Personal Trainers Forum

[nishpaul]

ASPARTAME ....Artificial sweetener

ASPARTAME ....Artificial sweetener: "Diet" foods, including soft drinks, drink mixes, gelatin desserts, low-calorie frozen desserts, packets. Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), made up primarily of two amino acids, was thought to be the perfect artificial sweetener
Some people have reported dizziness, hallucinations, or headache after drinking diet soda, but such reports have never been confirmed in controlled studies. Obviously, anyone who thinks they ve been affected by aspartame should avoid it. Also, the few people with the rare disease PKU (phenylketonuria) need to avoid it.


Natural sweeteners are obtained from the natural sources like sugarcane and sugar beet and from fruits (fructose) and the artificial ones have a chemical origin. Artificial sweeteners are further of two types namely non-caloric sweeteners and sugar alcohols.

Flavor enhancers
Flavour enhancers are used in savoury foods to enhance the existing flavour in the food. Monosodium glutamate is an example of a flavour enhancer. Salt is commonly used as a flavour enhancer for food and has been identified as one the basic tastes.

Flavour Enhancers modify flavours in the food without contributing to any significant flavour of their own. Controlled quantities of these is safe but if ingested in large quantities, they may lead to high.

Food Acids
Food acids are the only edible acids. The sharpness in the taste of any food is due to the presence of these acids. All fruits have these acids in some quantity and the result is that typical taste.

The naturally occurring food acids are citric acid, malic acid and tartaric acid. They are also called wholesome acids. They are found in oranges, grapefruits, pineapples, apples, peaches and other seeded fruits. Tartaric acid is found in grapes, pineapples and potatoes. Without the presence of these acids these fruits may taste bland.

These food acids are available from the natural resources except phosphoric acid. The presence of acid in a fruit determines many things like food preservation and jam and jelly setting etc. These acids have antioxidant and preservation properties as well. The most commonly used food acid is citric acid. Phosphoric acid is used in aerated drinks along with carbon dioxide.
Flour Treatment Agents
Flour treatment agents are used to help the manageability of dough during baking. These improve flour performance in bread making.

Newly milled flour without further treatment does not make good bread. Flour treatment agents help mature the flour and give a smooth texture. This gives the flour a more uniform appearance and eases the handling of the dough under different conditions like fermentation.

These are used to ensure good loaf volume and improve the crumb structure, softness and colour. Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, (E300) is the most commonly used flour treatment agent.

Some people are sensitive to some additives

Some people are sensitive to particular food additives and may have reactions like hives or diarrhoea. This doesn't mean that all foods containing additives need to be automatically treated with suspicion. Many of the food additives used occur naturally within foods that are regularly consumed.

All foods are made up of chemicals, many of which are not always 'safer' than those found in food additives. For instance, people with food allergies and intolerances are also often sensitive to chemicals found naturally in certain foods, such as nuts or shellfish.

There are worse things to fear than food additives

Many people view food additives as a major food threat; however, in terms of health risk, food additives would come in at the end of the line, after food-borne microorganisms (like salmonella), inappropriate hygiene and eating habits, environmental contaminants and naturally occurring toxins.

Some food additives can cause reactions

For most people, additives are not a problem. However, 50 of the 400 currently approved additives in Australia have been associated with adverse reactions in some people. Some food additives are more likely than others to cause reactions in sensitive people.

It is often the additives that are used to give a food a marketable quality, such as colour, that most commonly cause allergic reactions. Some of these hypersensitive reactions include:
• Digestive disorders - diarrhoea and colicky pains.
• Nervous disorders - hyperactivity, insomnia and irritability.
• Respiratory problems - asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis.
• Skin problems - hives, itching, rashes and swelling.
It is important to realise that many of the symptoms experienced as a result of food sensitivities can be caused by other disorders. Medical diagnosis is important. If you try to diagnose yourself, you may restrict your diet unnecessarily and neglect an illness.


