Nathalie Charrière, Cathriona Loonam, Jean-Pierre Montani, Abdul G. Dulloo, Erik K. Grasser. European Journal of Nutrition, pp 1-9. First online: 21 June 2016
- In an acute controlled setting, consumption of glucose, fructose and galactose has differing effects on the measures of the cardiovascular system in this small sample of young healthy males
- Larger longer term studies are needed to see whether the potential benefits of galactose are evident in different populations and when consumed as part of a normal diet in everyday life
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the extent to which the acute ingestion of galactose, compared to glucose and fructose, impacts upon haemodynamics and blood pressure
DESIGN: Randomised crossover trial. Fasted participants consumed 500 mL of water flavoured with lemon juice containing 60 g of glucose, fructose or galactose on separate occasions. Continuous cardiovascular monitoring was performed at rest for at least 30 min before and 120 min after ingestion of the beverages.
SETTING: Switzerland
PARTICIPANTS: 9 healthy young non-obese males (aged 24 ± 1 y)
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Beat-to-beat systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate deduced by electrocardiography, and stroke volume derived by impedance cardiography; these measurements were used to calculate cardiac output and total peripheral resistance.
RESULTS: Ingestion of galactose, like glucose, led to significantly lesser increases in systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure than fructose ingestion (P<0.05). Furthermore, the increase in cardiac output and reduction in total peripheral resistance observed after ingestion of glucose were significantly lower after galactose ingestion (P<0.01).
CONCLUSIONS: Galactose thus presents the interesting characteristics of a low-glycemic sugar with mild cardiovascular effects. Further studies are warranted to confirm the clinical relevance of these effects for insulin resistant obese and/or diabetic patients with cardiac insufficiency and also to investigate their impact when consumed with other monosaccharides as well as when integrated in meals in more chronic studies.
Access the full article here
Note to Readers: Any opinions expressed in the recent research abstracts are those of the authors of the original scientific papers and may not reflect the views of Sugar Nutrition UK