How Inulin Makes Food Better

Inulin is a soluble fiber found in thousands of plants. Its main source is the chicory plant, where the large, carrot-like taproot stores inulin at a whopping 48% of its volume. This accounts for its marketing as “chicory root fiber” or “chicory root extract.” This important additive is more than a New Orleans staple. Bell Chem, your food ingredient supplier, inventories dried inulin for its customers to add to foods and beverages due to its glowing benefits. 

 Inulin is available in two forms: long chain and short chain. The addition of long-chain inulin in products increases viscosity to low-fat or zero fat foods, such as yogurt or sauces. Short-chain inulin, on the other hand, is simply the longer chain carbohydrate broken into a simple sugar. Therefore, short-chain inulin adds a sweet flavor to foods and beverages without adding excess sugar. 

 As we age, it becomes more and more important to be aware of our diets. Healthy eating includes fiber, but not all fibers are created equal. Inulin’s natural solubility aids the digestive system due to its reaction with digestive juices. As it is broken down, inulin becomes a feedstock (a prebiotic) for Bifidobacterium, a helpful probiotic bacteria, which aids in overall digestion. 

Inulin’s remarkable benefits also include the following:

• Slowing digestion: Through several research studies, it has been proven that inulin slows digestion. In today’s modern world where food is almost always within arm’s reach, the tendency to overeat predominates. Slower digestion helps people feel fuller longer, and that leads to weight loss. 

• Glucose regulation for diabetics: Diabetics find high-performance (HP) inulin stabilizes carbohydrate digestion to regulate the release of sugar into the bloodstream, decreases fat in the liver for individuals diagnosed with prediabetes, reduces fasting blood sugar by an average of 8.5%, and decreases hemoglobin A1c an average of 10.4%. These statistics have led many physicians to believe inulin can help prevent or possibly reverse type II diabetes in some patients.

• Removal of bile acids: Any foods with excess soluble fiber – including inulin – remove cholesterol-containing bile acids from the digestive system.

• Sugar replacement: With its slightly sweet flavor, inulin adds a touch of sweetness without unwanted calories and carbohydrates. Inulin is often added to cereals and cereal bars to fortify them with fiber while lowering sugar and fat content. 

• Pharmaceutical aid: Pharmaceutical products with metallic aftertastes often add inulin to mask that offensive flavor.

• Fat replacement: Our bodies are predisposed to craving fat. Thousands of years ago, fat was the ultimate form of energy storage. Today, the overabundance of food leads to obesity. Inulin replaces fat in many foods, fooling our brains into believing we have digested fat when it was instead a flavorful fiber.

• Bone remineralization: One of the body’s major losses with age is bone strength. Studies suggest that inulin stimulates remineralization through calcium absorption in the bones. 

• Stabilizer/bulk additive: Inulin is fiber. Adding inulin to any bakery or dairy product, cosmetic, or beverage will increase bulk and add body. 

• Baby formula supplement: The World Health Organization claims a mother’s milk is ideally suited for her child’s growing body, with her antibodies and prebiotics keeping her baby healthy. Inulin added to formula simulates a mother’s milk by enhancing prebiotics in the baby’s digestive system.  

• Animal feed additive: Humans are not the only animals benefiting from inulin. Added to animal feed and pet food, inulin increases the amount of good bacteria in your pet’s digestive system and those of farm animals.
  

Bell Chem is a food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including inulin. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Healthy Ways to Incorporate Oils in Your Cooking Habits

You decide to incorporate healthier oils into your restaurant cooking process, but you have relied on saturated fat for so long that you don’t even know where to begin?? Bell Chem has a variety of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats for your cooking needs and has the information you need to distinguish the best practices for these oils.

First, let’s discuss the differences between polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Polyunsaturated fat is liquid at room temperature but becomes solid when cooled. A monounsaturated fat remains liquid when used in most kitchens. Monounsaturated fats are beneficial to your health because they help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol that can build up along the walls of blood vessels causing clogged or blocked arteries. Polyunsaturated fats include omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are essential for brain function and cell growth.

