Umami/uːˈmɑːmi/, a savory taste,[1][2][3] is one of the five basic tastes (together with sweet, sour, bitter and salty).
A loanword from the Japanese (うま味?), umami can be translated as "pleasant savory taste".[4] This particular writing was chosen by Professor Kikunae Ikeda from umai (うまい) "delicious" and mi (味) "taste". The kanji 旨味are used for a more general sense of a food as delicious.
Nearly two days of Isagenix cleanse days down and I feel, good. But there is something that I've noticed since doing the cleanse days, and I am not quite sure if I am the first to get this feeling.
Sweet poison comes to mind. Not in the literal feeling that I feel the shakes are poisoning me, but everything is so sweet. I don't know about you, but for me personally; sweet flavours don't really tickle my fancy.
I don't put sweeteners in tea or coffee. I generally don't drink soft drink, and if I do I couldn't remember the last time I got through a whole can. I am not a real chewy lolly eater, I would rather caramels, cinnamons, vanilla flavours over berries any day of the week.
So in the last two days of consuming Ionix Supreme, Cleanse for Life and Isagenix Snacks!, my body feels like it is craving that savoury umami sensation.
Being objective I have tried to see if perhaps my body is withdrawing from salt, but it's not even salt I crave, for example; all I could think about today was eating an avocado with pepper on it. Less so, I wanted an egg white or homemade hummus. Craving savoury healthy foods, all day.
So it got me thinking, how much sugar am I consuming in one day while on Isagenix?
I started reading around online and found the amount of sugar consumed on a cleanse day. I was very surprised about two things in particular;
- Isagenix uses Fructose to sweeten products
- On a cleanse day, the total content of sugar consumed is 43 grams. I've always read research that insinuates that under 50 grams is good and you should try to consume a combination of fructose and glucose. From what I can see though, on a cleanse day you are only consuming fructose...?
| PRODUCT | SERVE | DAILY | TYPE OF SUGAR | ||
| Ionix Supreme | 5 | g | 5 | g | Molasses Powder, Stevia |
| Cleanse for Life | 8 | g | 32 | g | Fructose |
| Isagenix Snacks | 3 | g | 6 | g | Fructose |
| DAILY SUGAR INTAKE | 43 | g | CLEANSE DAY | ||
So I found THIS ARTICLE on the Isagenix website. It seems to be Isagenix defending or debunking the comments online that Isagenix has too much sugar. Interestingly they reference the American Heart Association directly and put in quotes from their website to support their argument.
Most of the content in the article references the low GI make up of the Shakes. And I completely understand their argument here, in the shake product... it is a very calorie restricted meal replacement and it is complex in it's make up. So even if they are using fructose to sweeten it, the amount of fructose present in comparison to the protein present is marginal. As a "complete meal replacement" your body knows where to put what and how to process it. Tick.
"In fact, two IsaLean Shake servings daily provide only about 32 grams of sugar total in about 500 calories. The moderate amount per serving is about as much as you’d find in an orange or apple and helps to avoid having to resort to using artificial sweeteners.
That’s less than half of the average American who regularly consumes 77 grams of added sugars as discretionary calories daily (5). It also is well below the American Heart Association (AHA) recommendations that include limiting added sugars to “no more than half of your daily discretionary calorie allowance” (6)."
I couldn't seem to find any similar article particularly relating to the Cleanse for Life product. And in it's ingredient list from what I can see there is little there that would slow down the body's processing of fructose. Frankly, it's almost just sugar water plus some other herbs naturally occurring ingredients. I presume the sugar is for energy... but why the quick energy fix from fructose rather than a sustained energy fix from a lower GI sweetener? I am sure on day Isagenix will come out with the data to explain this, but for me now - it is a mystery.
There was a lot in the article that made sense to me, and therefore I agreed with it. There was however one line that I found to be total crap!
"In fact, the AHA recommends that you “use sugars to help enhance your diet,” which includes using a limited amount of sugar to improve the taste of foods that provide important nutrients.” Based on these recommendations, the IsaLean Shake containing a full spectrum of nutrients meets all criteria."
