THE SCIENCE
Enjoy Sweethoven’s guide to sweet nutrition
What determines whether a carbohydrate tastes sweet, raises blood glucose or behaves like dietary fiber? Much of the answer lies in molecular structure.
01 · BUILDING BLOCK
Meet glucose.
Glucose is one of the fundamental building blocks of many carbohydrates and it has a striking similarity with this blue building block.
02 · ANOTHER UNIT
And here comes fructose.
Fructose is another monosaccharide – represented by this green building block. A different molecular unit with different properties.
03 · CONNECTION
Together, they form sucrose.
Linking one glucose unit with one fructose unit gives us sucrose – common table sugar.
04 · DIGESTION
Our body can split them apart again.
In the small intestine, sucrose is efficiently cleaved by digestive enzymes. Its monosaccharide components can then be absorbed.
05 · ABSORPTION
And blood glucose can rise.
Rapidly available glucose can contribute to a pronounced post-meal increase in blood glucose.
06 · HEALTH IMPACT
High sugar intake can affect health.
High intake of free sugars is associated with dental caries and can contribute to excess energy intake and weight gain. High consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is also associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
07 · BEYOND SUGAR
Sugars are not the only carbohydrates that can raise blood glucose.
Digestible starch can also be broken down during digestion and contribute to a post-meal rise in blood glucose.
08 · THE BUILDING BLOCKS
Starch is made from glucose units, too.
Many starches consist of long chains of glucose units. During digestion, these chains can be broken down and the released glucose can be absorbed.
09 · A DIFFERENT DIETARY RESPONSE
Dietary fibers generally cause little or no direct rise in blood glucose.
Unlike sugars and digestible starches, dietary fibers are neither digested nor absorbed in the small intestine. Their direct contribution to a post-meal rise in blood glucose is therefore generally small.
10 · A DIFFERENT CONNECTION
Inulin shows what a different linkage can do.
Inulin is a dietary fiber built mainly from fructose units. Its characteristic linkages cannot be broken down by human digestive enzymes, so it is not digested or absorbed in the small intestine.
11 · THE QUESTION
What if we could arrange sugar molecules so that they combine the sweet taste of sugar with the beneficial properties of dietary fiber?
Glucose
Fructose
Sucrose
Digestive enzyme
Dental caries
Weight gain
Type II Diabetes
Amylopectin
(one of two major starch carbohydrates)
Inulin
beta (2→1) glycosidic linkages
Not cleaved by human digestive enzymes
Sweet fiber candidate A
Sweet fiber candidate B
FROM SCIENCE TO RESEARCH
Exploring new connections in carbohydrate science.
We apply these principles to investigate sweet carbohydrate structures and evaluate their potential for future food applications.