Influence of Consuming Rare Sugars on the Consumption of Energy and Carbohydrate Intake in Healthy Individuals

Abstract

Background: Food manufacturers have been challenged to decrease the sugar content of their products by 20% as the prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus increases. Rare sugars, therefore, have been highlighted for their potential role in controlling blood glucose, improving weight, and decreasing food intake. However, little is known about their mechanisms and effects on humans, particularly in terms of food intake.

Objective: To investigate whether D-tagatose and L-arabinose influence the consumption of participants’ energy and carbohydrate intake, particularly starch, fibre, sugars, and free sugars.

Methodology: Three data analysts conducted a secondary data analysis of 48 food diaries. These diaries were collected by a PhD student from healthy participants (≥18 years) who underwent a double-blind crossover RCT, in which participants were divided into 6 groups: full sucrose (dose of sucrose = 35.72g), control or reduced sucrose (half dose of sucrose = 21.43g), D-tagatose40 (14.29g D-tagatose), L-arabinose40 (14.29g L-arabinose), D-tagatose20 (7.14g D-tagatose), and L-arabinose20 (7.14g L-arabinose). Food diaries were analysed using Nutritics software to analyse energy and macronutrient intake. Decisions regarding the items' nutritional facts, homemade recipes, and searching for food alternatives have been made.

Results: A total of 12 participants (66.6% were females, average age: 21.13 ± 0.51 years, average height: 1.67m ± 0.02, average weight: 70.7kg ± 4.45, average BMI: 25.19 ± 1.60) were included. Consumption of rare sugars had no effect on 24-hour energy (p = 0.55) or carbohydrate (p = 0.38) intake between all study groups. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in any type of carbohydrate, including starch (p = 0.78), fibre (p = 0.15), sugars (p = 0.15), and free sugars (p = 0.97).

Conclusion: The present research paper concluded that rare sugars, D-tagatose and L-arabinose, had no effect on 24-hour energy and carbohydrate consumption in healthy adults. Limited human trials have studied the effects of those sugars on dietary intake, highlighting the need for further long-term and large-scale research on their impact on human dietary consumption.