Sweetener tastes like sugar but healthier, with fewer calories

Sweet salvation?

Scientists at Tufts University have discovered a way to produce a safe dupe for sucrose, AKA table sugar.

Better yet, the sweet stuff has significantly fewer calories, minimal impact on blood sugar, and may even have potential benefits for oral and gut health.

Unlike artificial sweeteners, tagatose is a naturally occurring sugar found in small amounts in certain fruits and dairy products.

Scientists say tagatose is 92 percent as sweet as table sugar and has about a third as many calories.

“Generally recognized as safe” by the FDA, tagatose may be beneficial for people with diabetes because it has a much smaller effect on blood glucose and insulin levels than conventional sugar.

Scientists believed that part of the reason tagatose doesn’t cause strong insulin spikes the way sugar and artificial sweeteners do is that it is fermented in the large intestine and is thus only partially absorbed into the bloodstream.

Low in calories and poorly absorbed by the body, tagatose is further distinguished by its ability to function as a “bulk sweetener,” which can be used in cooking and baking.

Unlike high-intensity sweeteners, tagatose browns like table sugar when heated and, in taste tests, has been shown to match the flavor and mouthfeel of conventional sugar.

Though sugar itself is a natural enemy of dentists everywhere, tagatose has been deemed “tooth-friendly.”

While sugar actively feeds the bacteria that cause tooth decay, tagatose appears to limit the growth of some of those harmful oral microbes.

Research also suggests that tagatose may have a probiotic effect, boosting healthy bacteria in both the mouth and the gut.

Unlike glucose, fructose, and sucrose, tagatose is produced in very small quantities and is thus usually manufactured rather than extracted from food.

The results of this most recent study show that tagatose can be produced sustainably and efficiently, challenges that thus far have prevented the product from being brought to market.

So why isn’t everyone eating tagatose? Until now, it’s been too rare, since processes to produce it are inefficient and expensive, explained Nik Nair, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering at Tufts.

To remedy this, the team at Tufts developed a production strategy that relies on genetically engineered bacteria — which is cheaper and more efficient.

The researchers say that their approach could enable efficient production of other rare sugars, potentially transforming how sweeteners are created and consumed in the future.

For now, Nair and his team hope to further optimize tagatose production.

And production will need to ramp up to meet demand, as projected estimates suggest the tagatose market will reach US$250 million by 2032.

However, the sweet stuff is not for all tongues, as tagatose is metabolized in the gut in a manner similar to fructose or fruit sugar, meaning those with fructose intolerance should avoid it.

The expansion of the tagatose market comes amid concerns about artificial sweeteners.

In 2023, the World Health Organization cautioned against the use of non-sugar sweeteners, and studies have shown that artificial sweeteners can negatively impact gut health, damage DNA, disrupt the liver’s detoxification process, and even potentially increase the risk of diabetes.