Thoughts of the Professor: hunger

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18 April 2025

From Sugar to Sweeteners—And into the Fire?

Noncaloric sweeteners are widely used in foods and beverages to provide a sweet taste without the calories of sucrose. However, some studies suggest that these sweeteners may stimulate appetite—essentially leading from the frying pan into the fire.

Chakravartti and colleagues sought to investigate this by giving 75 young adults a drink containing either sucralose, sucrose, or water. To study the effects, they used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how the consumed drink affected the hypothalamus—a brain structure that plays a key role in regulating appetite.

Compared to sucrose, consuming the noncaloric sweetener increased blood flow to the hypothalamus and triggered stronger hunger responses. The results highlight the complexity of the neural mechanisms that regulate appetite and indicate that replacing sugar with noncaloric sweeteners is not a straightforward solution to obesity.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Shower Taking and Interfering Elephants
Traditional beliefs turned out to be wisdom
Microbial solution to malnutrition?

23 May 2023

History of Finland V: The pursuit of economic profit saved the country

This blog post is the fifth installment of a series that delves into the significant phases of Finnish history. In the previous post, I discussed how the ascendancy of the highest aristocracy led to the deterioration of living conditions for the common people.

However, this trend eventually came to a halt through a transformative process that culminated in the triumph of the official aristocracy over the highest aristocracy. The catalyst behind this shift was the economic collapse of the great power.

The recruitment of military personnel faced hindrances due to the landed estates owned by the upper nobility. These estates posed obstacles to enlisting individuals from their own ranks into military service. Moreover, the state lacked sufficient funds to pay its officials, as a significant portion of the income generated from land ownership predominantly benefited the upper nobility. To illustrate the magnitude of this disparity, consider the fact that Count Magnus de la Gardie's annual income in 1679 amounted to approximately five percent of Sweden's entire revenue and expenditure budget.

The conflicts of the late 1600s, which relied on France's assistance to maintain Sweden's great power status, played a crucial role in driving forward societal development. The noble-dominated council of state was held responsible for the situation and was compelled to cede its authority to King Charles XI, who implemented the decision of the Estates to reclaim the landed property in order to rescue the state from bankruptcy. As a result, former landowners were left with a mere tenth of their previous tax-exempt fiefs.

In practice, power became concentrated in the hands of a single individual, as the king possessed the right to pose questions to the Council of State, but the council lacked the authority to advise the monarch unless specifically solicited. This effectively dismantled the most potent tool of aristocratic governance with a single decree. To ensure the success of this transition, a law was passed a few years later in 1682, affirming that legislative power resided solely with the king.

Of particular significance to us Finns in this progression was the nearly unanimous support of our representatives in the Estates, including the nobility, for the king's absolute power, which placed them in opposition to the Swedish nobility. It is possible that it was during this time that the Finnish people's subsequent yearning for a strong monarchy, their belief in the righteousness of the Tsar, and ultimately the potent authority of the independent country's president originated.

Alongside the establishment of absolute monarchy in the late 1600s, there were additional significant developments. The administration of justice underwent a redirection towards the "law of nature", which was widely viewed as being largely consistent with the traditional Swedish law.

Previously, the nobility had exploited the flexibility of the old Swedish law, particularly drawing upon interpretations rooted in Roman law, enabling them to interpret it according to their own discretion. The recruitment of military personnel transitioned to a more stable conscription system, and civil servants' salaries were secured through the use of designated official positions.

Following the defeat of young King Charles XII in the Great Northern War, and ultimately his demise, the influence of the civil service serving the state did not waver. On the contrary, it continued to exert its power while the king lost much of his own authority. The Estates Assembly became the instrument through which the civil-service nobility wielded their power.

A notable change in public administration was the shift from hereditary status to formal education and other qualifications as the basis for filling positions. Furthermore, social changes enabled a commoner to marry a noblewoman without her family having the ability to disinherit her—an aspect not to be overlooked.

Simultaneously, Sweden's mercantilist policy also suffered a collapse. In this regard, the country followed a trajectory akin to the pre-capitalist development observed in England and the Netherlands, where exportation became an increasingly vital driving force. Sweden's primary export commodities included iron, copper, timber, and tar.

As a result, decisions and practices were instituted that favored the protection of private property rights, the freedom to engage in contractual agreements, the application of rationality in legal proceedings, and enhanced autonomy for citizens. The driving force behind this progression was particularly the pursuit of profit, which stemmed from the recognition and enforcement of private property rights.

