Tag Archives: Food Chemistry

Sugar Craze – Is Artificial Bad?

Posted on November 20, 2017 by | 1 comment

Everyone likes a little sweet in their life, whether it’s that extra chocolate chip cookie, or adding a teaspoon of sugar to your morning coffee.

Figure 1. Coffee with a sugar cube being added to it. (Image source)

Because sugar can have many adverse effects on health, artificial sweeteners have been used instead to provide the same sweet taste. These include Sweet n Low, Splenda, and Equal just to name a few. However, even though these alternatives provide a low calorie substitution, there has been a lot of controversy to whether or not they are actually better for your health.

Figure 2. Artificial sweetener packets, including Splenda and Equal. (Image source)

Sugar can cause many different problems when eaten at a high level, including; type 2 diabetes, obesity, inflammation, heart disease and even cancer.

The first artificial sweetener, saccharin, was discovered in 1879 when a chemist discovered that his food tasted sweeter after work and went on to taste all the chemicals he was using in his lab. After that, more artificial sweeteners have been found and have been targeted towards diabetics, and those wanting to lose weight.

The FDA is the organization that approves foods and drugs with the responsibility of protecting the public health. There are currently eight approved artificial sweeteners in the United States. These eight approved sugars have all been deemed safe by the FDA as long as they are used in moderation.

So why do so many people rebel against the idea of ingesting anything artificially manufactured?

The media plays a big part in this. There were several false animal studies done on rats that linked artificial sweeteners to cancer. While the FDA states that these were poorly executed experiments and that they provided false conclusions, the public still has a hard time getting this information.

Figure 3. Two laboratory rats. (Image source)

In 1980, after a study falsely connected aspartame with brain cancer, there was a wide media outbreak that ended with FDA banning aspartame. However, once more research was done, the FDA quickly lifted their ban in 1981. The FDA continues to state that aspartame is safe to consume at acceptable levels. Yet, even with this research available, many people still believe that aspartame is to blame for many adverse symptoms.

Why?

Research is currently hard to understand at a public level, and the truth can be difficult to find as people can form an accidental bias when reporting.

To help the public truly understand these controversies, there has to be a way in the future to allow the public better access to these scientific discoveries. Making science more accessible will benefit society as a whole as more individuals will be able to form their own opinions.

For now though, it is safe to say that you can fill your sweet tooth craving with an artificial sweetener instead.

1 Comment

Tagged , , , , ,

MSG – Is it Really a Silent Killer?

Posted on October 30, 2017 by | 1 comment

By now everyone has heard of the controversial debate surrounding MSG – whether or not is it harmful to eat. Without all the information easy to find on the internet, it can be difficult to truly answer this question.

 

Figure 1. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) shown in chemical form. (Image Source)

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the salt version of an amino acid. Amino acids are molecules in your body that bond together to create proteins. They are also known as the building blocks of life.

 

 

Why does MSG taste so good? It uses the fifth taste sense called umani. The amino acid section of MSG is detected by this taste bud, and tricks your mind into thinking the food tastes heartier and more savory. Because of this, MSG is used as a food additive in many restaurants, most commonly in Chinese food.

Figure 2. A Chinese restaurant, typically associated with the use of MSG. (Image Source)

MSG was thought to create short term symptoms when eaten such as heart palpitations, general weakness, and numbness around the face and neck. These symptoms were previously known as “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”, because the symptoms generally arose after eating in Chinese restaurants, places known to use this additive. Restaurants were told to promote that they did not use MSG, and the public were encouraged by the media to avoid it.

 

However, most studies done have reported no correlation between the symptoms and the use of MSG. Experiments on both humans and monkeys showed that when given MSG or not, the two groups would still experience the same symptoms on average. The only case where some individuals would respond badly, was when they were fed three grams of MSG or more with no food (an average person would only consume 0.55 grams of added MSG in a day in real life). Because of the unlikeliness of this situation, it wasn’t seen to prove any of the negative correlations.

Figure 3. Caption of a Chinese Restaurant stating no MSG is added. (Image Source)

Even the FDA, while approving the need to label food if it contains MSG, state that it is “generally recognized as safe”.  There is no direct evidence yet for a link between MSG and the negative symptoms it has been associated with.

So, why then do so many people believe that it is bad? This is because the media controls a large portion of the general public’s knowledge. We need to find new ways to form a connection between the public and science, to give people unbiased knowledge of new research. With this connection and availability of information, the public would be able to understand both views of the controversy and form their own opinions.

Author: Thryn Irwin

 

1 Comment

Posted in News

Tagged , , , , ,

A Glass of Wine a Day Keeps the Doctor Away?

Posted on September 30, 2017 by | 2 comments

Picture from Google Images

Since the 1990’s scientists have wondered whether red wine has any potential health benefits for the average consumer. Studies have shown that a polyphenol known as resveratrol in the wine does help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, in particular atherosclerosis.

How did scientists know in the first place that red wine could potentially help? It all has to do with the French Paradox. The French paradox looks at how the French have a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases despite consuming a diet that consists mainly of fats. What’s the main difference in these diets from others around the world? They drink a lot of wine.

