Science

Fei Au-Yeung, Alexandra L. Jenkins, Steve Prancevic, Esther Vissers, Janice E. Campbell, Thomas M.S. Wolever

Allulose is a naturally occurring monosaccharide with ∼70% sweetness of sucrose which may blunt postprandial glucose when consumed with a carbohydrate-containing meal. Whether a higher allulose to carbohydrate ratio further inhibits both glycemic and insulinemic responses remains unclear. In an acute, double-blind, randomized design, 14 individuals without diabetes (age:51 ± 15 years, BMI:27.2 ± 4.1 kg/m2) were studied over 120 min on three separate occasions after consuming beverages containing 15 g allulose, 15 g allulose plus 30 g sucrose, or 30 g sucrose. After allulose, allulose + sucrose, and sucrose beverages, respectively, glucose iAUC (mean ± SEM; 0.6 ± 0.2, 86.0 ± 9.5, and 118.1 ± 11.3 mmol × min/L), and peak rise (0.05 ± 0.02, 1.69 ± 0.13, and 3.15 ± 0.23 mmol/L) all differed significantly (p < 0.05). Similarly, insulin iAUC and peak rise were significantly different between all beverages. This study demonstrated that allulose added to sucrose attenuated both postprandial glucose and insulin responses. Thus, dietary substitution of sucrose with allulose may be advantageous, but longer-term studies are needed to confirm long term benefits.