American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 27, 926-936, Copyright © 1974 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Diets high in glucose or sucrose and young women

¹ From the Carbohydrate Nutrition Laboratory, Nutrition Institute, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland 20705, and the Department of Foods and Nutrition, College of Human Ecology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20740

Eight young women consumed diets containing 42% of the calories from glucose or sucrose for a period of 4 weeks each in a crossover design. Levels of parameters in blood and parotid saliva after consumption of the sugar diets were compared with those after consumption of a control diet. Parameters measured were glucose, insulin, pyruvate, and lactate in blood; LDH, ALKP, GOT, and GPT activity in blood; amylase activity, pyruvate, and lactate in parotid saliva. Fasting levels of glucose and insulin were significantly higher on the last day of the study than after the first control period regardless of the sugar consumed. A high sucrose diet was more effective than a high glucose diet in eliciting changes in levels of parameters measured. Insulin levels 60 min after a glucose load were significantly higher when the sucrose diet was consumed than when the control diet was consumed. Pyruvate levels in blood 60 min after a glucose load were significantly lower and lactate/pyruvate ratios significantly higher when the sucrose diet was consumed than when the control diet was consumed. Fasting blood levels of LDH activity were significantly higher after the sucrose diet and of GPT significantly lower after the glucose diet than after the control diet. Lactate, but not pyruvate, levels in parotid saliva were significantly correlated with those in blood.