Monday, March 30, 2015
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| [Photo credit: NYCDesign.co] |
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt,” [Source] declares Charles M. Schulz, the cartoonist behind the well-loved comic strip "Peanuts". American author Cassandra Clare, in her book Clockwork Angel, has her character saying: “Will looked horrified. 'What kind of monster could possibly hate chocolate?'” [Source] Rachel Vincent, another American author, echoes the general favorable attitude toward chocolate: “Chocolate says 'I'm sorry' so much better than words.” [Source] The sentiment is summed up by Marcus Samuelsson: "Chocolate is one of the world's most beloved discoveries, and when we need a quick boost of energy and endorphins, chocolate is the go-to treat." [Source]
Not surprisingly, chocolate, along with flowers, are what men paying court have traditionally given the objects of their interest.
Why is it so desirable?
The favorable impression
of chocolate is something that can be explained scientifically. It contains
several compounds that act on the brain and cause people to feel good:
"There's actually more than one compound found in chocolate that could
potentially make a person high. For starters, the most widely used psychoactive
drug in the world is found in chocolate [Source: Fackelmann]. The compound 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine -- better known as caffeine -- occurs naturally. It produces a stimulating physiological effect by exciting the central nervous system, which, in turn, increases heart rate and contracts muscles. It's a lot like the fight-or-flight response. Caffeine acts on dopamine and adenosine receptors in the brain, which then release their respective pleasure-producing chemicals. A compound that's closely related to the active ingredient in marijuana (tetrahydrocannabinol-9) is also found in chocolate. Fatty acids called cannabinoids hit the CB1 and CB2 receptors found most predominantly in the frontal cortex and the parts of the brain responsible for motor function and memory. When cannabinoids hit these receptors, a person starts to feel intoxicated and relaxed as a result. [Source: Medscape]
"As if that one-two punch of psychoactive stimulant and depressant weren't enough, chocolate also packs another surprise in its glove for people who eat it. Phenylethylamine is often called the "love drug," since it releases the same chemicals that are introduced into the human body when love comes to call [source: Millward]. The compound produces a similar effect to the one produced by amphetamines, and is classified as a hallucinogen. It also is aces ate releasing the pleasure-producing chemicals dopamine and serotonin. The combination produces an exciting high, much like the one generated by the designer drug ecstasy. [Source: Hanson, et al][Source]
"Chocolate has all of the ingredients needed to make it a wonder drug. After all, it contains compounds similar to those found in ecstasy, morphine and marijuana. By all rights, eating a bar of chocolate should send you into orbit. So, why isn't this stuff regulated by the FDA? Why aren't chocolate bars sold from locked cabinets behind the pharmacy counter? The truth is, while there are indeed pleasure-inducing and stimulating chemical compounds found in chocolate, the amounts of most of these compounds are relatively small. [Source]
"While scientists have yet to discover what causes the relationship between chocolate and happiness, studies have managed to turn up correlations. One 2007 study surveyed 1,367 respondents -- all men in their 70s with similar socioeconomic backgrounds -- and asked questions about their health, satisfaction in life and emotions like happiness and loneliness. They also snuck in a question that asked what kind of candy they preferred. Those who preferred chocolate showed lower frequencies of depression and loneliness and had a more optimistic outlook on life. [Source: Strandberg, et al] [Source]
Chocolate, Chocolate Bars, and Sugar-free Chocolates
Europeans were first introduced to chocolate in 1519, when Aztec ruler Montezuma II served Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés xocoatl, a bitter cocoa-bean drink, which would introduce to Spain.This beverage remained a Spanish secret for about a hundred years until its introduction to France. ["chocolate." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2014.]
Centuries more would pass before chocolate bars would become a reality, perfected by Hershey, Milton Snavely ["Hershey, Milton Snavely." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2014.]
A century more would elapse before sugar-free chocolate bars would enter the market, after safe sugar substitutes would be developed, and used for this product. Today, fortunately for diabetics and dieters, several sugar-free versions of chocolate bars are now in the market. Sugar-free chocolate bars and chocolate candies in the Philippine market include the following.
