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Session: Meal Timing and Diet Quality for Prevention of Obesity and/or Cardiometabolic Disease (Oral 14)

(OR14-05-23) Substituting Refined Sugars by Maple Syrup Decreases Key Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Individuals With Mild Metabolic Alterations: A Double-Blind, Crossover RCT

Monday, July 24, 2023

8:48 AM – 9:00 AM ET

Location: Constitution B

Presenting Author(s)

André Marette, PhD

Full Professor
Québec Heart and Lung Institute Université Laval
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Disclosure(s): Maple syrup producers: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing); Independent Contractor (including contracted research) (Ongoing); Speaker/Speaker's Bureau (Ongoing)

Co-Author(s)

AM

Arianne Morissette

Québec Heart and Lung Institute Université Laval
AA

Anne-Laure Agrinier

Québec Heart and Lung Institute Université Laval
GP

Geneviève Pilon, n/a

Project manager
Québec Heart and Lung Institute Université Laval
Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, Quebec, Canada
TG

Théo Gignac

Research Center Of CHU Université Laval
LR

Lamia Ramadan

Québec Heart and Lung Institute Université Laval
JM

Julie Marois

Centre Nutrition, santé et société (NUTRISS), Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF), Université Laval
TV

Thibault V. Varin, PhD

Québec Heart and Lung Institute Université Laval
Québec, Quebec, Canada
�L

Éric Larose

Québec Heart and Lung Institute Université Laval
CG

Claudia Gagnon

Research Center Of CHU Université Laval
BA

Benoit Arsenault

Québec Heart and Lung Institute Université Laval
JD

Jean-Pierre Després

Québec Heart and Lung Institute Université Laval
AC

Anne-Marie Carreau

Research Center Of CHU Université Laval
MV

Marie-Claude Vohl, PhD

Professor
Centre Nutrition, santé et société (NUTRISS), Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF), Université Laval
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Disclosure(s):

André Marette, PhD: Maple syrup producers: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing); Independent Contractor (including contracted research) (Ongoing); Speaker/Speaker's Bureau (Ongoing)

Objectives: Maple syrup is a minimally transformed sweetener rich in polyphenols. Evidence suggests that polyphenols can exert a prebiotic-like action and improve cardiometabolic outcomes. In line with this, animal studies have reported that maple syrup could be less detrimental than refined sugars to metabolic health. However, to date, no randomized clinical trial has investigated the impact of replacing refined sugars with maple syrup on cardiometabolic risk factors and gut microbiota composition. The primary outcome was to examine the effect of substituting 5% of the total daily energy provided by added sugars with an equivalent quantity of maple syrup on gut microbiota composition, and the secondary outcomes were to investigate its impact on metabolic parameters.

Methods: A randomized, double-blind, controlled crossover trial was conducted in 42 adults with mild alterations in their cardiometabolic profile and a body mass index between 23 and 40 kg/m². Participants were instructed to substitute 5% of their total caloric intake provided by added sugars with either maple syrup or an artificially flavoured sucrose syrup for eight weeks. The fecal microbiota composition, determined by whole-genome shotgun sequencing, and cardiometabolic risk factors were assessed before and after each intervention phase.

Results: Replacement of refined sugars by maple syrup shift the fecal microbiota composition has revealed by decreased abundance of Bacteroides Pectinophilus and Klebsiella in the fecal microbiome of participants. Remarkably, maple syrup was less detrimental than sucrose on key cardiometabolic risk factors, such as systolic blood pressure (p=0.03), android fat mass (p=0.02), plasma glucose area under the curve (iAUC) during the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) (p=0.05).

Conclusions: These results suggest that using maple syrup as a preferred source of added sugar is less deleterious on metabolic health than refined sugars, and was associated with changes in the gut microbiota composition.

Funding Sources: The Producteurs et productrices acéricoles du Québec (PPAQ) and the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ)