Glycemic response of coconut sugar, sucrose and brown sugar in healthy subjects

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a disease in which blood sugar (glucose) levels are abnormally high because the body doesn't produce enough insulin to meet its needs. It is estimated that the world population with diabetes mellitus is around 387 million and may reach 471 million by 2035. Diabetes is therefore considered the most common endocrine disease. There is significant evidence to support the idea of interventions to improve diabetes outcomes, one of which is glycemic control in the basic diet. Coconut sugar (Cocos nuciferas. L.), has been marketed with the promise of having a low glycemic index and recommended for diabetic patients. The aim of this study was to compare the glycemic response of 30 healthy volunteers fasting for 4 hours after ingesting coconut sugar, sucrose and brown sugar, ranging in age from 19 to 50 years, 73% female and 27% male, who were randomly divided into three different groups after ingesting 50g of the respective sugars. Capillary glycemia was measured at times 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes. The data was evaluated using analysis of variance and the Scott-Knott test was chosen to verify the differences in the results. It was concluded that the three types of sugar showed statistically the same behaviour (p<0.05) in terms of the increase in glycemia at times 15, 30 and 60 minutes compared to time zero, but there was a significant difference (p<0.05) at time 45 minutes, where there was a longer time for coconut sugar to decrease. However, it can be concluded that coconut sugar behaves in a similar way to other sugars and should be re-evaluated as a product with a low glycaemic index.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.56238/uniknowindevolp-014