Here’s an interesting comment that a reader left on this blog about why certain people from Peru have fewer cases of diabetes…

I did not see anything as to where this plant is grown, and the study that was done in Peru. It has been discovered that the people living at the base of this certain mountain in Peru had access to modern and westernized foods, which was brought in via the harbor. Now the people living high up in the mountain being poor, and who grew their own foods had no such use for the modern foods being brought in to the village at the base of this certain mountain. What was discovered though, was that the people living high up on top of the mountain had very few cases of diabetes. After an investigation was carried out by a medical team it was discovered that the people on top of the mountain used Stevia as a natural sweetener in their cooking. Hence the very few cases of diabetes, you may want to look up a very good potato like vegetable that only grows high up in the mountains of Peru. This potato like vegetable is called Yukon, it is very good for the heart and lowers blood pressure. However it too might be banned by now. All this info came from a friend of mine that is a Peruvian. Oh I have been using Stevia for some time now however I could not find the brand I was using and the one I did find had a very strong aftertaste, I suppose if I persevered I could get used to the taste.