That is about where my conspiracy theories on sugar and the American government kick in... But I think that is probably totally different argument. So rather than digressing to the American economic dependance on sugar and sweetened food, I will get back on topic.
Lets talk sugars present in Isagenix product....
- Molasses Powder - gets a healthy tick based on my research: Unlike refined white sugar and corn syrup, which are stripped of virtually all nutrients except simple carbohydrates, or artificial sweeteners like saccharine or aspartame, which not only provide no useful nutrients but have been shown to cause health problems in sensitive individuals, blackstrap molasses is a healthful sweetener that contains significant amounts of a variety of minerals that promote your health. The nutrients in which it is concentrated include manganese, copper, iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, vitamin B6, and selenium.
- Stevia - gets a healthy tick, provided it's the right kind: In the research I have read, it suggests that Stevia is okay provided you are choosing the right kind. There are some stevia products on the market that go through up to 40 steps in their refinement process, these might not be as "safe" as the less refined products. Further to this, the FDA themselves comment on the fact that only some types of stevia are FDA approved. And keeping in mind that stevia is only a new product approved as a non dietary supplement (2008), it's still very young in its regulation. Then there are the products that have dextrose in them? Not stevia... in any case I am sure that Isagenix is using the right stevia and it seems to be used in moderation.
- Fructose - it's hard to say, I've always struggled with anything that has an "ose" at the end of it: Fructose is commonly regarded as the sugar found in fruit. The important distinction is that in fruit the quantity of fructose is small and it is bound to complex plant fiber, nutrients and minerals. Because of this fructose contained in fruit is slowly released into the bloodstream and fruits are considered a valuable protection against cardiovascular disease and other health problems because of their powerful anti-oxidant qualities.
It’s good to keep in mind though that fructose, in small amounts, has been in our diet for a very long time as a species and that we usually handle small amounts very well. Of course, the amount where fructose becomes toxic and damaging varies for everybody depending on a multitude of factors, but a good rule of thumb for most healthy people is at around 50 grams of fructose per day. Keeping in mind that most fruits are half glucose and half fructose, consuming over 100 grams of sugar from fruits every day can become problematic.
ISAGENIX SUGAR PODCAST
I found this podcast to put my mind at ease regarding the ingredients. If you are feeling like me concerned about the sugar content of Isagennix, I would highly recommend listening to this podcast in full. It is a very helpful resource.
Whilst Isagenix has done a good job in putting my "processed sugar concern" at ease, in some ways, I do still question the fructose inclusion. For me; the Cleanse for Life product seems to give me headaches. It's hard to determine if the headaches are related to "detox", sugar content, sugary taste, or reduced calories on cleanse days.
All aside though, I will go back to my original point which is that personally I find the Cleanse for Life product to be sickly sweet. This has been the hardest part for me with cleanse days. Putting all of the scientific stuff away for a moment, I want something creamy or savoury... again avocado comes to mind. What if there was two Cleanse for Life products and one of them had a peppermint taste, with less sweetener. That would be a great!
Failing that, some of the strategies I put in place today to help balance the singularly sweet taste that you get for 48 hours;
- Drinking lemon water - because it's acidic and tart
- Sucking on Isagenix Snacks! - they have salt in them and if you can get them to last for long enough it does seem to satisfy that craving for a while
- Drinking over steeped green tea - because it's bitter
- I wonder if it would be okay to add Chia seeds to the mix...? mm, wonder if that would interfere the "plan" too much
I have high hopes for my next cleanse days. So, to prepare me for cleanse days round 2; what are your tips on what you do to fight the sweetness of cleanse days?
Reference;
http://paleoleap.com/10-reasons-why-fructose-is-bad/
http://time.com/3012683/umami-may-help-with-weight-loss/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Frequently-Asked-Questions-About-Sugar_UCM_306725_Article.jsp
http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/national/frequently-asked-questions/fructose