Oils that contain either of these fats can add a dash of flavor to your cooking. Many of your kitchen appliances work at a variety of temperatures, and many unsaturated oils work best in specific temperature ranges. Our experts have listed which oils work under what conditions as well as common ways to incorporate them into your menu to receive their maximum benefit.

Low-Temperature Oils
Good for creating a splendid dip, dressing, or marinade.

• Canola

• Corn

• Flaxseed

• Grapeseed

• Hemp

• Olive

• Peanut

• Safflower

• Sesame

• Soybean

• Sunflower

• Walnut

High-Temperature Oils
Great for sautéing, deep frying, and pan frying.

• Canola

• Corn

• Peanut

• Safflower

• Soybean

• Sunflower

• Any vegetable oil

Higher temperature oils are not readily absorbed into fried foods. Sautéing is a healthy alternative to frying since very little oil is used to cook food quickly. Begin with a tablespoon and add more as necessary. You will find that cooking with oil instead of butter is better for your budget as well as your patron’s health, but can still offer a flavor-rich outcome. The proper conversion calls for substituting ¾ cup of vegetable or nut oil for each cup of butter or shortening in the recipe you are using.

With a wide range of oils, Bell Chem can fulfill your restaurant supply needs. Find more information about our products by reading our blog.

Bell Chem is a food and reagent product supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff handle all of your needs by calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or send us an online message.

Sugar Extra Fine Grain Food Grade

Granulated sugar is what most homeowners utilize in their kitchens and has a coarse texture. Extra fine grain sugar has the same chemical makeup as table sugar but is ground into much finer crystals that bakers find useful in creating fluffy meringues and smooth batters. The lighter texture derived from using super fine crystals gives lemon meringue pie and angel food cake their airiness. The food ingredient supplier, Bell Chem, stocks extra fine grain sugar for home gourmets and pastry chefs alike.

The crystals of superfine sugar (also recognized by some as either “bar sugar” because of its use in mixed drinks or “baking sugar” since it is a key ingredient in baked goods) are not identical to powdered sugar. Powdered sugar is pulverized granulated sugar and does not give the same positive results extra fine (or superfine) sugar does. While Americans are used to granulated sugar, other parts of the world use extra fine sugar as their everyday sweetener.

Surprisingly, sugar has a number of varieties depending on crystal size. In decreasing order, coarse sugar can be ground into granulated sugar, fruit sugar, Baker’s Special sugar, extra fine sugar, and confectioners –or powdered – sugar. Of these varieties, all retain the same amount of sweetening content except for powdered sugar, which contains a slight amount of cornstarch to prevent clumping.

While heavier granulated sugar generally settles to the bottom of a glass of cold water without thoroughly mixing, extra fine sugar mixes readily in cold water as well as hot, giving an even amount of sweetener to any liquid source.

Extra fine grain sugar is a key ingredient in bakery products, cereals, liquid forms of sugar candies, powdered drink mixes, chewing gum, jams and jellies, dairy products, condiments, and pickles. Many pharmaceutical products, such as cough syrups, are sweetened with extra fine grain sugar.

Bell Chem stocks extra fine grain sugar for its customers to use for a large family gathering or industrially in a bakery setting. This food ingredient supplier also carries most of the other items you need to run a successful business: industrial chemicals, cleaning agents, disinfectants, food grade chemicals and ingredients, oils, and natural products. Give the courteous representatives at Bell Chem a call today at 407-339-2355 (BELL).

Sodium Benzoate EDF Food Grade

Sodium benzoate, or NaC7H5O2, is a white or colorless crystalline powder that occurs naturally in small amounts in cinnamon, apples, cranberries, and prunes; for industrial use, sodium benzoate is created by the neutralization of benzoic acid with sodium hydroxide. Generally used as a food preservative, sodium benzoate is both bacteriostatic and fungistatic in conditions with a low pH. Bell Chem, the food ingredient supplier of Central Florida, proudly stocks sodium benzoate for its customers.