Perhaps the most widely available sugar-free chocolate bars availablein the Philippines are those produced by the Spanish company Valor. These can be found in many supermarkets in and around Metropolitan Manila. Valor chocolates are available in 40-gram and 100-gram bars, in a mixed pack ("Neapolitans") of dark chocolate, dark chocolate with almond cream filling, milk chocolate with hazel nut cream, and dark chocolate with mint cream (in a pack weighing 36 grams), and in a multiple pack of dark chocolate with marcona almond filling (total weight, 84 grams). Earlier, Valor used maltitol as a sugar substitute, but lately, stevia, derived from the plant Stevia rebaudiana, ["sweetener." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2014.] is also used.
Hershey's, identified with chocolate bars since these were perfected at the beginning of the last century by its founder, is found in sugar-free form only in a limited number of outlets. The author was able to locate only in a supermarket in Chinatown's Ongpin Street. in a pack of miniature dark chocolate bars, with a total weight of 85 grams.
One country known for chocolate bars is Belgium. The author has found two brands of chocolates with sugar-free chocolates from Belgium, Alfredo and Guylian. Both are available in large bars. However, the author has not been able to find the products for sale in recent visits to these supermarkets.
Friday, March 20, 2015
The importance of soft drinks
Soft drinks are among the top in the list of
products bought by Filipinos. According to a Nielsen survey in 2012, "soft
drinks outranked other categories in terms of market value by accounting for as
much as 79.6 billion in moving annual total (MAT) as of June 2012." - [Source]
Because of their high sugar content (that is,
for non-sugar free beverages, which make up the vast majority of soft drinks),
they have been cited by authorities for their adverse affects on health. The
Department of Health has weighed in on the debate on a tax on sweetened drinks
proposed in Congress. " In a position paper that it submitted to the House
of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, the DOH said consumption of soft
drinks and carbonated drinks has been 'identified as one of the behavioral risk
factors contributing to the development of non-communicable diseases' like
diabetes and hypertension." Going further, the DOH "proposed that
instead of just soft drinks and carbonated drinks, Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrelita
Suansing’s bill should cover sugar-sweetened beverages, including energy drinks
and fruit juices with added sugar. The department cited international studies
that showed the link between soft drink consumption and overweight, obesity and
diabetes. It said researchers have 'observed a positive association between
soft drinks and juice consumption and increased risk of diabetes.” For this
reason, soft drinks, or sodas are the first product for which we will give a
review. - [Source]
Sugar-free soft drinks: An overview
Not surprisingly, soft drinks are a category of
product in which the demand for sugar-free products has spread far beyond
diabetics and dieters, and into the general population. This was not the case
at first. As implied by the name, the first products were aimed at
dieters. "Diet Pepsi is a
no-calorie carbonated cola soft drink produced by Pepsi Co., introduced in 1964
as a variant of Pepsi-Cola with no sugar." It was "first test
marketed in 1963 under the name Patio Diet Cola," and "re-branded as
Diet Pepsi the following year, becoming the first diet cola to be distributed
on a national scale in the United States. In the 1960's and 1970's its
competition consisted of Tab, produced by The Coca-Cola Company, and Diet Rite
soda, produced by Royal Crown." - [Source]
Coke Light, which was originally known as Diet
Coke (still its name in some markets, though it changed to Coke Light in the
Philippines about five years ago), was "first introduced in the United
States on August 9, 1982, as the first new brand since 1886 to use the
Coca-Cola Trademark." - [Source] "Today, Diet Coke/Coca-Cola light is available
in more than 150 markets around the world." - [Source]
Pepsi MAX was launched by Pepsi Co in 1993.
"Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd enjoys brand franchise and in the summer of that
year Scotland and the Midlands became the global test market for the Pepsi MAX
launch. This involved a high profile marketing campaign dubbed 'Maximum taste,
no sugar', enjoying significant advertising, and on-pack offers." - [Source] "It was aimed at a core group of young men,
revealed by qualitative research, who wanted a no-sugar cola with an acceptable 'regular'taste and masculine imagery." [Source] It was introduced in the Philippines in 2006. - [Source] [Source2]
Coke Zero, which "was Coca-Cola's largest
product launch in 22 years," was launched in 2005. - [Source] It arrived in the Philippines in 2008. - [Source] The product reached "billion-dollar status
in 2007". - [Source] An observation has been made that "It’s
been believed that men are more reluctant to buy diet coke because the word
‘diet’ associated with women. Therefore, to market the product ‘Coke Zero’ been
produced to associate masculinity." - [Source]
In this sense, its development resembles that of
Pepsi MAX, as recounted in the previous paragraph - it was a low-calorie or no
calorie product aimed at the male market, attempting to avoid the feminine
associations of the word "diet".
