Glycemic Effects of Rebaudioside A and Erythritol in People with Glucose Intolerance

• Main Authors: Dong Hee Shin, Ji Hye Lee, Myung Shin Kang, Tae Hoon Kim, Su Jin Jeong, Chong Hwa Kim, Sang Soo Kim, In Joo Kim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korean Diabetes Association 2016-06-01
• Series: Diabetes & Metabolism Journal
• Subjects: Erythritol; Glucose intolerance; Rebaudioside A
• Online Access: https://e-dmj.org/Synapse/Data/PDFData/2004DMJ/dmj-40-283.pdf

BackgroundRebaudioside A and erythritol are nonnutritive sweeteners. There have been several studies of their glycemic effects, but the outcomes remain controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the glycemic effects of rebaudioside A and erythritol as a sweetener in people with glucose intolerance.MethodsThis trial evaluated the glycemic effect after 2 weeks of consumption of rebaudioside A and erythritol as sweeteners in a pre-diabetic population. The patients were evaluated for fructosamine, fasting plasma glucose, C-peptide, insulin, and 2-hour plasma glucose before and after consumption of sweetener. The primary outcome was a change in fructosamine levels from the baseline to the end of treatment. Secondary outcomes were the changes in levels of fasting plasma glucose and 2-hour plasma glucose.ResultsFrom the baseline to the end of experiment, the changes in fructosamine levels after consumption of rebaudioside A and erythritol, did not differ significantly (244.00±19.57 vs. 241.68±23.39 µmol/L, P=0.366). The change in levels from the baseline to end of the study for rebaudioside A and erythritol were fasting plasma glucose (102.56±10.72 vs. 101.32±9.20 mg/dL), 2-hour plasma glucose (154.92±54.53 vs. 141.92±42.22 mg/dL), insulin (7.56±4.29 vs. 7.20±5.12 IU/mL), and C-peptide (2.92±1.61 vs. 2.73±1.31 ng/mL), respectively, and also did not differ significantly (P>0.05 for all).ConclusionOur study suggests that consumption of rebaudioside A and erythritol does not alter the glucose homeostasis in people with glucose intolerance.