Alternative Proteins - The Future of Sweet

My journey into the world of alternative sweetener proteins starts with one simple fact:

I am a sugar addict, and, in fact, my entire family is addicted to sugar... but it's OK.

Why?

Because...

Glucose (Sugar) is our body's main energy source.

We need SUGAR to live.

In fact, an absence of enough sugar, one may start to feel dizzy, shaky, sweaty and fatigued. The feeling is known as hypoglycemia or commonly known as a sugar crash.

So what's the problem with Sugar? If sugar is essential for our bodies to produce energy then why is sugar characterized as some evil drug? Why is every doctor asking us to reduce our sugar intake?

The problem isn't because consuming sugar is necessarily bad - it is the EXCESS ADDED SUGAR consumption that is the silent killer around the world.

Excess sugar consumption can lead to health issues like obesity (>40% of Americans) and diabetes (120M Americans are diabetic or pre diabetic)

Per Harvard Health -This is where the most of our added sugars come from:

That being said, I find it very hard to escape my sweet tooth and sweet cravings. And unfortunately, Stevia and aspartame aren't viable solutions - they still cause a spike in blood sugar and have a bad aftertaste. Honestly though, taste is the number one reason of why I have always been fascinated with the concept of alternative forms of sugar.

And after a lot of research, the one opportunity that really seemed to peak my interest was alternative sweet proteins.These natural and organic sweet proteins originate in rare fruits from around the world (mostly West Africa). Some of the fruits include: The miracle berry (miraculin), serendipity berry (mollelin), and oubli (brazzine)

The deep dive also lead me and my family to invest into a Bay Area food tech startup called Joywell Foods (FKA Miraculex) alongside SOSV, Khosla Ventures, and Evolv (Kraft Heinz).

Joywell foods works with these rare fruits and extracts the sweet molecules and uses bio engineering and fermentation techniques to scale production of the special ingredients.

Here is a list of some of the proteins they are working with:

One day, I believe that Alternative Sweet Proteins can replace completely refined sugar.

Sweet Proteins are superior are superior to add sugar in 4 ways:

1) No impact on insulin or blood sugar levels

2) Little to 0 calories

3)No small molecule side effects/health risks

4) Better for the environment

Joywell Foods will be launching a set of new products utilizing these sweeteners later this year. They will be focusing on the top 5 categories of added sugars - drinks, desserts, and candy.

I could not be more excited for the future of sweet and alternative sweet proteins.

Be on the lookout for Joywell Branded foods at your local stores later this year.