Sucrose and sorbitol as sweeteners in the diet of insulin-dependent diabetics.

Blood glucose levels following breakfast meals containing sorbitol or sucrose as sweeteners were investigated. Nine insulin-treated diabetics received two test meals after an overnight fast. The meals were composed of 90 g white bread, 9 g butter and 100 g strawberry jam which on one occasion contained 18 g sorbitol as sweetener and on another 18 g sucrose. Blood glucose was measured for three hours following the meal. The test meal sweetened with sucrose showed a slightly faster postprandial rise in blood glucose than the sorbitol-sweetened meal, but this difference is not statistically significant at any point of the curves. Taking into consideration that sorbitol has a sweetening effect of only 60% of that of sucrose, we conclude that neither sucrose nor sorbitol are acceptable sweeteners for insulin-dependent diabetics.