Studies looking into red wine discovered a polyphenol known as resveratrol. Resveratrol comes from the grapes that make the wine. It was noticed due to its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Scientists believed that this may have something to do with the health benefits of the wine.

Resveratrol was first tested on mice models by feeding them resveratrol supplements and in the end it showed a decrease in the risk of cardiovascular diseases, specifically atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is when the arteries harden and narrow making it difficult for blood to flow through the body. The question scientists then wondered was how exactly did resveratrol help with this?

Some ways resveratrol helped is by increasing the amount of high density lipoprotein cholesterol, also known as the ‘good’ cholesterol in our body as well as decreasing platelet aggregation. This coupled with its antioxidant abilities made resveratrol a very helpful polyphenol in red wine.

Benefits of Red Wine (From :Saleem, T. S. M. & Basha, S. D. (2010). Red wine: A drink to your heart. J Cardiovasc Dis Res., 1(4), 171-176.)

The research was more recently extended to human trials and similar results were found as was with the mice. However, to this day doctors are hesitant to encourage patients to drink as the consequences from drinking alcohol are too high for the benefits of resveratrol. Non-alcoholic red wine is available with all the benefits of the polyphenol without the worry of the alcohol.

The idea that red wine can help with our health is interesting, however I believe that the risk of alcohol is too great. You can never be sure how much wine is too much and it varies from person to person. To be on the safe side I would recommend other forms of resveratrol supplements other than red wine to help with any cardiovascular problems. However, it is great to know that drinking red wine isn’t all that bad. Thus in conclusion, the polyphenol resveratrol does help to reduce our risk of cardiovascular diseases, so a glass of wine a day, does keep the doctor away!

~Sajni Shah

 

References:

Chiva-Blanch, G., Arranz, S., Lamuela-Raventos, R. M., & Estruch, R. (2013). Effects of Wine, Alcohol and Polyphenols on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors: Evidences from Human Studies. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 48(3), 270-277.

Gilford, J. M., & Pezutto, J. M. (2011). Wine and Health: A Review. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 62(4), 471-486.

O’Keefe, J. H., Bhatti, S. K., Bajwa, A., Dinicolantonio, J. J., & Lavie, C. J. (2014). Alcohol and Cardiovascular Health: The Dose Makes the Poison…or the Remedy. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 89(3), 382-393.

Smoliga, J. M., Baur, J. A., & Hausenblas, H. A. (2011). Resveratrol and health – A comprehensive review of human clinical trials. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research Mol. Nutr. Food Res., 55(8), 1129-1141.

Saleem, T. S. M. & Basha, S. D. (2010). Red wine: A drink to your heart. J Cardiovasc Dis Res., 1(4), 171-176.

2 Comments

Posted in News

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Effects of hot and cold steeping methods on antioxidant activity in tea

Posted on September 18, 2017 by | 1 comment

Antioxidants are molecules that protect your cells from damage, and tea is bursting full of them, but have you ever wondered whether steeping your tea in hot or cold water affects its antioxidant levels? Is the difference even significant enough to worry about? Researchers at Università Politecnica delle Marche tested the effects of steeping temperature on antioxidant levels in black, green, white, and oolong tea.

                             

Black Tea                     Green Tea                       White Tea                    Oolong Tea

All images from Wikipedia Commons

 

The results showed that antioxidant activity is generally higher in tea brewed with hot water, but using statistics, this difference was found to be significant only for green tea. White tea deviates from this trend, showing statistically higher levels of antioxidants when brewed with cold water.

Two different analyses were conducted to measure the antioxidant ability of the four teas. Each analysis independently yielded similar results.

Fig 1: Antioxidant level measured in units of (mM GAE), showing statistically higher antioxidant levels for white tea brewed with cold water and for green tea brewed with hot water. Black and Oolong tea brewed with hot water showed higher antioxidant levels, but was not statistically significant.

Venditti E, Bacchetti T, Tiano L, Carloni P, Greci L, Damiani E. Hot vs. cold water steeping of different teas: do they affect antioxidant activity?. Food Chemistry. 2010 Apr 15;119(4):1597-604.

 

The researcher’s findings suggest that different types of teas contain different types of antioxidants, which are sensitive to different steeping temperatures. The effect of steeping temperature on tea depends on which antioxidants are present. For example, white tea brewed using cold water yielded higher antioxidant levels because some antioxidants may be degraded at higher temperatures. Brewing at lower temperatures preserved those heat sensitive antioxidants. Another example is brewing green tea, where tea brewed with hot water yielded higher antioxidant levels because some antioxidants may be extracted from the leaves efficiently only at higher temperatures.

Whether you prefer black, green, white, or oolong tea, and whether you prefer hot or cold brewing methods, all of these types of teas contain many antioxidants and are a healthy drink choice. Therefore, it is more important to drink the type of tea you like best, brewing it with the method that you prefer, which will ensure that you continue to consume this healthy drink!

-Gareth Lee

1 Comment

Posted in Analysis

Tagged , , , ,