Tampa, Florida, 27 February - To keep up with the public's ever growing sweet tooth, the sugar substitute industry is in no shortage of business. But now new research shows that there could be a way to make sugar safer.
Growing concerns about the obesity crisis and the explosive increase of people around the world being diagnosed with diabetes has many experts concerned that innovation in nutrition is not keeping up with major health threats of the 21st century.
Scientists say the diabetes and obesity problem is a direct result of eating an excessive amount of refined and manufactured foods over the past 60 years. So instead of changing people's eating habits, two Florida scientists have set out to change how our foods work for us.
"We are taking food products that are considered part of the problem, like colas, cakes and cookies, and enlisting them to be part of the solution in the fight against diabetes," says Daryl Thompson, scientific director of ATM Metabolics, a research firm specializing in treatments for metabolic and neurological disorders. "There is a sugar defense mechanism that already exists in plants to make sugary foods safe for humans; we just discovered how to put that compound into typical junk food."
Thompson along with his colleague, Joseph Ahrens, Ph.D., who discovered the fat blocking abilities of grapefruit, have now discovered what they call Simulin, a compound naturally derived from tropical fruits and vegetables that can be used to protect the body from the negative impact of sugar in the blood stream. Certain plants contain this natural "biological modifier," which works as a defense mechanism to protect themselves from the adverse elements in nature.
"Simulin is not a sweetener or a sugar alternative," says Aherns. "It's a sugar defense mechanism that can be added to any sugar-laden manufactured food and then works to protect the body from the glycemic impact of that food without altering the taste."
Initial study results show that Simulin works by reducing the amount of carbohydrates absorbed after meals and reducing the amount of glucose produced by the liver. It also accelerates the removal of excess sugar from the bloodstream, mobilizes carbohydrates from the fat cells and increases the sensitivity of insulin receptors in the signaling pathways making insulin more efficient.
Thompson and Ahrens believe Simulin will most likely be used in commonly consumed manufactured foods such as breads, beverages and snacks, in a similar fashion as folate when it was originally added to sliced bread to prevent birth defects. They believe that this new discovery will create a better world for diabetics and dramatically reduce the number of new diabetic patients by combating the leading cause of the disease, hyperglycemia.
Simulin is currently going through its last stages of development and research and may soon be available in many food and beverage products.