Isomaltulose and blood sugar after meals in people
What it found
In 10 studies of 367 people, isomaltulose led to lower blood sugar 60 minutes after a meal than sucrose.
The authors say the size of the drop may be modest in real terms.
What they found
Studies in people
Blood sugar at 60 minutes
Across the pooled studies, blood sugar 60 minutes after a meal was lower with isomaltulose than with sucrose. The authors describe the size of the drop as statistically significant but possibly modest in clinical terms.
Diabetic-only studies
When the analysis was limited to studies of diabetic participants only, the drop in blood sugar was slightly smaller but still present. Results varied a lot between studies.
Mixed meals vs pure sugar
The effect was smaller when isomaltulose was eaten as part of a mixed meal than when it was taken as a pure sugar solution. The authors suggest other parts of the meal may affect how glucose is absorbed.
Type 1 vs type 2 diabetes
Studies in people with type 2 diabetes showed a drop in blood sugar of about 7.65 mg/dL, while type 1 diabetes studies showed about 6.60 mg/dL. The authors note the effect was consistent in both groups but based on few type 1 studies.
Healthy participants
Studies that included only healthy people were not part of the main pooled analysis. They were looked at separately or described in words.
Other findings
Study quality and bias
Most studies had low risk of bias for randomisation and measuring outcomes, but some had unclear or high risk in other areas. The authors also saw signs that smaller studies with more extreme results may have been published more often.
What the authors conclude
“This meta-analysis demonstrates that isomaltulose may significantly reduce postprandial glycemic responses compared to sucrose in diabetic and glucose-sensitive individuals.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that isomaltulose may significantly reduce blood sugar after meals compared to sucrose in diabetic and glucose-sensitive people.
- They say it has potential as a dietary alternative to help manage blood glucose levels.
- They call for larger, more diverse studies with standardised methods to confirm these results and look at broader metabolic effects.
How it was done
High blood sugar after meals can lead to complications in diabetes, so the authors wanted to see whether isomaltulose is a useful swap for sucrose.
They pooled 10 randomised or crossover studies that compared isomaltulose with sucrose and measured blood sugar 60 minutes after eating. The main analysis used diabetic or glucose-sensitive participants, while studies of healthy people were looked at separately.
What it can’t tell you
- The pooled result is an average across studies with different designs, meals and participants, so it cannot show how any one person will respond.
- The authors note that the size of the blood sugar drop may be below the threshold generally considered clinically important, so the real-world impact is uncertain.
- The review did not look at long-term outcomes like HbA1c or complications, so it cannot show whether swapping sucrose for isomaltulose changes those.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Two of the authors are affiliated with a sugar company involved in the production or distribution of isomaltulose. To mitigate any potential bias, all data extraction, statistical analyses, and result interpretations were conducted independently and transparently in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. No funding or editorial input was provided by the company. The remaining authors declare no conflicts of interest.
- Authors work at
- Guangzhou College of Technology and Business, China; The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China
The paper
- Title
- Impact of Isomaltulose on Glycemic Response in Diabetic and Healthy Populations: A Meta-Analysis
- Type
- Systematic review and meta-analysisThe authors follow a set, published method to find every relevant study, then combine the numbers from them into one result.
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Chen Z, Gu F, Wu J (2025). Impact of Isomaltulose on Glycemic Response in Diabetic and Healthy Populations: A Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu17111940Free full textPubMed 40507211DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error