SWEET TASTE AND DIET IN TYPE-II DIABETES

The relationship between sweet taste function and dietary intake was s tudied in 21 patients with type II diabetes mellitus and 16 age-, weig ht-, and sex-matched controls. Subjects rated the sweetness intensity and pleasantness of a series of beverage samples sweetened with sucros e: 1.5-24%, fructose: 1-18%, or aspartame: 0.25-4%. They also kept 7-d ay food records. No group differences were found in sweet taste percep tion, pleasantness ratings, daily energy intakes, or macronutrient com position of the diets. However, subjects with diabetes consumed less s ucrose but 3.5 times more alternative sweeteners than did controls. Pe ak pleasantness ratings for the beverage samples were positively corre lated with dietary sweetness content in the subjects with diabetes but not the controls. These findings suggest that in diabetes, hedonic ra tings for a sweetened beverage were related to dietary sweetness intak e rather than changes in sweet taste perception.