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Here it is...
'Bitter Blockers' May Make Food Easier to Swallow
Wed February 26, 2003 02:28 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Unpalatable foods and bitter medicines may soon be easier to swallow thanks to the discovery of compounds that improve their taste.
Whether it's super-sour grapefruit, ultra-strong coffee or the chalky taste of drugs, the so-called bitter blockers discovered by U.S. biotech company Linguagen Corp could help them go down better.
"The compounds could not only help drug companies make bitter-tasting medicine more palatable, they could also help manufacturers reduce the vast amounts of sugar, salt and fat they add to processed foods," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.
Linguagen, a privately-owned company, has patented the bitter blocker compounds that mask the bitter taste and food and drug companies are already testing them.
Bitter blockers work by blocking the release of a protein called gustducin which sparks a series of reactions and nerve impulses to the brain signaling the bitter taste.
"The team confirmed that the potential blockers really did prevent bitterness being perceived when lab mice could not distinguish a bitter solution doped with the blocker from plain water," according to the magazine.
If further studies confirm bitter blockers are effective and safe they could be used to make processed food tasty without the need for added sugar, salt and fats which contribute to health problems such as obesity and high blood pressure.
"As well as working to develop more potent blockers to work in extremely bitter medicines, such as HIV drugs, Linguagen also hopes to tackle entirely different messengers and reaction pathways (in the body) to produce artificial sweeteners and salt substitutes," the magazine added. -
BTW did you steal hardscience's avatar...you *****!
AragornComment
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lolComment
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LOL. I didn't know Hardscience had this avatar. Perhaps I will change it to something you C-eh-N-eh-D-eh people can enjoy!
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