“Others say there’s not enough data to predict what
would happen down there. It’s very complex and difficult to say what the effect
of an antagonist will be. But we do know that blocking won’t have the same
effect in different tissues. And if the efficacy of the blocker is high it will
shut down multiple pathways.”
Director of the
Manitoba Chemosensory Biology Research Group, Dr Prashen Chelikani, commenting
on biotechnology startup MycoTechnology and their product ClearTaste
Most food processors focus on increasing the amount
of sugar in foods to make them more palatable.
This is causing certain health concerns, such as the
possible link to an increase in lifestyle diseases as well as condition in children
such as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) as argue in my MICO Wars blog article
entitled “Why
French approach to ADHD points to Sugars and Food Additives”.
However, what if the solution was not to make things
sweeter, but to mask the bitterness?
This seems to be the aim of the biotechnology
startup MycoTechnology and their product ClearTaste which block bitterness as
reported in the article “Magical
Mushroom Powder Blocks Bitterness in Food”, published 19 august 2016 by
Megan Molteni, Wired.
The product is made from cultured mycelia, a fungus
that grows underground, somewhat like truffles, but grows in threadlike
strands. MycoTechnology cultures the mycelia fungus in Erlenmeyer flasks,
dehydrates and blast freezes them and then processes the fungi into a powder.
A small dash of the mycelia fungus is enough to
block the twenty five (25) T2Rs bitter receptors that are triggered by
everything from Asparagus, coffee and yes certain types of bitter roots. MycoTechnology claims that the mycelia fungus
works universally for all twenty five (25) T2Rs bitter receptors for all
molecules that cause the taste of bitterness, blocking these bitter receptors
at a molecular level.
MycoTechnology has sold ClearTaste to alternative
sweetener producer GLG Life Tech Corp who can potentially sell it to food
processors such as Archers Daniel Midland. This use of their product via
third-party sellers means that the powdered mycelia fungus may be an additive
in your food already and you may not know it is there.
Alas, albeit this is a naturally sourced food
additive, it’s STILL a food additive, like sugar as noted in my MICO Wars blog article
entitled “How to
Spot Hidden Sugar and How to Avoid Eating Too Much”.
So albeit it might be able to block bitterness in
foods universally, is this safe for human consumption?
MycoTechnology
and ClearTaste - Powdered mycelia fungus to block bitter receptors will get you
killed
Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus. It
grows in colonies looks a lot like a fibrous network of thread-like strands or
hyphae.
Fungi usually grow mycelium in colonies and use this
network of Mycelia to extract nutrients from the soil via diffusion and active
transport. The mycelia secretes enzymes that break down food into monomer
molecules, effectively making them dentritovores, as fungi mainly feed on dead
organisms.
My main concerns is if this fungus can grow inside
of you once consume it in food. After all its subterranean in origin; putting
it into the body, which is moist, dark and airtight may be what it needs to
grow rapidly and aggressively take over your body.
Then there is the whole matter of blocking
bitterness.
Yes, it will make foods tastes less bitter but not
necessarily sweeter by default, as humans are addicted to added sugars.
Bitterness also serves a purpose; it was our body about food that may be poisonous,
since most poisons do have a bitter taste.
In fact these T2Rs bitter receptors are located in
other parts of the body aside from the tongue:
1. Stomach
2. Lungs
3. Brain
Scientists are not sure why, but I'm willing to bet
they act as poison or toxin detectors, being as our bodies have evolved over
billions of years to be able to detect poisons based on their bitter reaction
to these T2Rs bitter receptors. Mounting evidence is suggesting blocking
bitterness may not be such a good idea.
In the lungs, relaxing and constricting of the
airways, the possible means by which Garlic and Eucalyptus might work to
relieve the symptoms of asthma as pointed out in my MICO Wars blog article
entitled “How
to use Alternative Treatments for Asthma and Bronchitis”.
They are also responsible for digesting proteins,
absorb nutrients and sense when we are full as Belgian
Researcher discovered in 2015 while doing research on mice as published in the Journal PLOS in
December 21st 2015 under the heading The
Gustatory Signaling Pathway and Bitter Taste Receptors Affect the Development
of Obesity and Adipocyte Metabolism in Mice.
This suggests, quite simply, that powdered mycelia
fungus can get you killed as it not only block bitter poisons, but it might
possible make it difficult for the body to digest food properly, leading to
malnutrition.
No comments:
Post a Comment