WEBVTT - How do artificial sweeteners work?

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<v Speaker 1>com slash brain Stuff. I am Marshall brain with today's question,

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<v Speaker 1>how do artificial sweeteners work? At many restaurants, you find

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<v Speaker 1>that container on the table. It holds little packs of

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<v Speaker 1>sugar along with little packets of artificial sweeteners. And anyone

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<v Speaker 1>who is on a diet is familiar with artificial sweeteners.

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<v Speaker 1>They're a big part of the dieting scene because they

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<v Speaker 1>make low calorie soft drinks and desserts possible. Even though

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<v Speaker 1>they're ubiquitous, artificial sweeteners are also a little mysterious. What

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<v Speaker 1>is happening when you eat or drink an artificial sweetener.

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<v Speaker 1>The appropriate starting point is sugar, also known as sucros.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the real sweetener compared to the artificial sweetener,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's against sugar that all artificial sweeteners get measured.

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<v Speaker 1>What is sugar and what makes it sweet? Sucros is

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<v Speaker 1>officially known as a die saccharide, meaning that it has

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<v Speaker 1>two saccharides. One of the sacarides is a glucose molecule

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<v Speaker 1>and the other is a fructose molecule. When sucros hits

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<v Speaker 1>your tongue, it triggers the sweetness sensors in your taste buds,

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<v Speaker 1>and these sensors send a this is sweet message to

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<v Speaker 1>your brain. Any molecule that shares the same characteristics that

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<v Speaker 1>trigger the taste buds will cause that same this is

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<v Speaker 1>sweet message to go to your brain. So an artificial

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<v Speaker 1>sweetener is simply any molecule other than sucros that happens

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<v Speaker 1>to trigger the taste buds in a way that's similar

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<v Speaker 1>to sucros. In most cases, when scientists are looking for

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<v Speaker 1>artificial sweeteners, they want the substitute molecule to have less

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<v Speaker 1>calories than sucros, or to have some other difference that

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<v Speaker 1>makes it better than sucros in some way. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>an artificial sweetener might cause fewer cavities and sucros, or

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<v Speaker 1>might be better for diabetics than sucros. The grand daddy

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<v Speaker 1>of all artificial sweeteners is saccharin, which has been around

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<v Speaker 1>for more than a century. Compared to sucros, sacharin is

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<v Speaker 1>hundreds of times sweeter when it hits the human tongue.

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<v Speaker 1>The only problem with sacharin is the aftertaste that the

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<v Speaker 1>same molecule triggers elsewhere on the tongue. Where sucros only

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<v Speaker 1>seems to interact with sweet sensing taste buds, sacharin also

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<v Speaker 1>interacts with taste buds that send bitter signals to the brain.

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<v Speaker 1>Sacharin's advantage is that it has zero calories, perfect for dieters,

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<v Speaker 1>and sacharin does not really enter the bloodstream, so for

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<v Speaker 1>diabetics it's a win as well. People either live with

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<v Speaker 1>the aftertaste or food scientists blend sacharin with other artificial

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<v Speaker 1>sweeteners in the hope of masking that aftertaste. The most

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<v Speaker 1>popular artificial sweetener is aspartame, sold under the brand names

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<v Speaker 1>like Nutra Sweet and Equal. Aspartame burst onto the scene

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<v Speaker 1>around four when the Food and Drug Administration approved it

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<v Speaker 1>in the United States. Aspartame quick Please started to replace

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<v Speaker 1>sacharin because it doesn't have that bitter aftertaste. The only

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<v Speaker 1>real problem with aspartame from a taste standpoint is that

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<v Speaker 1>it keeps triggering the taste buds for too long. As

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<v Speaker 1>with sacharin, Blending aspartame with other artificial sweeteners can help

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<v Speaker 1>address its taste problem. If you're a manufacturer, aspartame has

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<v Speaker 1>two problems. First, it does not like heat, so you

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<v Speaker 1>won't see aspartame used in baked products like cookies or cakes.

