Caffeine and hacking (was Re: Soldering)

[Ethan Dicks]

On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 3:51 PM, Ray Arachelian <ray at arachelian.com> wrote:
> Ethan Dicks wrote:
>> Refined cane sugar (sucrose) isn't really any less evil, chemically,
>> than HFCS, but it tastes better.
>>
> Actually it is.  While too much sugar in your blood is bad from an
> insulin level and resistance point of view, the glucose part of sucrose
> can be metabolized by any cell in your body.

Agreed.

> fructose OTOH can only be
> metabolized by liver cells, and in the process causes damage to your
> liver - as much as alcohol, and in the same ways, without any of the
> enjoyment.

Also agreed.

Sucrose is a disaccharide consisting of one glucose linked to one
fructose.  Pure sucrose is, therefore, exactly 50% glucose and 50%
fructose.

HFCS is a complex mix of compounds with various formulations.  The one
that I'm most aware of is "HFCS 55" which is 55% fructose and 45%
glucose (I've just been reading about HFCS 42, used in baked goods,
but when people are talking about "evil HFCS", they mean HFCS 55).
It's called _HF_CS because it has a higher concentration of fructose
than "pure corn syrup" (which is, AFAIK, pretty much all glucose), not
because it's all that much higher than sucrose.

Substitute those numbers in the sentence above and you get...

  "50/50 isn't really less evil, chemically, than 55/45, but it tastes better."

Perhaps it's 5% less evil than HFCS?

I am enjoying the cane sugar renaissance - I think cane sugar
sweetened caffeinated beverages taste substantially better - i.e., the
way they used to taste in the US when we were kids (and the way they
taste the rest of the world over where corn products cost more).

In relation to hacking - on a warm summer evening, an icy-cold
sucrose-sweetened Coke (plus an optional "circular debugger") is a
great way to keep in a hackish state of mind for hours.  The effect is
heightened when preceded by a Cantonese or Szechuan evening meal
(cardboard cartons optional).  I have produced some great code with
such preparations.

Consider them all material components for the spell "Create Wizardly
Hack" - tamper with the ingredients at your own peril.


-ethan