Because it works well in acidic conditions, manufacturers turn to sodium benzoate for preserving salad dressings, carbonated drinks, fermented foods such as sauerkraut, fruit juices, jams and jellies with acidic ingredients, pickles, and several condiments including hot sauce.

The pharmaceutical industry finds sodium benzoate an appropriate ingredient for medicines. Urea cycle disorders respond to sodium benzoate since it binds to amino acids so they can be excreted from the body, thereby lowering the overall amount of ammonia in the blood. Hyperammoniemia, or extreme amounts of ammonia in the blood, is another disorder thwarted by sodium benzoate.

Many forms of cosmetics utilize sodium benzoate for its characteristic preservative qualities.

While preserving foods with a low pH is its best-known asset, sodium benzoate has uses in various industries. Give Bell Chem a call today at 407-339-BELL (407-339-2355) to speak with a representative from Florida’s food ingredient supplier about the benefits your company will receive by stocking this important food ingredient. Our blog page has an abundance of information pertaining to chemicals, food ingredients, pharmaceutical grade products, sanitation chemicals, and personal care ingredients.

Sipernat 22 Food Grade

Sipernat 22 food grade is a precipitated silica (silicon dioxide) that generates good flowability into a mixed product. When powdered ingredients are added to either wet or dry mixes, the possibility exists that too little or too much of the powder will end up within any given sample. Bell Chem, the nutritional chemical supplier in Orlando, offers Sipernat 22 food grade to alleviate this situation. By adding Sipernat 22 to nutritional supplements, your product will combine properly with the same ingredients in every bite, sip, or tablet. Read more about Sipernat 22 below.

• Sipernat 22 has the ability to evenly disperse powdered products while absorbing oil, water or other forms of moisture from the surface of the powder, leaving a smooth amalgamation.

• Absorption of liquids also acts in decreasing stickiness in powders.

• When added to a spray tower, Sipernat 22 reduces the tendency of caking inside the machinery. De-caking machinery takes valuable time from manufacturing; caking of materials diminishes the total amount of product.

• In supplements, Sipernat 22 gives much more accurate nutritional dosages.

• Shelf life is extended in products containing Sipernat 22.

• Sipernat 22 is highly pure with no additives; the same quality of product exists over long expanses of time. Because it is a natural product, it can be added to skin care products as a natural thickener.

• Sipernat 22 is uniform in texture with minimized dust generation.

Adding Sipernat 22 food grade to nutritional supplements is advantageous in dozens of ways. Use Sipernat 22 either as an additive in solid tablets or capsules, or in mixes to reduce dust, caking, and clumping. With the ability to extend the shelf life of products and keep them as fresh when you open them today as they were when you purchased them, Sipernat 22 is the right product for your nutritional supplement needs. Bell Chem, your nutritional chemical supplier, is available at (407) 339-2355 (BELL) with any questions you may have pertaining to Sipernat 22 food grade or any of their other chemicals and supplements. Please browse our website for an abridged product list.

Potassium Sorbate at Bell Chem

Potassium sorbate is the soluble potassium salt of sorbic acid commonly used as a preservative for food, beverages, personal care, and cosmetic products. Its ability to inhibit mold and yeast growth qualifies potassium sorbate as a preservative since it lengthens shelf life of products in which it is an ingredient. Bell Chem, a nutritional chemical supplier of a myriad chemicals for home and industrial use, lists potassium sorbate as one if its most popular preservatives, and for good reason. Read below for information and uses of this valuable chemical.

• Food: From dried fruit and herbal supplements to fast-food milkshakes, potassium sorbate is a choice preservative. With no flavor, texture, or aftertaste, the white, crystalline powder of potassium sorbate works well in any food or beverage requiring a longer shelf life. It is also added to foods meant to be stored and eaten at room temperature since it fends off bacterial growth without refrigeration.
• Wine: Wineries benefit from adding potassium sorbate to their developing wines. This chemical stabilizes the wine by destroying any yeast remaining after fermentation, thereby stopping the growing/fermenting cycle and keeping the wine from continually acting as a food source for yeast. When the wine is sweetened before bottling, potassium sorbate is added a second time to ensure no further fermenting occurs.
• Cosmetics: Personal care products, such as face and eye makeup, skin care products, such as lotion, and hair products all utilize potassium sorbate for its antimicrobial action since it maintains the integrity of the products as it protects the skin from unwanted germs. When products last longer and assist in cleansing your skin of bacteria, it’s a win-win situation.

