Re-evaluation of Aspartame: State of Play [PUBLIC HEARING] (Photo credit: ALDEADLE Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for EU)
Artificial sweeteners were developed primarily for dieters and diabetics, and they've always been kind of problematic. They often taste nothing like sugar, and it seems there's always some biological issue. Aspartame, for example, was good for you until it caused cancer and was bad for you but is now good for you again, saccharine had similar ups and downs, sodium cyclamate turned out to be so bad that it's actually banned, and now the latest entry, Splenda, was good for you but now may be bad for you.
At least, if you have diabetes, it's not looking good - the stuff, it turns out, isn't biologically inert, after all: it significantly elevates insulin levels.
Professor Yanina explained that they do not fully understand the implications that these rises could have.
She said: 'The elevated insulin response could be a good thing because it shows the person is able to make enough insulin to deal with spiking glucose levels.
'But it also might be bad because when people routinely secrete more insulin, they can become resistant to its effects, a path that leads to type 2 diabetes.'
So what they know, at this point, is simply that, as has been the case with every artificial sweetener developed to date, it's doing something in addition to making foods and beverages taste sweeter - and thus, more palatable.
But hey - there's good news: High-Fructose
Corn Syrup (HFSC) is found in all kinds of stuff, from bread to soda pop, but you can't buy it anywhere. However, in this artisanal new age, it's now possible for you to make your very own:
Mix 10 cups of Yellow Dent #2 corn extract with one drop sulfuric acid, one teaspoon Alpha-Amylase, one teaspoon Glucose-Amylase, and one teaspoon Xylose, strain through a cheesecloth, and heat. Then, once the slurry has reached 140 degrees, add Glucose Isomerase, bring to a boil, let cool, and enjoy!
Kind of reminds you of the old chemistry sets from back when you were a kid, doesn't it?