By 2013, it was reported that "Coca-Cola
has conceded that it is “under a bit of pressure” from US consumers over its
use of artificial sweetener, aspartame, in
Diet Coke, Coke Zero and other low- and no-calorie products,"
something that was reflected in the "decline in US diet soda consumption
during its Q3 earnings." - [Source] Today, Coke Zero and Coke Light manufactured in
the Philippine uses sucralose and acesulfame potassium.
The sugar-free versions of Coke and Pepsi have
been joined in the country by RC Cola Free (launched around April 2014), whose
ad announces its virtues: "unsugared, uncaloried, uncarbed" RC Cola
Free uses the sweetener sucralose (Splenda®). - [Source]
Among lemon-lime soft drinks or sodas, Sprite
Zero "originally began production as 'Sugar Free Sprite' in 1974, and was
renamed to [sic] Diet Sprite in 1983. In other countries, it was known as
'Sprite Light'. The brand 'Sprite Zero' was first used in Greece in 2002.
Beginning in 2002, the name was changed in various territories in 2002,
matching The Coca Cola Company's launch of Fanta Zero and Coke Zero." - [Source] "The 7Up free variant," a
"sugar-free and caffeine-free option," "was launched in
2007." - [Source] Both Sprite Zero and Diet 7 Up are now available
in the Philippines.
To further broaden the choice, a
sarsaparilla-flavored light soft drink can now be enjoyed in the country by
dieters and diabetics, as Sarsi Light. - [Source]
Based on the author's Internet research, inquiries with
the concerned companies, and available items sold, Coke Light and Coke Zero are
available in 500ml, 1.5 liter and 2-liter plastic bottles and in 330-ml cans,
Pepsi Light and Pepsi Max can be purchased in 1.5-liter and 2-liter plastic
bottles and 330-ml cans. On the other hand, the available sizes for RC Free are
330-ml cans, and 500 and 1.5-liter plastic bottles. The author has been able to
find only Diet 7 Up cans (330 ml). On the other hand, Sprite Zero is available
as a 500-ml plastic bottle and as a 330-ml can. For its part, Sarsi Light can
be purchased in 330-ml cans and 1.5-liter bottles.
For sweeteners used, Pepsi Max, Pepsi Light and Diet 7 Up
use aspartame and acesulfame postassium, Coke Zero and Coke Light use sucralose
and acesulfame potassium, and RC Cola Free uses sucralose. Previously, until
around 2013, Coke Zero and Coke Light used aspartame and acesulfame postassium.
Sarsi Light uses aspartame.
Because of the increasing preference for natural
sweeteners, "In 2014, Coca-Cola and Pepsi released midcalorie colas using
stevia and cane sugar as sweeteners." - [Source] The products also have sugar, however, and are not yet
available in the country.
Prospects and Projections
In any case, the picture is one of unprecedented
abundance. In the Philippines, for people restricted, for medical or dietary
reasons, as well as for the general public preferring sugar-free or low-calorie
products, the range of choices of soft drinks is beginning to approach that of
sugared products. What was available only to non-diabetics in the past can now
be enjoyed by diabetics, dieters, and calorie watchers. Whichever way you look
at it, this growing expansion of choices is an enhancement of the quality of
life. Experiences, pleasures, that were previously "closed" - is
something that is very significant, not just to its beneficiaries (dieters and
diabetics), but to all of society. When a large and growing portion of the
population is able to participate in an experience, a pleasant experience that
it previously could not indulge in - it is something to rejoice in.
I would like to familiarize the reader, the diabetic, the
dieter, and the general population which prefers low-calorie food and
beverages, or wishes to avoid sugar, with enjoying something tasted by the
general population. I hope you will find this a useful introduction, and join
me on my search. It will open new doors, new paths for us all, as we share
experiences and answers - and emerge with an enriched, deeper appreciation of
life and, and an improved ability to deal with its challenges.
