Austin Science Food

A note on ASF Labs' 2025!

Seven videos and five shorts outta me this year and I feel pretty good about the channel. Also got 1,000 subscribers on YT. I'm grateful for all the support.

Hopefully 2026 will allow me to put out videos on MSG, cast iron seasoning, oleo-saccharums, climate change, and hopefully an enzyme primer. Maybe some dedicated food science educational videos as well... I think in the future people will appreciate it.

Give me a brief moment to reflect on my favorite short I made this year which was "Truly Homemade Corn Syrup". It was satisfying to actually convert starch to syrup with nothing but patience and enzymes. Most people boil sugar and call it corn syrup. Or boil corn cobs or corn starch and call that corn syrup. None of these are technically correct since you didn't break down the starch.... Go check out the videos I made on corn syrup if you disagree or are unaware...

Corn syrup stands alone as an ingredient, separate from Honey or Date Syrup or High Fructose corn syrup...and it should be treated as unique like how you treat white sugar and brown sugar. Yes they are both sugar but you wouldn't want to swap them one for one in every application. Further in this analogy, corn syrup would be white sugar and HFCS or Honey would be brown sugar.

Also just because it's unique doesn't make it healthy for you. I've gotten comments asking if glucose is healthy for you. It is not. Sweets in any form are not healthy. I don't care how much your fav influencer runs their mouth about how agave is a better sweetener since it's low on the glycemic index (it's High Fructose). Or worse yet how homemade candy is somehow healthy since you use almond flour and your own hands to make it. They are wrong.

With that being said that's a wrap on production this year. Y'all enjoy the holidays if you celebrate them. Make something good for your folks if you can, show love and take care of yourself as best you can.

Talk to you soon,

Austin

1 month ago | [YT] | 3

Austin Science Food

Went to the grocery store almost every day this week to make dinner. Those meals only last two days max and by the weekend there are no ready to eat meals in the fridge...

Our dollars simply don't last as long as they used to even if you do the economical thing and cook all of your meals #thetrumpeconomySUCKS

1 month ago | [YT] | 2

Austin Science Food

Make no mistake about it... If we fire RFK Jr. we will indeed #MAHA

You should NOT eat more saturated fat 🤦🏾‍♂️

Full article: RFK Jr to urge Americans to eat more saturated fats, alarming health experts | Robert F Kennedy Jr | The Guardian share.google/o1j0JDoV6gzwqLsag

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 2

Austin Science Food

A Note on the American Economy, Overconsumption, and Corn Syrup

Americans generally believe that hard work solves all problems and thus, "Try harder" is the general advice given to those who are struggling with something.

In the context of food, if you struggle with obesity, or poor diet or a sedentary lifestyle, the general response to that is to, exercise, eat better and try harder. But this advice doesn't fit all life circumstances.

The reality of most Americans is that there is a growing divide in wealth and access to resources in this country as a direct result of decisions made by the US government that favors growth over stability. A "good life" in America is one that is the result of taking advantage of what you have and flipping it for massive profits or gains. It's the "I made it, why can't you" mentality--ignoring any leg ups afforded to you through just naturally being alive or being a part of a certain community, etc.

Whether you inherit wealth or earn it yourself, you are a part of the privileged few. The wealth and resources afforded to the privileged few are what frees up time for them to "try harder"-- like buying organic, having a work out routine; they can actually stick to, go to a gym, obsess over their health, get the best medical care, etc.
For the rest of America, a lack of resources puts undue pressure on them. And! The amount of money needed to be considered "privileged" is rising higher and higher under the work done by the current corrupt Trump administration.

The same can be said about food choices. If you don't have the requisite resources, like time, you will give into the pressure to make something shake and opt for simpler and faster solutions to meals. This is a fact.

If you have only some time and only some resources you will likely get into cooking and making your own meals. If you have very little time; because you're a part of the unrelenting Gig Economy. And very little money because you are a part of the unrelenting Gig Economy. Then those fast food menu items will look more and more enticing after day in and day out of grinding to survive.

This is where you get put onto corn syrup and other additives that were designed for very particular purpose like long term storage (corn syrup), or for competitive advantages like flavor preference. The result of this pressure is the general public feeling like food was made to 'poison us' or it was created to make us 'addicted'. Which is a believable narrative but unfortunately only partially true...

So if you REALLY want to blame someone/something, blame the economy. Blame the US government. Blame Reagan. Blame Trump.

This system has been hoeing you-- yes 🫵🏾, for decades and is the true cause of the modern problems we face today. Only way to fix it in my opinion is to have tough conversations and to put people in positions who represent the overall good of the American people.

I'll talk to you soon.

Austin

2 months ago | [YT] | 3

Austin Science Food

I dipped my toe into XanthanTok in order to learn about what the people think about the ingredient and boy was I not disappointed. In my latest video I (hopefully) dispel some of the common fears about the ingredient that health influencers push onto us in order to scare us out of eating the ingredient. Xanthan gum is safe! I closed the video out by answering one of the best questions I've gotten on Xanthan so far which is "Why use Xanthan in butter and ice cream?"

Be sure to check it out if you haven't.

Talk to you soon.

