No. 402: A new syrup with the ability to reduce weight and body fat (January 6, 2012)

Technology

There are more than 50 kinds of rare sugars in nature, one of which is xylitol blended into chewing gum. Some of them are low in calories and used as a sweetener in place of sugar. The Faculty ofMedicine of Kagawa University developed a syrup based on D-psicose and D-allose, both of which are effective to control blood sugar level and reduce blood pressure, in collaboration with Matsutani Chemical Industry. The new syrup is characterized by refreshing sweetness and the ability to reduce weight and body fat. The company already started to ship the new syrup to food companies.  

A research team of the university let a total of 17 males and females drink a jelly beverage that contains the new syrup for 30 grams before every breakfast for 12 weeks. The examinees reduced weight and body fat by 1.8 kg and 1.7% respectively on average. Another group of 17 males and females who did not ingest the syrup remained the same both in weight and body fat. Kagawa University takes the lead in the research on rare sugars in the world after it succeeded in the mass production of D-psicose for the first time in the world in 2001. The research team plans to expand the applications of rare sugars under the leadership of ProfessorMasaaki Tokuda.