Monday, March 2, 2015
According to the website of the American
Diabetes Association, "Diabetes is a problem with your body that causes
blood glucose (sugar) levels to rise higher than normal. This is also called
hyperglycemia. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes." - [Source]
This condition now affects a large proportion of
the world's population. According to the World Health Organization, "In
2014 the global prevalence of diabetes * was estimated to be 9% among adults
aged 18+ years." - [Source]
"Globally it is estimated that 382 million
people suffer from diabetes for a prevalence of 8.3%. North America and the
Caribbean is the region with the higher prevalence, 36,755 people with diabetes
(11%) followed by the Middle East and North Africa with 34,571 people with
diabetes (9.2%). Western Pacific regions, with 138,195 people with diabetes, is
the region with higher number of people with diabetes, however its prevalence
is 8.6%, close to the prevalence of the World." - [Source] But diabetes is not just increasingly
widespread, but looms as a leading threat to life. "WHO projects that
diabetes will be the 7th leading cause of death in 2030." - [Source] Needless to say, it is something that should
have the attention, not just of governments, but of people everywhere.
In the Philippines, diabetes is a both a leading
health concern and cause of death. "Diabetes mellitus was one of the top
causes of disease-related death in the country in 2009 according to the
Department Health. One out of five Filipino adults is affected by either
pre-diabetes or diabetes. These were words of caution to the members of the
audience at the 'Ask the Diabetes Expert' forum organized by a global
healthcare company." - [Source]
Scientific and medical sources point to high
consumption of sugar-rich foods as a leading cause for the unprecedented rise
of diabetes incidence. In a study of data from 175 countries, a team led by a
doctor from California's Stanford University noted that "The increasing
availability of sugary food and drink — independent of excess calories, excess
weight, or a sedentary lifestyle — explains part of the rise in cases of type 2
diabetes worldwide" - [Source]
The Philippines was specifically cited in the
article: "They give examples of several countries with high diabetes
prevalence rates but low obesity rates, including the Philippines, Romania,
France, Bangladesh, and Georgia." The dominant role of sugar was
underscored: "They found that during this decade, the prevalence of
worldwide diabetes rose by about 27%, with one quarter of this increase
explained by an increase in the availability of sugary foods. No other food
category had any significant effect on diabetes prevalence."
Options for Diabetics
The human inclination to sweetness, and the
prohibition among diabetics against sugar-rich foods, can, it seems only
translate into a grave impairment in the quality of life for those who have
this condition. This need not be so. According to the article "Diabetes and
the Filipino Diet," "Diet is an integral part of managing your diabetes,
but you may feel you're limited in what you can eat. While there are some less
than healthy options in the Filipino diet, such as the ice cream-like dessert
halo-halo, as long as you know the basics for healthy eating, you can enjoy a
variety of Filipino foods and still manage blood sugar." - [Source]
Fortunately, the increased availability of
sugar-free, though sweet foods, which will be the main subject of this blog,
points to an improvement in the quality of life of diabetics, as more and more
food categories, which were formerly forbidden to them, now have
sugar-free versions.
-
* Defined as fasting blood glucose >= 7
mmol/l or on medication for raised blood glucose or with a history of diagnosis
of diabetes. - [Source]
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Sweetness is without doubt the most pleasant of
the tastes to humans. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives its first
definition of sweet as "pleasing to the taste". - [Source]
Proverbs, which carry the traditional wisdom of
humanity in many cultures and languages, affirm the desirability of what is
sweet. "Sweet is the wine but sour is the payment",
says an Irish proverb. - [Source] This is confirmed by the Bible. "Pleasant
words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones,"
Proverbs 16:24 tells us. "And thou shalt bring for a drink offering half
an hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD,"
according to Numbers 15:10. This inclination to what is sweet extends, inevitably,
to sugar and sugar cane. "Sugarcane is always sweet people only sometimes
so," asserts a Myanmaran/Burmese proverb. - [Source]
Other proverbs note that other animals share
this love for sugar. "Where there is sugar, there are mice," says a
Malawian proverb. - [Source] "Where there is sugar, there are bound to
be ants," according to a Malay proverb. - [Source] We are advised by proverbs to use sugar, or
something pleasant, when we have something unpleasant to say. "Rebuke
should have a grain more of salt than of sugar," advises another
traditional proverb. - [Source] Writers reaffirm this inclination to what is
sweet, and to sugar. "My coffee gets increasingly better the more I drink
and the closer I come to the bottom of the cup, where all the sugar is. "
observes the writer Jarod Kintz in This Book Has No Title. "Sugar
and spice, and everything nice," says the nursery rhyme. "Adjectives
are the sugar of literature and adverbs the salt," Theodora Bosanquet
quotes writer Henry James in Henry James at Work (Bosanquet, Theodora. Henry
James at Work. London: Hogarth Press, 1924, rev. 1927.)
