Blood Sugar Management

Isomaltulose Helps Manage Your Blood sugar

Most food carbohydrates like sugars, maltodextrins, or highly refined starches are typically regarded as readily digestible, providing fast energy with high impact on blood glucose levels and insulin release.

Isomaltulose differs from traditional sugars and “fast carbs” by serving a unique value as a fully digestible, slow release carbohydrate. It provides the desired carbohydrate energy to the body, while its slow release allows for a lower impact on blood sugar levels and insulin release. This creates an overall improved metabolic profile, which enables the body to gain more energy from the fat-burning process rather than the carbohydrate. With its reduced glycemic impact on the diet, isomaltulose can help support blood sugar management and overall health.

Establishing a Healthy Diet

When it comes to carbohydrates, quality matters! Lowering blood sugar levels is beneficial to overall health, and plays a role in the prevention of metabolic diseases. Blood sugar management should start early as part of a healthy diet, and is equally important to all age groups.

As a “low GI carb” alternative to common readily available sugars or carbohydrates, isomaltulose reduces blood sugar levels and contributes to a carbohydrate-based, low glycemic diet. It provides carbohydrate energy in a more gentle and balanced way, with less of an impact on blood sugar levels and insulin. This creates a favourable metabolic profile for long term health, supporting a healthy diet and lifestyle of those who thrive for it.

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During Pregnancy

Blood sugar management during pregnancy is an important topic, having in mind that 1 out of 7 births is affected by gestational diabetes worldwide. While pregnant, following a carbohydrate-based low glycaemic diet has several benefits for both the mother and her child. Along with reducing the risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus during pregnancy, it also improves maternal management of the condition when affected. Moreover, following a carbohydrate-based low glycaemic diet during pregnancy has also shown to reduce negative outcome in infants.

Consuming isomaltulose in place of high-GI carbohydrates can reduce blood sugar spikes after food intake, and ultimately contribute to a low-glycaemic diet.

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For Infants & Children

Where breastfeeding is no option, baby formula and milk for children are valuable alternatives, but often made with high GI carbohydrates. Choosing milk formula with isomaltulose in place of high GI carbohydrates can help to reduce blood glucose levels and insulin, more close to that of mother milk. Isomaltulose can be given to infants and children from the weaning age onwards when complementary feeding starts.

Due to its “slow release” of carbohydrate energy, isomultalose contributes to a lower, smoother metabolic profile closer to what is found in breastfed babies. It also serves as a carbohydrate source  and fuel to children who thrive to do well every day in kindergarden or school. Apart from its ability to keep teeth healthy, it supplies carbohydrate energy in a more steady and sustained way, which has been linked to enhanced memory performance and improved mood in school age children.

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For Seniors

Blood sugar management is relevant in supporting a healthy aging process and reducing the risk of metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. It’s a lifelong process and yet particularly important for seniors, as the body’s insulin sensitivity declines with age and the prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance (or pre-diabetes) increases. In fact, nearly 1 in 5 seniors have diabetes mellitus – which is why effective blood sugar management is increasingly relevant for this age group.

Offering a lower impact on blood glucose levels, isomaltulose can help support blood glucose management and promote an improved metabolic profile which is more favourable for healthy aging and the prevention of metabolic diseases.

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Metabolic Syndrome

Awareness for health and healthy ageing is often low until first moderate health issues occur. When rising levels of blood sugar or cholesterol, blood pressure or other parameters indicate a risk for metabolic diseases, it is important to implement certain diet and lifestyle changes that can help halt progression. Blood sugar management and insulin sensitivity play a key role.

Isomaltulose can be consumed to help lower blood sugar levels and improve overall metabolism in those who are predisposed to these conditions. It has shown positive effects on insulin resistance in people with poor or deteriorating insulin sensitivity. Along with its role in blood glucose control and weight management, emerging science links isomaltulose to benefits for cardiovascular health such as insulin sensitivity and arterial stiffness.

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Diabetes

For those diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, blood glucose control is imperative to maintaining quality of life and preventing secondary diseases and diabetic complications. A low-GI diet has proven to be beneficial for diabetes management, and isomaltulose can support these nutritional recommendations.

With its low effect on blood sugar levels and potential to improve glucose flux, isomaltulose can serve as the “better sugar” for people with diabetes. Additionally, when diabetic people want to engage in sports, isomaltulose can help to stabilize blood sugar levels.

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Glycemic Index value and other markers explained

Tools like the Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL) are used to describe and compare the effect of carbohydrates and carbohydrate foods on blood sugar levels. The Glycemic Index concept was first introduced by Jenkins and co-workers in the early 1980th. The researchers used the Glycemic Index as a tool to illustrate that the same amount of carbohydrate (50 g) consumed with different foods can elicit very different blood glucose responses. For instance, starch in lentils or pasta has a much lower effect on blood sugar levels than for instance starch in boiled potatoes or white bread, which behave more like traditional sugars in terms of a fast and high, pronounced blood glucose response. And also sugars cover the entire range from fast and high glycemic (e.g. glucose) to low and slow blood glucose responses (e.g. isomaltulose).

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Slow release

Slow release carbohydrates are a preferred carbohydrate source in human nutrition because of their benefits for blood sugar management and metabolic health: The slow and steady supply of glucose keeps blood sugar levels low and more stable. Less insulin is required and allows to create a better metabolic profile. Hence, as a means to lower glycaemia, slow release carbohydrates can contribute to a healthy diet and support efforts in the prevention and management of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, CVD and obesity.

The availability of fully digestible slow release carbohydrates is limited, though. Most carbohydrates are readily digestible, causing fast and high blood sugar spikes, like highly processed starch, maltodextrins or most common sugars. Isomaltulose is different: As a fully digestible slow release carbohydrate, it supplies the body with glucose in a more balanced and sustained way, with low effect on blood sugar and insulin levels.

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Isomaltulose - low blood glucose response scientifically established

Carbohydrates can largely differ in their effect on blood glucose levels. While readily digestible carbohydrates like cooked starch, maltodextrin and most sugars induce a high rise in blood sugar levels, the slow release carbohydrate isomaltulose has a low effect on blood sugar levels, yet it still provides the desired carbohydrate energy. The low glycemic properties of isomaltulose have been verified in a large body of research and confirmed for different population groups. With a GI of 32, tested at Sydney University, isomaltulose classifies as ‘low GI’ carbohydrate.

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High blood sugar weakens immune health

It was known already before COVID-19 that high blood sugar levels alter the innate immune response to infections. Previous viral pandemics showed that diabetes worsened the progress of viral infections resulting in higher mortality rates. Read about further findings from the COVID-19 pandemic regarding the impact of high blood sugar on immune health.

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Why to look for ‘reduced glycaemic’

The global burden of non-communicable diseases such as overweight and obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases forces us to re-think about the nutritional quality of our foods and the carbohydrate quality in our diet. Meanwhile, there is broad scientific consensus that carbohydrate-based foods with low or reduced glycaemic properties should be the preferred food choices.

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Isomaltulose enhances the secretion of the incretin GLP-1

Isomaltulose exerts beneficial effects on metabolic parameters that are important for the maintenance of blood glucose control, healthy body weight, and cardiovascular health. The stimulating effect of isomaltulose on the secretion of the incretin glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) contributes to these health benefits.

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