WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

1
00:00:00.060 --> 00:00:01.460
Last time I did a run of guest videos,

2
00:00:01.460 --> 00:00:05.370
we had an enthusiastic young presenter talking
about food science

3
00:00:05.370 --> 00:00:07.080
and backing it up with an experiment.

4
00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:08.880
Well, we are doing it again!

5
00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:12.340
Alex, from Technicality Studios, it’s all
yours.

6
00:00:12.340 --> 00:00:13.340
This is Splenda.

7
00:00:13.340 --> 00:00:17.029
It’s known as a zero-calorie sweetener or
a healthy replacement for sugar.

8
00:00:17.029 --> 00:00:22.570
“Splenda no calorie sweetener, with the
original sugar-like taste you love and trust.”

9
00:00:22.570 --> 00:00:23.570
Hold up.

10
00:00:23.570 --> 00:00:24.570
Wait a minute.

11
00:00:24.570 --> 00:00:25.570
How is this even possible?

12
00:00:25.570 --> 00:00:29.839
Have you ever thought to yourself it’s a
little strange that a food has zero calories?

13
00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:30.989
Can any even have that?

14
00:00:30.989 --> 00:00:31.989
Well, yes.

15
00:00:31.989 --> 00:00:33.250
It’s theoretically possible.

16
00:00:33.250 --> 00:00:34.250
Think of it this way.

17
00:00:34.250 --> 00:00:36.960
If you, say, eat plastic, nothing really will
happen.

18
00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:39.130
Plastic has zero usable calories.

19
00:00:39.130 --> 00:00:41.000
If you eat it, you can’t take energy from
it.

20
00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:42.000
Don’t eat plastic, by the way.

21
00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:43.170
This is just an example.

22
00:00:43.170 --> 00:00:46.470
So, before answering how many calories Splenda
really has, if any,

23
00:00:46.470 --> 00:00:50.460
we first have to answer if Splenda has any
usable calories at all.

24
00:00:50.460 --> 00:00:51.460
How do we do that?

25
00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:54.050
Well, when we eat and digest sugar, or sucrose,

26
00:00:54.050 --> 00:00:56.600
our body turns it into glucose and fructose.

27
00:00:56.600 --> 00:00:59.240
Fructose is delivered to your liver and promptly
turned into glucose,

28
00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:02.260
and glucose is the stuff your body uses as
energy.

29
00:01:02.260 --> 00:01:04.640
To find out if there’s any calories in this
packet of Splenda,

30
00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:07.460
we have to find out if there’s any glucose
in this packet of Splenda

31
00:01:07.460 --> 00:01:09.170
and finding that’s easy, or at least,

32
00:01:09.170 --> 00:01:12.149
it seemed easy after my chemistry teacher
explained that to me like 20 times.

33
00:01:12.149 --> 00:01:13.380
We’ll do two experiments.

34
00:01:13.380 --> 00:01:15.180
For the first experiment, the control test,

35
00:01:15.180 --> 00:01:20.189
we’ll dissolve 0.2 grams of sugar and 0.1
grams of an enzyme called invertase in water.

36
00:01:20.189 --> 00:01:23.369
Enzymes are things that speed up chemical
reactions, or catalysts.

37
00:01:23.369 --> 00:01:26.869
Thus, the enzyme will quickly break down sugar
into glucose and fructose.

38
00:01:26.869 --> 00:01:29.920
In the second experiment, we’ll use the
exact same procedure,

39
00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:31.340
but change one material.

40
00:01:31.340 --> 00:01:33.650
Instead of using sugar, we’ll use Splenda.

41
00:01:33.650 --> 00:01:35.520
Let’s go to the lab.

42
00:01:35.520 --> 00:01:39.159
Now that we’ve gathered all the materials,
let’s get started.

43
00:01:39.159 --> 00:01:41.530
Note to future editing self: this is Splenda.

44
00:01:41.530 --> 00:01:42.530
This is sugar.

45
00:01:42.530 --> 00:01:45.329
So, now I’m going to dissolve both of those
things in water,

46
00:01:45.329 --> 00:01:47.049
in these things, test tubes.

47
00:01:47.049 --> 00:01:48.999
Now that we’ve dissolved everything in the
test tube,

48
00:01:48.999 --> 00:01:52.280
let’s put them in a warm water bath like
this for 20 minutes.

49
00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:55.869
The water should be about 37 degrees Celsius
or body temperature.

50
00:01:55.869 --> 00:01:57.929
This is the best temperature for the enzymes.

51
00:01:57.929 --> 00:01:59.130
After letting it sit for 20 minutes,

52
00:01:59.130 --> 00:02:01.030
I’m going to put in Benedict’s solution.

53
00:02:01.030 --> 00:02:04.229
Benedict’s solution will tell us if there’s
glucose in these test tubes.

