CLINICAL TRIAL article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1682297
Sucrose Reduction with Maintained Sweetness Level Lowers Glycemic Fluctuations and Energy Intake in Healthy Males
Provisionally accepted
Marlies Gaider1Isabella Kimmeswenger2Jana Schmidt1Cynthia Thines2Anni Wu2Teresa K Stoffl2
Petra Rust2Jakob P Ley3Gerhard E Krammer3Veronika Somoza2
Barbara Lieder1,2*- 1Universitat Hohenheim Institut fur Ernahrungsmedizin, Stuttgart, Germany
- 2University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- 3Symrise AG, Holzminden, Germany
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Introduction: The sole perception of sweet taste is discussed to interfere with postprandial blood glucose regulation and leading to enhanced cravings for sweet foods. This raises the question whether preserving sweetness while reducing sugar in a test solution can sustain beneficial effects on blood glucose regulation and subsequently decrease postprandial energy intake. Specifically, we hypothesized that reducing the caloric load of a sucrose solution while maintaining the perceived sweetness intensity by adding hesperetin as a taste modifier attenuates large fluctuations in postprandial blood glucose concentrations with beneficial effects on appetite and cravings for sweet foods. Methods: In a randomized crossover study with 32 healthy male participants, the effect of a 10 % sucrose solution on blood glucose regulation and energy intake was compared to an equi-sweet 7 % sucrose solution with 50 mg/L hesperetin. Data was analyzed using paired Student's t-tests or Repeated-measures ANOVA. The study was approved by the ethical committee of the University of Vienna (approval number 00903) and registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05705596). Results: The results show that the decline in blood glucose concentrations was less pronounced after consumption of the 7 % sucrose solution with hesperetin than after the isosweet 10 % sucrose solution. Additionally, participants reported less desire for a sweet snack and had on average a 10 ± 7 % (p < 0.05) lower energy intake after consumption of the 7 % sucrose hesperetin-spiked solution. Conclusion: In conclusion, our results argue for a pronounced role of the carbohydrate content in postprandial appetite regulation.
Keywords: Appetite, Blood Glucose, Energy Intake, sweet taste modulation, Sweet Taste, Sucrose
Received: 08 Aug 2025; Accepted: 22 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gaider, Kimmeswenger, Schmidt, Thines, Wu, Stoffl, Rust, Ley, Krammer, Somoza and Lieder. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Barbara Lieder, barbara.lieder@uni-hohenheim.de
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