidence that stevia consumption would cause infertility. At this point, the folklore has not been supported with any scientific evidence. There is no evidence that indicates the compound in stevia plant that would contribute to this folklore. At this point, such folklore may be a case of correlation fallacy rather than causal. The Paraguayan women might have consumed the stevia often that they might have misunderstood that stevia have caused miscarriage. It is difficult to say if this folklore would ever be proven to be true.

Despite the lack of resources indicating more folklore on stevia, the plant has participated in many historical cultures of Paraguayans. The Guarani people have been using stevia as their source of supplement. Even though there are limited stories on the magic and superstitions of stevia, it is important to understand that stevia has brought many benefits to the history and modern societies. Unfortunately, since stevia plant was only recently discovered, it is rather lacking in folklore.