Judicious use of sucralose as sugar substitute has benefits for diabetics, says study

Sub: Sci

Sec: Health

Context:

A recent study from India examining the effects of replacing sucrose or table sugar with an artificial sweetener, sucralose, in coffee and tea, found no adverse impact on glucose or HbA1c levels.
Sucralose consumption also indicated a slight improvement in body weight, waist circumference and body mass index (BMI).

What is Sucralose?

Sucralose, an artificial sweetener discovered in 1976, was granted FDA approval in 1998 for use as a sugar substitute in 15 food and beverage categories.
Sucralose is a no-calorie sweetener that can be used to lower one’s intake of added sugars while still providing satisfaction from enjoying the taste of something sweet.
It is about 600 times sweeter than sugar and can be used as an ingredient in any type of food or beverage.
Sucralose is exceptionally stable and is able to retain its sweetness when subjected to high heat and acidity.
Sucralose is made from sugar in a multistep chemical process in which three hydroxyl groups are replaced with chlorine atoms.
Sucralose is not recognized by the body as a carbohydrate due to being poorly absorbed during the digestion process and thus passes through the body relatively unchanged with insignificant amounts being absorbed in the Gastro Intestinal tract.
Therefore Sucralose can be immensely beneficial in controlling diabetes.

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas can no longer make insulin, or the body cannot make good use of the insulin it produces.
Insulin is a hormone the body uses to allow sugar (glucose) to enter cells to produce energy.
It is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke, and lower limb amputation.

What is Type 1 diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition where the pancreas makes little or no insulin.
Different factors, such as genetics and some viruses, may cause type 1 diabetes.
Although type 1 diabetes usually appears during childhood or adolescence, it can develop in adults.

What is Type 2 diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes results from the body’s ineffective use of insulin that it produces.
This type of diabetes is largely the result of excess body weight and physical inactivity.
Type 2 diabetes used to be known as adult-onset diabetes, but both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can begin during childhood and adulthood.