“Fructose acute effects on glucose, insulin, and triglyceride after a solid meal compared with sucralose and sucrose in a randomized crossover study” was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in June, 2016.
When compared with iso-caloric intake of other sugars, fructose does not appear to perturb blood triglycerides or body weight. However, the researchers point out that acute studies evaluating the effects of fructose often provide carbohydrates to fasted individuals though this is not the typical pattern of food consumption. Thus, the researchers were interested in evaluating the effect of fructose and sucrose on clinically relevant blood parameters.
In a randomized, cross-over study, individuals consumed muffins containing 66 grams of fat and either 52 grams of fructose, 65 grams of sucrose, or 0.1 grams of sucralose to balance the sweet taste. Blood samples were collected from the participants every 30 minutes for 4 hours. Gallagher, et al., report area under the curve (AUC) and the incremental area under the curve (iAUC) of 4 hour glucose, triglyceride, and insulin concentrations after participants consumed muffins developed to have similar sweet taste.
The researchers report no difference in the blood glucose triglyceride and glucose concentrations and the AUC between the three sweeteners while consuming these fructose-containing muffins resulted in lower glucose iAUC and insulin concentration. The authors suggest that fructose showed a lower insulin response, which may be beneficial in the long-term in individuals at risk of type 2 diabetes.