Balancing sugar levels with smart ingredients

At the BENEO-Institute Symposium which took place during the 12th European Nutrition Conference (FENS) in Berlin, Germany, experts shared new information on the role of smart ingredients in balancing blood sugar levels.

In his speech, Professor Jeyakumar Henry, Director of Clinical Nutritional Science at the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences said that carbohydrate rich foods can be reformulated to lower glucose response in the human body. He said this has been shown to be possible by experimental and clinical intervention studies.

From left: Prof. Jeyakumar Henry, Director of Clinical Nutritional Science at Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Singapore;  Stephan Theis Ph.D., BENEO-Institute; Prof. Patrice D. Cani, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Metabolism and Research, UCL, Belgium; Prof. Andreas Pfeiffer, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Germany

Prof. Henry also said that food manufacturers as well as scientists, clinicians, and consumers can profit from knowing what foods offer low glycaemic response, to avoid obesity and type 2 diabetes. “Low glycaemic ingredients (e.g. isomaltulose, isomalt and dietary fibers) have been proven to be easily incorporated into final products, replacing high glycaemic carbohydrates,” he said.

Professor Patrice D. Cani, of the Louvain Drug Research Institute, Metabolism and Research, UCL, Belgium, mentions research about gut bacteria as communicating with host cells. This contributes to regulation of energy, glucose and lipid homeostasis, he said. “Prebiotic-induced change in the gut flora increases gut peptides involved in appetite regulation, glucose metabolism, energy homeostasis and gut barrier function. Hence, the prebiotics inulin and oligofructose have the potential to manage obesity and related metabolic disorders,” Prof Cani said.

From the German Institute of Human Nutrition in Germany, Professor Andreas Pfeiffer, reiterated the metabolic benefits of Palatinose^TM (isomaltulose), a product of Beneo to gut hormone induced metabolic responses.

“The research indicates that Palatinose, being fully available but slowly absorbed contrary to high glycaemic sugars, influences gut hormones like GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) that increases postprandial insulin sensitivity. This metabolic mechanism makes this new low glycaemic sugar very interesting particularly with the increasing type 2 diabetes situation in mind.”

The European Nutrition Conference (FENS) held at the Estrel Convention Center, in Berlin, Germany is a venue for expert discussion on health and nutrition.

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