This association of what is desirable with what
is sweet, and with sugar, extends to desserts and sweet food. "Ice cream
is exquisite. What a pity it isn't illegal," is a quote attributed to
Voltaire. - [Source] [Source2] "Cookies are made of butter and love,"
says a Norwegian proverb. - [Source] "Seize the moment ... I got thinking one
day about all those women on Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that
fateful night in an effort to cut back" ("Forever, Erma: Best-Loved
Writing From America's Favorite Humorist" (1997), "Seize the Moment -
June 25, 1991" [Source] observed Erma Bombeck.
Researchers have tried to find the scientific
basis for this inherent human bias for what is sweet. "Howard Hughes
Medical Institute researchers have moved closer to understanding why some
people cannot resist the impulses brought on by sweets...The researchers
created mice with the same sweet-tooth preferences as humans by inserting the
gene that codes for a human sweet-taste receptor protein into the animals. They
also inserted an entirely different receptor gene into the taste cells of mice;
thereby producing animals that perceive a previously tasteless molecule as
sweet...Our own sweet preferences are likely to be not simply an issue of
cultural differences, as some have argued, but to be genetically encoded." - [Source]
Apparently, the desire for what is sweet has a
genetic basis. Other studies demonstrate how infants prefer sweets from the
beginning. "Scientific evidence shows that children not only have a
stronger preference for sugar than adults – but that sweet-tooth is hardwired
from Day One.
'We know that the newborn can detect sweet and
will actually prefer sweeter solutions to less sweet ones. The basic biology of
the child is that they don't have to learn to like sweet or salt. It's there
from before birth,' explains Julie Mennella of the Monell Chemical Senses
Center.
Unlike adults, who often find overly sugary things
unpleasant, Mennella says kids are actually living in different sensory worlds
than adults when it comes to basic tastes.
'They prefer much more intense sweetness and
saltiness than the adult, and it doesn't decrease until late adolescence. And
we have some evidence they may be more sensitive to bitter taste,' Mennella
says."
In any case, the overwhelming demonstration of
the human preference for sweetness, and sweet foods, brings home the great gap
or deprivation that a prohibition on sweets brings to people because of health
conditions, primarily on diabetics. Humans, we are taught, have the right to
life, liberty and happiness. And happiness is made possible by the things that
bring pleasant experiences and satisfaction to people, on different levels.
Cutting these off, for whatever reason, impacts on our quality of life. When
something so basic, so fundamental, is cut off, we condemn people to living
with a glaring handicap. Considering the increasing number of diabetics, partly
as a result of a rapidly growing population, and partly as a result of diet and
the circumstances of modern life, those who make products that respond to this
need, to provide food that satisfies the human sweet tooth, without violating
the prohibition on glucose and sugar, have a ready market - a large, and
growing one.
This blog hopes to become a useful guide to diabetics, to dieters, and those who prefer low-calorie or less fattening foods, to take advantage of foods which are just as sweet, but are not forbidden. It is our offering to help improve the quality of life of diabetics and dieters, who can, like the rest of the population, satisfy their sweet tooth, without the harmful, potentially dangerous consequences.
This blog hopes to become a useful guide to diabetics, to dieters, and those who prefer low-calorie or less fattening foods, to take advantage of foods which are just as sweet, but are not forbidden. It is our offering to help improve the quality of life of diabetics and dieters, who can, like the rest of the population, satisfy their sweet tooth, without the harmful, potentially dangerous consequences.
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