Effects on obese women of the sugar sucrose added to the diet over 28 d: a quasi-randomised, single-blind, controlled trial
Reid,M., Hammersley,R., Duffy,M. and Ballantyne,C. (2013) Br.J.Nutr. 1-810.1017/S0007114513002687
Objective: To investigate whether obese women can compensate for sucrose added blind to the diet in the form of soft drinks.
Design: Parallel single-blind trial. 5-week study, 1 week baseline with supplementary drinks for 4 weeks. Participants were assigned to consume 1L (4 x 250 ml) of either sucrose- (n=20) or aspartame-sweetened drinks/d (n=21) for 4 weeks. All women were informed the drinks were sweetened with sucrose. The sucrose-sweetened drinks contained 180 kj and 10.5 g carbohydrate/100ml.
Setting: UK
Participants: 41 obese women with BMI between 30 and 35, aged between 20 and 55
Main outcome measures: Primary outcome was weight gain, with secondary outcomes being energy intake. It was hypothesised that the women would partially compensate for the energy content of supplementary drinks, not gain weight, reduce energy intake elsewhere in the diet, and reduce the carbohydrate content of their diet.
Diet was measured by self-reported food intake in 7-d unweighed food diaries. Physical measures included body weight, skinfold thickness, waist circumference, body composition with bioimpedence. Participants noted steps per day (pedometer) and mood and activity levels.
Data was compared for weeks 0, 1 and 4. Body weight at the end of the intervention was analysed with linear regression to compare the observed body weight with that predicted via modelling.
Results: Correlations between predicted and observed body weights at week 4 were highly significant (P<0.001) in both groups. However, 14/20 in the sucrose group weighed less than predicted (mean 1.71 kg less), compared to 11/20 in the aspartame group (mean 0.31 kg more).
Daily dietary energy intake, including the supplement, did not change over the weeks. The sucrose supplement increased sugars intake in the sucrose group, but this group reduced their voluntary intake of carbohydrate, protein and fat compared to the aspartame group. There was no effect on mood.
Conclusions: Sucrose given blind in soft drinks was compensated for by obese women, with no change in bodyweight. Their response was not fundamentally different from the response of normal-weight or overweight women observed in earlier studies.
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