SynthesisNutrition reviews2022
Rare sugars and their health effects in humans: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of the evidence from human trials.
Synthesis in Nutrition reviews, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 97 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of D-Tagatose on Cariogenic Risk: A Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of honey on cardiometabolic risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Nutrition reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Allulose for the attenuation of postprandial blood glucose levels in healthy humans: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Short-term effects of allulose consumption on glucose homeostasis, metabolic parameters, incretin levels, and inflammatory markers in patients with type 2 diabetes: a double-blind, randomized, controlled crossover clinical trial.European journal of nutrition · 2023Trial
- Advances in the Production of D-Tagatose Using L-Arabinose Isomerase.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Metabolic alterations in Snyder-Robinson syndrome lymphoblasts are ameliorated by phenylbutyrate treatment.Molecular genetics and metabolism · 2026Article
- Fibroblast growth factor 21-inducing rare sugars prevent diet-induced obesity in male BL/6 mice.Endocrine journal · 2026Article
- Current Progress and Future Directions of Enzyme Technology in Food Nutrition: A Comprehensive Review of Processing, Nutrition, and Functional Innovation.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Negative feedback regulation of alcohol ingestion through the FGF21-PVH oxytocin-VTA dopamine system.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Culture-based studies of intestinal lactobacilli in young people and centenarians.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Engineering ofCurrent research in food science · 2026Article
- Recombinant production of acidophilic L-arabinose isomerase from Lentilactobacillus parakefiri in Bacillus subtilis.Microbial cell factories · 2025Article
- The effects of rare sugar on cardiometabolic alterations: a recent update from basic science to clinical application.European journal of nutrition · 2025Review
- Identification of FGF21-inducing rare sugars that reduces sugar appetite in male BL/6 mice.Physiological reports · 2025Article
- Neural Mechanisms and Alterations of Sweet Sensing: Insights from Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Photocatalytic syntheses and evaluation of biological activities of rare disaccharides, 3-O-α-D-glucopyranosyl-D-arabinose.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Comparison of Two l-Arabinose Isomerases for Multienzymatic Conversion of Lactose in Skim Milk Permeate at Neutral and Acidic pH.Journal of agricultural and food chemistry · 2025Article
- Article
- Systematic synthesis of rare sugars and stereospecific conversion via photocatalysis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Rediscovering Sweetness: The Evolution and Impact of Non-Nutritive and Natural Sweeteners.Current nutrition reports · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
contextRare sugars are monosaccharides and disaccharides (found in small quantities in nature) that have slight differences in their chemical structure compared with traditional sugars. Little is known about their unique physiological and cardiometabolic effects in humans.
objectiveThe objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review and synthesis of controlled intervention studies of rare sugars in humans, using PRISMA guidelines. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched through October 1, 2020. Studies included both post-prandial (acute) and longer-term (≥1 week duration) human feeding studies that examined the effect of rare sugars (including allulose, arabinose, tagatose, trehalose, and isomaltulose) on cardiometabolic and physiological risk factors. DATA EXTRACTION: In all, 50 studies in humans focusing on the 5 selected rare sugars were found. A narrative synthesis of the selected literature was conducted, without formal quality assessment or quantitative synthesis. DATA SYNTHESIS: The narrative summary included the food source of each rare sugar, its effect in humans, and the possible mechanism of effect. Overall, these rare sugars were found to offer both short- and long-term benefits for glycemic control and weight loss, with effects differing between healthy individuals, overweight/obese individuals, and those with type 2 diabetes. Most studies were of small size and there was a lack of large randomized controlled trials that could confirm the beneficial effects of these rare sugars.
conclusionRare sugars could offer an opportunity for commercialization as an alternative sweetener, especially for those who are at high cardiometabolic risk. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: OSF registration no. 10.17605/OSF.IO/FW43D.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.