Adonis Diaries

“Can sugar substitutes contribute to my diet?”

No, it cannot.

Sugar substitutes may fool your taste buds, and occasionally the taste buds in your digestive system, but not your brain that requires sugar and demands it.

Suppose sugar is arbitrarily given index 100 then, the natural glucose is 70 and fructose 130.  Industrial aspartame is indexed 2,000 and sucralose 6,000 and thaumatine 30,000.  There are indications that heavy consumption of “sugarless” sodas may develop diabetes type 2.

The sense of taste is highly developed in our digestive system such as stomach, intestine, pancreas, and colon.

The digestive system is lined up with taste bud cells that detect the molecules of sugar and thus, trigger the processes for metabolic program and transforming nutrients into appropriate ingredients in the blood.  For example, the taste buds in the digestive system slow down absorption of toxic (bitter substances) and in many cases provoke vomiting what we swallowed.

For sugary tastes, an order is dispatched to the brain to release greater quantities of insulin in the blood to prepare the organism for the arrival of nourishment.  Otherwise, without this due preparation the body cannot recognize what is coming.

For example, it was observed that when glucose is injected intravenous the body does not release enough insulin as if detected by the digestive system.

The sense of taste in the mouth is basically a quick and dirty judgement of what is swallowed in the digestive system.

Glucose or sugar is transformed into molecules of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) used in almost all functions by cells.  While taste receptors in the intestine constitute barely 1% of all types of receptors in the intestine, they liberate most of the hormones in the organism.

The Japanese culture has the term “umami taste” to describe the taste of glutamic acid in food rich in proteins; glutamic acid is released by the stomach.

In a sense, the “stomach” is in command; the brain follows orders.

Trust your gut. Don’t try to cheat it, lest you bare the consequences.