A COMPARISON OF THE BLOOD-GLUCOSE INCREASE AND INSULIN REQUIREMENT AFTER ORAL SUCROSE, FRUCTOSE AND SORBITOL ALONE OR IN COMBINATION

Abstract

The artificial pancreas allows a new means of quantification of the behavior of blood glucose (BG) and insulin requirement after the administration of nutrient sweeteners such as fructose and sorbitol, as compared to sucrose. The effects of these substances, plus a combination of fructose and sorbitol (70:30) were compared in a group of maturity-onset diabetics. Sucrose produced the steepest BG increase and the greatest insulin requirement to return to baseline BG levels. Sorbitol at a dosage of 20 g did not act as a laxative, produced the smallest BG increase and required the least amount of insulin to return to baseline. The combination of 70% fructose and 30% sorbitol achieved similar results to those of sorbitol alone, regarding both BG increase and amount of insulin required to return to baseline. Since this mixture has the same sweetening ability as sucrose and shows no laxative effect, it was concluded that it is superior to fructose or sorbitol alone.