Austin

4 months ago | [YT] | 0

Austin Science Food

I have several videos discussing Corn Syrup, Xanthan, and Sugar coming to the channel real soon. I had to reupload the 5 Facts Corn Syrup video, but thank you to all who have checked it out.

More content on the way.

Talk to you soon,

Austin

4 months ago | [YT] | 3

Austin Science Food

Thank you for 1k over here on YouTube! Plenty of content is planned just need to find the time. Welcome to all the new viewers! I appreciate all the questions and if I haven't answered your question it is likely being turned into a video. Seems like a lot of folks are interested in Xanthan gum.

If you would like to donate to the channel, my Patreon is the place to do it. I didn't realize that it wasn't published until now 😅. I hope to see you there!

patreon.com/austinsciencefood

Talk to you soon,

Austin

8 months ago | [YT] | 2

Austin Science Food

A note about Raw Milk and Safety:

I was asked by a buddy if raw milk was naturally lactose free. This was an interesting question because I've had people tell me that they can drink raw milk even though they are lactose intolerant.
I have no evidence to the claim that lactose intolerant folks can still drink raw milk but I do have some thoughts about the idea.

Raw milk, which had quite the year in 2024, digests differently than regular milk. Namely, once it hits the acidic environment in your stomach it curdles into "large mozzarella like curds"--literally cheese. I believe these large curds are very microorganism rich in their centers. Plus, these large curds stay in your gut (large intestine) longer than the smaller curds seen with pasteurized (sanitized) milk.

Raw milk is very rich in all kinds of microorganisms, including Lactic acid bacteria (LABs). Here's where it gets interesting in regards to lactose intolerance. I read a blog post detailing the possibility that LABs could be a way to help treat lactose intolerance as LABs are able to breakdown Lactose without the production of gas. If this is true that would be great but only problem is, how do LABs and other bacteria make it to your gut (large intestine) without perishing in the acidic environment of your stomach?

My theory is that, somehow the large mozzarella like curds of raw milk somehow protects LABs, likely by enveloping them in undigested cheese, which introduces a greater number of them to your microbiome. Couple this with the slow digestion of raw milk curds in your gut, you grant more time for the bacteria to set up shop and start benefiting your microbiome. Further, I posit that yogurt or other dairy rich fermented foods could be a better source of probiotics as opposed to say, kimchi, miso, sauerkraut, or other ferments. The latter requiring you to eat more of to get a similar result to dairy ferments... all because milk isn't as easily digested.

This potentially is a very good thing as you do need probiotics (bacteria) in your microbiome to live. So there is some merit to folks touting Raw Milk's health benefits... at least on paper.

But on the flip, raw milk is home to not only good bacteria but very bad microorganisms as well. Some that don't even need the protection of raw milk to get past your stomach and do serious damage to your body. This is a gamble that I myself am just not willing to take--even though I am discouraged from partaking in milk altogether due to my lactose intolerance. Not only are you downing a cocktail of unknown microorganisms (friendly or otherwise) but you are also giving them the perfect medium to survive digestion and thrive in your gut.

So! Is raw milk lactose intolerant friendly? It could be... but it could also kill you or just make you very very sick. And because of this, i'd rather just stick to taking a few lactase drops before digging into ice cream, making my own miso and eating more non dairy yogurt.

Talk to you soon.

Austin


DOIs:
Cabero et. al.
doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.126514
doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2018.03.035
Boirie et. al
doi.org/10.1073/pnas.94.26.14930

Interesting YT video on digestion (seemed convenient to my point, would be willing to hear others input):
https://youtu.be/-n-ujBex62o?si=hQvgW...

Blog post on LABs and Lactose Intolerance from IUB (not primary literature but a gateway to looking into articles yourself):
biology.indiana.edu/news-events/news/2019/foster-l…

11 months ago | [YT] | 1

Austin Science Food

A note on why fat is glossy.

Something small but I thought it was interesting. I always wondered what the science was behind why fat is shiny and why when you add butter to a sauce like sauce ganaches, it becomes shiny. Or when you make emulsions, they can be sometimes bright and shiny. I think it comes down to two things, fat's uniformity and its ability to not conduct electromagnetic energy.

Here's my take after reading James Gaidis' brilliant explanation (a poster over on Chemistry Stack Exchange) Find the post here: (/42289/why-are-fats-glossy)

Fat molecules are small little blobs (literally). JG uses glycerol trioleate as an example but really any fat molecule works. If you were to zoom into a small volume of these molecules, (i.e. you took a small snapshot of whats in your oil pitcher) the uniformity of these little blobs would be remarkable. Then when you zoom out that uniformity would be evident all throughout the larger volume. Because of this, electronically the fats would behave almost like a polished surface (in that it's smooth, no major valleys or hills). Couple this with the fact that fat is a dielectric (Nonconducting, doesn't absorb electromagnetic energy.) When light hits it (light is electromagnetic energy) it isn't absorbed. Further, since the fat molecules are acting more like a mirror (see above about the polished surface) the light is reflected off of it and back to your eye, which to us looks shiny...!

I'm wading into physics here which isn't my strong suit but this explanation makes the most sense to me. If you have any other explanations, drop them down below! Would love to hear.

Talk to you soon and Happy New Year!

Austin

1 year ago | [YT] | 4

Austin Science Food

Question: Why DON'T you compost? 🤔

1 year ago | [YT] | 0