Potassium sorbate is a welcome addition to your preservative inventory. Call Bell Chem, your local nutritional chemical supplier, at (407) 339-2355 (BELL) to order potassium sorbate or any of our other chemicals and supplements. Read our past blogs for information pertaining to preservatives, cleaners, and our full inventory of products.

Food and Pharmaceutical Uses of Maltodextrin

Maltodextrin appears on the labels of many foods, from sugar substitutes to sodas. Why is it on the labels, and what role does it play in the food and beverage industries and pharmaceuticals? Nutritional chemical supplier, Bell Chem, has complied some of the uses of this versatile chemical:

• Maltodextrin is produced via hydrolysis from starches, such as potatoes, corn, wheat, or barley.

• Maltodextrin is a complex carbohydrate, meaning it combines multiple simple sugars to build a lengthy chain of carbohydrates. Sugars and carbohydrates are closely related, and maltodextrin is complex enough to be classified as a carbohydrate on a food label, while maintaining the dextrose equivalent (DE) rating of 3 to 20.

• The DE rating pertains to sweetness, length of glucose chains, solubility, and heat resistance. Below DE 10, substances are considered dextrins. Dextrins have long glucose chains, low sweetness values, low solubility, and high heat resistance.

• Because it is an expedient source of energy, maltodextrin is regularly used by bodybuilders and endurance athletes to quickly rush energy to hungry cells.

• In the beer industry, maltodextrin is added while beer is aging to increase the specific gravity of the final product without changing the alcohol content or flavor of the beverage. Maltodextrin also improves beer’s “mouthfeel”, retains the frothy head consumers appreciate, and reduces drink dryness.

• The most common use of maltodextrin is as a food thickener, where it adds volume and texture to oatmeal, sauces, and salad dressings, for example, while increasing their overall appearance.

• Sugar substitutes are not measured 1:1 with traditional table sugar. To keep consumers from adding too much sugar substitute, which is generally much sweeter than sucrose at a greatly reduced volume, maltodextrin is added, giving sugar substitutes more bulk to equalize their use to sugar.

• Much like in the food industry, in pharmaceuticals, maltodextrin acts as a filler. Capsules often contain maltodextrin since it neither adds nor detracts from the medicinal content while stabilizing the drugs.

Call Bell Chem (407) 339-BELL (2355) to learn more about maltodextrin or any of the other chemicals we sell, or browse our website.

The Health Benefits of Dextrose

Dextrose, chemical formula C6H12O6, is commonly referred to as glucose. However, the two differ because of dextrose’s added water molecule. The food industry utilizes dextrose as a preservative to increase the shelf life of packaged foods. The human body, on the other hand, uses dextrose in a much different and significant manner: dextrose plays a starring physiological role in the human body by delivering energy to cells. In fact, the brain runs almost exclusively upon energy supplied from dextrose. Bell Chem, a nutritional chemical supplier in Orlando, provides prompt delivery of this chemical, along with any others.

Since it is a monosaccharide, a simple carbohydrate, dextrose is easily absorbed through cellular membranes to stimulate muscle cells during performance and recovery.

A substance’s glycemic index indicates its effect on the body’s blood glucose levels. The high glycemic index of dextrose means it is quickly utilized without further breaking down by chemical or mechanical processes. Dextrose works by spiking insulin; in turn, insulin rushes dextrose, proteins, amino acids, creatinine, alanine, carnitine, arginine and other necessary nutrients to cells throughout the body. This rapid influx of nutrients keeps muscle cells at peak performance before, during, and after exercise.

