Is There A Measurable Difference on Food Intake, Satiety, and Postprandial Glucose and Insulin Levels Between Stevia, Aspartame, and Sucrose?
We’re Here to Find Out…
There was a recent study that was published in Appetite 2010 Aug;55(1):37-43. Epub 2010 Mar 18.
The study was entitled…
Effects of stevia, aspartame, and sucrose on food intake, satiety, and postprandial glucose and insulin levels.
It was done by Anton SD, Martin CK, Han H, Coulon S, Cefalu WT, Geiselman P, Williamson DA. of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, United States.
Some Experts Say…
If you read the material put out by some bought and paid for experts acting on behalf of certain interests you will see them say things like…
“Aspartame does not affect blood sugar” Or “Aspartame does not affect insulin”
The wildest one yet was from the American Diabetes Association Where they were saying Yeah, go ahead and eat sugar… It’s a perfectly healthy safe thing to do. The American Diabetes Association said “you can substitute small amounts of sugar for other carbohydrate containing foods into your meal plan”
Let’s just see if they are right… shall we?
Back to the Study…
They started with the premise…
Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages may be one of the dietary causes of metabolic disorders, such as obesity. Therefore, substituting sugar with low calorie sweeteners may be an efficacious weight management strategy. We tested the effect of preloads containing stevia, aspartame, or sucrose on food intake, satiety, and postprandial glucose and insulin levels.
So there is the start. The foods either had stevia (,and as you probably already know… we sell JAJA Stevioside™ which is stevia extract; and we sell Honey Stevia Leaf™ tea and powdered leaf.)
Or the foods had aspartame or sucrose (sugar.)
It Gets Surprising
The researchers stated
The preload order was balanced, and food intake (kcal) was directly calculated. Hunger and satiety levels were reported before and after meals, and every hour throughout the afternoon. Participants provided blood samples immediately before and 20min after the lunch preload.
Regarding Stevia and Sucrose…
Stevia preloads significantly reduced postprandial glucose levels compared to sucrose preloads.
In case you were wondering… like I was at the $100,000 word…“postprandial” refers to the time after any meal.
So the study shows stevia reduced glucose levels in foods.
Dispelling a Rumor
The researchers also reported…
When consuming stevia and aspartame preloads, participants did not compensate by eating more at either their lunch or dinner meal and reported similar levels of satiety compared to when they consumed the higher calorie sucrose preload.
In other words, sucrose, aspartame, and stevia were all appetite satisfying.
Regarding Stevia Aspartame, and Sucrose
What was really interesting… at least to me was the researchers reported…
Stevia preloads significantly reduced postprandial insulin levels compared to both aspartame and sucrose preloads
So if you are concerned with a rise in insulin levels after eating… the answer is clear to you.
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