THE EFFECT OF A NEW MIXTURE OF SUGAR AND SUGAR-ALCOHOLS COMPARED TO SUCROSE AND GLUCOSE ON BLOOD GLUCOSE AND THE POSSIBLE ADVERSE REACTIONS: A PHASE I DOUBLE-BLIND THREE-WAY CROSS-OVER TRIAL

Background and Aim: Several sweeteners are introduced to replace sucrose in the human diet. However, they had their own limitations and concerns, particularly in terms of their taste and their long-term health consequences. The present study tried to examine the effect of a new mixture of sugars and sugar alcohols on the postprandial blood glucose levels and its possible gastrointestinal (GI) adverse reactions.Methods: In this double-blind three-way randomized cross-over clinical trial, adults (21 with type 2 diabetes and 20 healthy) received 300 ml of three beverages containing glucose, sucrose, and lacritose (a mixture of lactose, fructose, sucrose, and erythritol) when they were in the fasted state in a random order. Postprandial serum glucose was checked every 30 minutes up to two hours and the gastrointestinal reactions were collected.Results: Mean serum glucose levels were significantly lower when participants ingested lacritose compared to glucose and sucrose in all participants. The mean serum glucose was also significantly lower for lacritose in all time points after ingestion of the test beverages in all participants and those with type 2 diabetes (P<0.05). This difference was significant only in 30th and 60th minutes in healthy subjects (P<0.05). Adverse GI reactions were not significant between the test beverages.Conclusion: Lacritose might be considered as a low-calorie replacement with the same organoleptic properties for sucrose. Studying its long-term effects is recommended. The trial was registered in Iranian registry of clinical trials: IRCT2015050912571N2.

Keywords:

Sweeteners , Sugars , Sugar alcohols , blood glucose control , Diabetes