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<v Speaker 1>Aspartame also degrades with time and loses its sweetness, so

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<v Speaker 1>a can of soda that contains aspartame can lose its

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<v Speaker 1>sweetness over time. You may recall that soda started getting

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<v Speaker 1>expiration dates after aspartame came out. This is one reason

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<v Speaker 1>why if you look up aspartame on the internet, you'll

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<v Speaker 1>find quite a bit of material claiming that it's poisonous.

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<v Speaker 1>There are lots and lots of videos on YouTube that

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<v Speaker 1>will make this claim and explain to you wh i

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<v Speaker 1>aspartame can cause problems for some people, But hundreds of

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<v Speaker 1>millions of people have been using this chemical for decades

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<v Speaker 1>with not that many complaints, and it's hard to argue

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<v Speaker 1>with an experiment that has a sample size that's that immense. Sucralose,

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<v Speaker 1>which is sold under the brand name Splenda, is the

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<v Speaker 1>next most popular artificial sweetener after aspartame. To make sucralose,

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<v Speaker 1>a manufacturer starts with normal sucros and chemically changes it

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<v Speaker 1>by adding chlorine. Atoms of the artificial sweeteners sold today,

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<v Speaker 1>sucralose is the sweetest, about twice as sweet as sacharin,

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<v Speaker 1>which is already hundreds of times sweeter than sucros. Combine

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<v Speaker 1>that with the fact that the body does not digest

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<v Speaker 1>most of the sucralos you ingest, and it's a zero

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<v Speaker 1>calorie sweetener. Sucralos lacks the bitter aftertaste of sacharin and

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<v Speaker 1>the stability problems of aspartame, so it's likely to overtake

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<v Speaker 1>aspartame as the most popular artificial sweetener in the near future.

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<v Speaker 1>Supralos was approved by the FDA in which is why

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<v Speaker 1>it feels much newer than sacharin and aspartame do. If

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<v Speaker 1>you hunt around on the internet and look on YouTube,

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<v Speaker 1>you can find videos that claim that Splenda actually contains

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<v Speaker 1>as many calories as a packet of sugar when you

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<v Speaker 1>use it in a little packet like you would find

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<v Speaker 1>at a restaurant. The reason is because of the bulking

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<v Speaker 1>agents used, one of which is dextros. Is this true?

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<v Speaker 1>According to splendid dot com, it is true. Quote. Like

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<v Speaker 1>other no calorie sweeteners on the market, Splenda no calorie

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<v Speaker 1>sweetener packets and Splenda no calorie sweetened granulated products contain

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<v Speaker 1>a small amount of carbohydrate less than one gram per

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<v Speaker 1>serving to provide volume and texture. These common food ingredients

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<v Speaker 1>are dextros in the packets and multidextron packets ingranulated. These

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<v Speaker 1>ingredients provide so few calories per serving that all Splendid

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<v Speaker 1>no calorie sweetener products the Food and Drug Administration's criteria

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<v Speaker 1>for no calorie foods less than five calories per serving

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<v Speaker 1>end quote per gram. Therefore, these splendid products actually contained

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<v Speaker 1>about as many calories as normal sugar does. Then there

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<v Speaker 1>are the sugar alcohols. Zylotol is one sugar alcohol that

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<v Speaker 1>you may have heard of. Sugar alcohols do have calories

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<v Speaker 1>two point five calories pergram versus four calories program for sugar,

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<v Speaker 1>but not as many as sucros. One big advantage is

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<v Speaker 1>the fact that they won't cause cavities and are safer

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<v Speaker 1>for diabetics. One caution is that for many people, zylotol

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<v Speaker 1>acts like a laxative when consumed in larger quantities. And finally,

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<v Speaker 1>there's stevia, derived from plant fibers, which has been gaining

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<v Speaker 1>momentum since FDA approval came in two thousand eight. It's

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<v Speaker 1>about as sweet as saccharine without the bitter aftertaste, and

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<v Speaker 1>it has zero calories. It's been gaining traction in the

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<v Speaker 1>marketplace recently because of a big advertising campaign and because

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<v Speaker 1>it got a lot of publicity around its approval. What

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<v Speaker 1>this means is that the little restaurant container on the

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<v Speaker 1>table is getting more and more complex. It once contained

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<v Speaker 1>only sugar and saccharine. Now it may contain three or

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<v Speaker 1>four different artificial options. Pick the one that tastes best

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