When I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease I began a journey like many of you that has taken me just about everywhere searching for answers.
Through the millions of trials and errors, and the harsh treatments that made me sicker sometimes than the disease itself, I often said to others “I wish the cure for Lyme disease was chocolate ice cream.”
That dream may soon be coming true.
Dr. Eva Sapi and her expert team of researchers at the University of New Haven in CT (Theophilus PA1, Victoria MJ1, Socarras KM1, Filush KR1, Gupta K1, Luecke DF1, Sapi E1) discovered that extract made from the leaves of a Stevia plant kills all forms (spirochetes, persisters and biofilms) of the Lyme bacteria in the lab.
And to my delight, Stevia, a natural sweetener found in our local grocery stores, can be used to make chocolate ice cream.
In the study the effectiveness of Stevia was compared to several antibiotics such as doxycycline, cefoperazone, daptomycin and their combinations. Stevia won, hands down.
The report concludes, “results from this study suggest that a natural product such as Stevia leaf extract could be considered as an effective agent against B. burgdorferi [Lyme disease].”
Please note, I am not saying eating chocolate ice cream made with Stevia will cure Lyme disease, but I believe we are finally getting to a place that the cure may be as simple as that. How sweet it is.
LUCY BARNES
Centreville- Ms. Barnes is director of Lyme Disease Education and Support Groups of Maryland. Facebook