Digestive tolerance and postprandial glycaemic and insulinaemic responses after consumption of dairy desserts containing maltitol and fructo-oligosaccharides in adults

• Published in: European journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 68; no. 5; pp. 575 - 580
• Main Authors: Respondek, F, Hilpipre, C, Chauveau, P, Cazaubiel, M, Gendre, D, Maudet, C, Wagner, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.05.2014; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/443/319; 692/699/1503; 692/700/459/1994; Adolescent; Adult; Artificial sweeteners; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Blood Glucose - metabolism; Carbohydrate metabolism; Clinical Nutrition; Cross-Over Studies; Dairy products; Dairy Products - analysis; Defecation - physiology; Desserts; Development and progression; Diet; Digestion - physiology; Digestive system; Double-Blind Method; Epidemiology; Feces - chemistry; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Flatulence - metabolism; Food; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastrointestinal diseases; Humans; Internal Medicine; Male; Maltose - administration & dosage; Maltose - analogs & derivatives; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Middle Aged; Oligosaccharides; Oligosaccharides - administration & dosage; Original; original-article; Physiological aspects; Postprandial Period - physiology; Public Health; Risk factors; Sugar; Sugar Alcohols - administration & dosage; Surveys and Questionnaires; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Young Adult; France; Human; Consumption; Digestive system; Postprandial; Tolerance; Adult; Metabolic diseases; Glycemia; Oligofructose
• ISSN: 0954-3007; 1476-5640; 1476-5640
• DOI: 10.1038/ejcn.2014.30

Background/objectives: To evaluate the short-term digestive tolerance and glycaemic response of several associations of maltitol and short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (scFOS) used to replace sugars (for example, dextrose) in foods. Subjects/methods: Thirty-six healthy subjects aged 18–60 years were recruited for the study and 32 completed it. The subjects consumed six different mixtures of dextrose, maltitol and scFOS added in a chocolate dairy dessert at a dosage of 35 g. The test days were separated by 2-week washout periods. The subjects reported the intensity of four individual gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, number of bowel movements and stool frequency for the 48 h following consumption of the dessert. A subgroup of 18 subjects also provided blood samples 2 h after intake to evaluate the postprandial glycaemic and insulinaemic responses. Results: The composite score calculated from the intensity of flatulence, borborygmi, bloating and discomfort was significantly higher ( P <0.0001) for all the desserts containing maltitol and/or scFOS than for the control dessert containing dextrose, but remains at the level of mild effects. The number of bowel movements was also slightly increased ( P =0.0006) and the stools were softer ( P =0.0045) for the first 24 h but not after ( P =0.1373 and 0.5420, respectively). Blood glycaemic and insulinaemic responses were lower for all the sugar-free recipes containing maltitol and scFOS in comparison to the control one ( P <0.0001). Conclusions: This study has shown that maltitol and scFOS can be used jointly when formulating sugar-free foods with the benefit to lower postprandial glycaemic response with only a small and transient increase in non-serious GI symptoms.