Effect of sweetener type on acute glucose and triglyceride responses

INTERVENTION: 3 acute crossover interventions with 3 muffins per visit will be consumed at 8am over 15 minutes after a 12 hour fast. A cup of tea or coffee can be consumed with the snack as long as it is consumed in the same way for each test. Each muffin is 100g (raw weight) and each test meal contains 3 muffins. The three sweeteners used are Sugar (63g), Fructose (51g) and Splenda (6g). The test meal containing sucrose also includes 32g cream (35% fat) and the meal containing fructose includes 24g of cream in order to standardise the fat content. All three test meals contain 66g fat. Energy content of the Sugar meal is 4.7MJ; the Fructose meal is 4.6 MJ and the Splenda meal is 4.1MJ. Total carbohydrate is 119g for the Sugar meal, 109g for the Fructose meal and 80g for the Splenda meal. Each test will be repeated at weekly intervals and the usual diet will be continued between tests. An indwelling cannula will be inserted and remain for the 4 hours of the test. Blood samples will be taken at 0,30,60,90,120,150,180,210 and 240 minutes. Blood samples will be used to measure glucose, triglyceride, free fatty acids (measured on the Konelab) and the inflammatory markers IL1, IL6 and CRP (measured by ELISA). CONDITION: Obesity PRIMARY OUTCOME: Blood samples will be used to measure glucose, triglyceride, and free fatty acids (measured on Konelab). These tests comprise the primary outcome. SECONDARY OUTCOME: inflammatory markers IL1, IL6 and CRP (measured by ELISA). Inflammatory markers comprise the secondary outcome. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Healthy men and women. BMI 19 ‐ 40.