Because dextrose is rapidly absorbed, athletes use it to gain muscle weight, as well as use it for endurance training since carbohydrates provide almost immediate energy for working muscles. Dextrose replaces the glycogen stores in muscles when they are energy depleted from exercise and diminishes muscle recovery time. Bell Chem is a nutritional chemical supplier who offers a large quantity of products from industrial to nutritional to botanical. Contact one of our knowledgeable representatives at 407-339-BELL (2355) for more information about dextrose or any of our other products to enhance your business.

Healthy Benefits of Grapefruit Oil

Grapefruit oil is something we have probably taken for granted our entire lives. While peeling a grapefruit – or any other citrus – the tangy oil spurts from the skin, infusing our senses with satisfaction.

Recent research has proved the effectiveness of grapefruit oil on a variety of skin afflictions and beauty treatments. The main component of this nutrition chemical is d-limonene – another chemical sold by Bell Chem, which protects the body’s cells and is a powerful antioxidant.  Antioxidants inhibit the oxidation of other molecules, a chemical reaction that creates free radicals. By removing free radicals from the body, the likeliness of illness, such as cancer, decreases.

Along with its ability to maintain oxidation homeostasis, grapefruit oil naturally suppresses the appetite, aids in urinary problems by acting as a diuretic, is a natural antioxidant and can be used topically on bruises and sore muscles. Works with your current shampoo or conditioner to leave hair less oily and more easily manageable. Plus, grapefruit oil is antimicrobial – no need for refrigeration or specific handling instructions since it naturally deters pathogens. Many forms of eczema and acne show signs of improvement with a regular regimen of grapefruit oil.

Adding grapefruit oil to your daily routine is extremely simple – a few drops in your drinking water or even white wine rejuvenate and revitalize your day especially, when it’s noted that this nutritional chemical relieves stress and lowers levels of anxiety. Learn more about grapefruit and other oils from nutritional chemical supplier Bell Chem.

Healthy Benefits of Cooking with Avocado Oil

Forty years ago, chefs across the continent switched from butter to margarine. Thirty years ago the trend shifted from margarine to sunflower oil. Since then, a series of oils, including canola, safflower, sunflower and olive oil have debuted and either found a permanent place on the grocery store shelf or been shoved to the back of the discount rack. Today’s consumers are demanding natural oils over man made, and one of the relative newcomers in beneficial natural oils is avocado or nutrition oils. The surprising and broad sweeping benefits of avocado oil will quickly win over many who may doubt its effectiveness.

For cooking, avocado oil contains heart-friendly monounsaturated fats. Its high-smoke point exceeds that of olive oil, making it ideal for cooking at higher temperature ranges. Unlike many other nutrition oils, avocado oil is rich in fiber giving users a healthier alternative that actually aids digestion. As a matter of fact, avocado oil retains many of the nutrients and vitamins of the avocado, including folate, potassium, antioxidants and Vitamins B5, B6, C, E and K, along with other nutrients in trace amounts that your body needs.

Knowing avocado oil contains these nutrients is not nearly as important as understanding their roles in the body.

• The monounsaturated fat (oleic acid) in avocado oil lowers triglyceride and cholesterol levels, decreases inflammation and positively enhances a gene’s ability to detect cancer. Oleic acid has also been proven to aid arthritis sufferers.

• Fiber is indigestible but acts as a catalyst in digestion by moving other food stuff through the intestinal tract. This leads to weight loss and better digestive health. Avocado oil also reduces blood sugar spikes after hearty meals.

• Potassium (Vitamin K) lowers blood pressure, which decreases chances of heart attack, stroke and kidney failure.

• In numerous studies on the effects of avocado oil on the heart, it has been proven that ongoing ingestion of avocado oil reduces total cholesterol levels significantly, lowers blood triglycerides and reduces LDL cholesterol levels while maintaining healthy HDL cholesterol levels.

Consider switching your common cooking or nutrition oil to avocado oil. It could be the best decision you make this year – and for years to come. Learn more from the nutrition-oil experts at Bell Chem.