54
00:02:04.229 --> 00:02:07.779
Benedict’s solution is named after Stanley
Rossiter Benedict, an American chemist,

55
00:02:07.779 --> 00:02:10.110
and not Benedict Cumberbatch, a British actor.

56
00:02:10.110 --> 00:02:11.110
This is a disappointment.

57
00:02:11.110 --> 00:02:12.849
It’s now time to goggle up.

58
00:02:12.849 --> 00:02:15.930
Now, when we put in the Benedict’s solution,

59
00:02:15.930 --> 00:02:19.400
we’re going to replace the 37-degree water
with boiling water.

60
00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:24.530
Then, let’s add in a few drops and wait
for the Benedict’s solution to do its thing.

61
00:02:24.530 --> 00:02:31.830
So, we just learned that how Benedict’s
solution works is basically it’s a spectrum,

62
00:02:31.830 --> 00:02:32.830
right?

63
00:02:32.830 --> 00:02:34.900
So, blue would be the least amount of glucose,
no glucose.

64
00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:37.360
And then there’s red, which would be the
most amount of glucose,

65
00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:38.739
that’s a lot of glucose.

66
00:02:38.739 --> 00:02:42.200
Now, as you can see, these two are basically
kind of orangey-caramel coloured,

67
00:02:42.200 --> 00:02:46.810
but the one in the Splenda solution actually
is a little darker and a little more intense,

68
00:02:46.810 --> 00:02:48.099
if you look really closely.

69
00:02:48.099 --> 00:02:53.019
So, that means there’s actually more glucose
in the Splenda than the actual sugar.

70
00:02:53.019 --> 00:02:54.030
Isn’t that crazy?

71
00:02:54.030 --> 00:02:56.489
I mean, I was blown away.

72
00:02:56.489 --> 00:03:00.030
Splenda, which is marketed as a zero-calorie
alternative to sugar,

73
00:03:00.030 --> 00:03:02.780
actually has more glucose than actual sugar.

74
00:03:02.780 --> 00:03:03.780
Why?

75
00:03:03.780 --> 00:03:06.599
Well Splenda’s most-used ingredient is dextrose.

76
00:03:06.599 --> 00:03:07.600
You know what that is?

77
00:03:07.600 --> 00:03:09.060
A fancy word for glucose.

78
00:03:09.060 --> 00:03:11.099
So, how many calories are in these packets?

79
00:03:11.099 --> 00:03:12.099
Four.

80
00:03:12.099 --> 00:03:13.099
Four calories.

81
00:03:13.099 --> 00:03:14.099
How do we know that?

82
00:03:14.099 --> 00:03:15.099
Well,

83
00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:16.099
I emailed Splenda Customer Service.

84
00:03:16.099 --> 00:03:17.390
And they wrote back that there are four calories

85
00:03:17.390 --> 00:03:20.640
in each single serve packet of Splenda no
calorie sweetener

86
00:03:20.640 --> 00:03:21.800
because that makes sense.

87
00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:24.599
Side note here, one gram of sugar has four
calories

88
00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:27.230
and each packet of Splenda is about a gram.

89
00:03:27.230 --> 00:03:28.370
But wait a sec.

90
00:03:28.370 --> 00:03:30.640
If each packet has four calories,

91
00:03:30.640 --> 00:03:33.190
why is Splenda allowed to say they have none?

92
00:03:33.190 --> 00:03:34.239
That seems pretty sketchy.

93
00:03:34.239 --> 00:03:36.640
It might seem sketchy, but it’s completely
legal.

94
00:03:36.640 --> 00:03:40.349
The Food and Drug Administration allows foods
with fewer than five calories per serving

95
00:03:40.349 --> 00:03:44.319
to be marketed as having zero calories down
to the nutrition label.

96
00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:47.049
That means you can’t trust any food that
claims it has zero calories.

97
00:03:47.049 --> 00:03:48.540
Well, now you know.

98
00:03:48.540 --> 00:03:49.540
Until next time,

99
00:03:49.540 --> 00:03:50.540
thank you so very much for watching.

100
00:03:50.540 --> 00:03:53.159
Thank you to Tom for giving me the privilege
of making a guest video.

101
00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:54.650
Thank you to my chemistry teacher for staying
late

102
00:03:54.650 --> 00:03:57.290
and helping me with every little annoying
thing I asked for.

103
00:03:57.290 --> 00:03:59.379
DFTBA, and explore on!

104
00:03:59.379 --> 00:04:00.480
Go subscribe to Alex’s channel!

105
00:04:00.480 --> 00:04:02.510
Let’s be honest, he’s going to have my
job in a few years,

106
00:04:02.510 --> 00:04:04.120
so you’re just getting in early.

107
00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:06.000
That is it for this run of guest videos.

108
00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:07.040
Thank you very much for watching.

109
00:04:07.040 --> 00:04:08.099
Thank you to all the presenters.

110
00:04:08.099 --> 00:04:11.349
I’ll be back next time and, until then,
I will see you on the Internet!