Some common additives that may cause problems

Some food additives that may cause problems for some people and their code numbers include:
• Flavour enhancers - monosodium glutamate (MSG) 621.
• Food colourings - tartrazine 102; yellow 2G107; sunset yellow FCF110; cochineal 120.
• Preservatives - benzoates 210, 211, 212, 213; nitrates 249, 250, 251, 252; sulphites 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225 and 228.
BROMINATED VEGETABLE OIL (BVO) ... Emulsifier, clouding agent: Soft drinks.
BVO keeps flavor oils in suspension and gives a cloudy appearance to citrus-flavored soft drinks. Eating BVO leaves small residues in body fat; it is unclear whether those residues pose any risk. Fortunately, BVO is not widely used
CAFFEINE ... Stimulant: Naturally occurring in coffee, tea, cocoa, coffee-flavored yogurt and frozen desserts. Additive in soft drinks, gum, and waters.
Caffeine is the only drug that is present naturally or added to widely consumed foods (quinine is the other drug used in foods). It is mildly addictive, one possible reason that makers of soft drinks add it to their products. Many coffee drinkers experience withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, irritability, sleepiness, and lethargy, when they stop drinking coffee. Because caffeine increases the risk of miscarriages (and possibly birth defects) and inhibits fetal growth, it should be avoided by women who are pregnant or considering becoming pregnant. It also may make it harder to get pregnant (but don’t use it as a birth-control pill!). Caffeine also keeps many people from sleeping, causes jitteriness, and affects calcium metabolism. The caffeine in a cup or two of coffee is harmless to most people. But if you drink more than a couple of cups of coffee or cans of caffeine-containing soda per day, experience symptoms noted above, are at risk of osteoporosis, or are pregnant, you should rethink your habit.

CALCIUM (or SODIUM) PROPIONATE ... Preservative: Bread, rolls, pies, cakes.
Calcium propionate prevents mold growth on bread and rolls. The calcium is a beneficial mineral; the propionate is safe. Sodium propionate is used in pies and cakes, because calcium alters the action of chemical leavening agents

CALCIUM (or SODIUM) STEAROYL LACTYLATE ... Dough conditioner, whipping agent: Bread dough, cake fillings, artificial whipped cream, processed egg whites.

GELATIN ... Thickening and gelling agent: Powdered dessert mixes, yogurt, ice cream, cheese spreads, beverages.
Gelatin is a protein obtained from animal hides and bones. It has little nutritional value, because it contains little or none of several essential amino acids.

SALT (Sodium Chloride) ... Flavoring: Most processed foods, soup, potato chips, crackers.

Salt is used liberally in many processed foods and restaurant meals. Other additives contribute additional sodium. A diet high in sodium increases the risk or severity of high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Everyone should eat less salt: avoid salty processed foods and restaurant meals, use salt sparingly, and enjoy other seasonings.

SODIUM NITRITE, SODIUM NITRATE ... Preservative, coloring, flavoring: Bacon, ham, frankfurters, luncheon meats, smoked fish, corned beef.

Meat processors love sodium nitrite because it stabilizes the red color in cured meat (without nitrite, hot dogs and bacon would look gray) and gives a characteristic flavor. Sodium nitrate is used in dry cured meat, because it slowly breaks down into nitrite. Adding nitrite to food can lead to the formation of small amounts of potent cancer-causing chemicals (nitrosamines), particularly in fried bacon. Nitrite, which also occurs in saliva and forms from nitrate in several vegetables, can undergo the same chemical reaction in the stomach. Companies now add ascorbic acid or erythorbic acid to bacon to inhibit nitrosamine formation, a measure that has greatly reduced the problem. While nitrite and nitrate cause only a small risk, they are still worth avoiding.

Several studies have linked consumption of cured meat and nitrite by children, pregnant women, and adults with various types of cancer. Although those studies have not yet proven that eating nitrite in bacon, sausage, and ham causes cancer in humans, pregnant women would be prudent to avoid those products.

The meat industry justifies its use of nitrite and nitrate by claiming that it prevents the growth of bacteria that cause botulism poisoning. That’s true, but freezing and refrigeration could also do that, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed a safe method using lactic-acid-producing bacteria. The use of nitrite and nitrate has decreased greatly over the decades, because of refrigeration and restrictions on the amounts used. The meat industry could do the public’s health a favor by cutting back even further. Because nitrite is used primarily in fatty, salty foods, consumers have important nutritional reasons for avoiding nitrite-preserved foods.
SORBIC ACID, POTASSIUM SORBATE ... Prevents growth of mold: Cheese, syrup, jelly, cake, wine, dry fruits.
Sorbic acid occurs naturally in many plants. These additives are safe.