The effects of isomaltulose-based beverage on postprandial plasma glucose and lipid profiles in obese men

Abstract

Obesity is one of the most important factors causing metabolic diseases. High-fat diet
and excessive sugar consumption which are associated with the development of obesity
and metabolic syndrome can induce insulin resistance and inflammation. In addition,
high glycemic index (GI) sugar such as sucrose may contribute to weight gain and type 2
diabetes, compared with low GI sugar. It has been shown that isomaltulose, a low GI sugar,
can improve postprandial glycemia (both first and second meal effects). However, no studies
on the second meal effect of isomaltulose in high-fat diet as first meal were found. This study
was aimed to investigate the first and second meal effects of an isomaltulose-based beverage
with high-fat meal on postprandial plasma glucose and lipid profiles in obese. Twelve obese
men between the ages of 20 and 35 years were participated in this randomized, cross-over
study. The subjects consumed a high-fat meal with sucrose or isomaltulose beverage as the
first meal, following by standard second meal. Postprandial plasma glucose, triglycerides
and free fatty acid levels (FFA) were examined at each time points for 480 min. The results
showed that the incremental area under the curve (iAUC) of postprandial plasma glucose
and triglycerides in isomaltulose group were significantly lower than those of sucrose group
(p<0.01, and p<0.05, respectively). In addition, the isomaltulose group tended to have lower
iAUC of FFA than that of sucrose group, but not significant (p=0.194). In conclusion, this
study demonstrated that replacing sucrose with isomaltulose when consumed with high-fat
diet, exhibited beneficial effects on postprandial glucose and triglycerides after the first and
second meals, that may reduce the metabolic risks in obese men.