For Finland and its people, these changes marked a gradual improvement in the status of the (lower) nobility, bourgeoisie, and peasants, filling the void left by the upper nobility. However, this transformation faced further challenges during the subsequent period of the Great Famine and the Great Northern War, which represented the lowest point for the upper nobility. The ascent of the eastern regions within the Swedish kingdom also became apparent through the emergence of notable Finnish figures who achieved prominence.

Notable examples include Fabian Wrede, a member of the lower nobility from Elimäki, who rose to become the chairman of the Reduction Commission, and Heikki Vaanila, a peasant estate owner from Lohja, who assumed leadership of the peasant estate in the Estates of the Realm. These Finnish individuals found themselves at the core of the kingdom's power structure, serving as compelling illustrations of Finland's growing influence within the realm.

The original blog post in Finnish: Voiton tavoittelu pelasti maan

13 May 2023

History of Finland IV: The bleakest time in Finnish history

This is the fourth part of a blog series where I delve into the significant phases of Finnish history. In the previous post, I discussed the rebellion of the peasants who feared becoming serfs but ultimately lost their battle, resulting in the permanent weakening of their previously strong position in relation to the nobility.

Following the Cudgel War, Charles, Duke of Södermanland, ascended to power in Sweden after defeating King Sigismund in the Battle of Stångebro. As King Charles IX, he successfully curbed the nobility's thirst for power during his reign. However, after his sudden demise in 1611, the situation underwent a transformation.

This presented an opportunity for the high nobility to place the underage Gustaf Adolph on the throne, whose decisions were heavily influenced by the dominance of the nobility itself, the ruling Council of State, and the Estates General, all of which were effectively controlled by the high nobility. Consequently, the king found himself compelled to advocate for the privileges of the nobility, resulting in his position being somewhat like the first of his peers. As a result, the king also had an interest in promoting the interests of the high nobility.

As a result of this development, approximately 63 percent of the kingdom's land came under the ownership of the nobility. Consequently, the position of ordinary peasants and even lower nobility further deteriorated. However, they still served a purpose as representatives in the Estates General, which was established to endorse the privileges of the high nobility.

Soon, the nobility acquired exclusive rights to the highest positions, which were rapidly created. Consequently, power, legal authority, and wealth in the country shifted into the hands of the upper echelons of nobility, while the significance of local parish meetings, which were closer to the people, diminished.

Nevertheless, the peasants in the northern regions were spared from serfdom due to the sparse population. Unlike the southern European cities that attracted the surrounding rural population, the small settlements in the north lacked the same appeal, eliminating the need to bind peasants to the land.

Consequently, the Finnish and Swedish peasants were formally allowed to maintain their free status. However, the decrease in the number of farms and cultivated areas between 1570 and 1660, instead of growth, clearly indicates their actual distress. Moreover, the common people bore the burden of conscription by the great power, directed by the nobles towards difficult people in their own fiefdoms and neighboring estates, seeking to redeem them for their own control when their own men became depleted.

Simultaneously, the common people endured an unprecedentedly stringent discipline, resulting in various side effects such as witch hunts in the wealthiest peasant regions, religious revivalist movements, and devastating famines that claimed the lives of at least a quarter, if not a third, of Finland's population. The destructiveness of these famines was not only caused by the well-known Little Ice Age but also by rural poverty, which eroded people's ability to withstand years of poor harvests.

Furthermore, even during the worst famine years, Finland, under the rule of the nobility, saw the exportation of grain instead of utilizing it to feed the starving population. Meanwhile, cities on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea decayed due to the mercantilist ideology centered around a Stockholm-dominated trade system.

The position of the peasants was further weakened not only by the Swedish conscription that transformed Finland into a massive military camp but also by the constant need for funds to sustain a military perpetually engaged in warfare. This necessity stemmed from the fact that approximately half of the state's income was allocated to military endeavors. The nobility benefited from these wars, as they provided various advantages to the military class, from advancing their own careers to amassing land.

Overall, the era of the aristocracy represented the darkest period in Finnish history for the common people. However, it also sowed the seeds of its own destruction, as the nobility's insatiable thirst for power and wealth, coupled with their incessant warfare, gradually weakened the entire kingdom and ultimately left it vulnerable and defenseless in the face of external threats.

The original blog post in Finnish: Suomen historian kurjin aika

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