Dessert that goes easy on your blood sugar sounds like a unicorn. A sweet protein called brazzein may be a step toward one. In a new brazzein blood sugar study of adults with fatty liver disease, ice cream made with it caused smaller post-meal glucose spikes than the regular sugar version, according to Al Jazeera’s report on the research.
Yes, scientists got people to eat ice cream for research. Before you stock the freezer, though, read the fine print.
What the brazzein blood sugar study tested
Researchers at Russia’s Federal Research Centre of Nutrition, Biotechnology and Food Safety ran the trial. It enrolled 101 adults with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, or MASLD. That is the newer name for fatty liver disease tied to metabolic problems. The results appeared in the journal Clinical Nutrition ESPEN.
Each person ate a 100-gram serving of vanilla ice cream on three separate days. One version used sugar. Another used brazzein. The third used brazzein plus inulin, a type of fiber. ScienceAlert’s write-up of the paper lays out that setup.
What the brazzein trial found
Both brazzein versions produced lower post-meal spikes than the sugar version. ScienceAlert and its Yahoo syndication say the spikes were about half as large. Al Jazeera, however, says only that they were lower. That gap matters, and we could not check the exact numbers against the journal paper.
The drop was most notable in participants with type 2 diabetes. It was still substantial in those without it. Notably, the researchers reported no serious side effects.
What this sweetener actually is
Brazzein is a natural protein first found in the West African oubli plant. Today, manufacturers largely make it by fermentation. It is far sweeter than sugar. ScienceAlert says up to 2,000 times sweeter by weight, while a related paper in MDPI puts the range at 500 to 2,000 times. Because it is so intense, a tiny amount does the job.
It also holds up to heat, up to about 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit), and across a wide range of acidity. That is why food makers are interested. Ice cream is only the start. If you like picking apart what’s really inside popular foods, our look at what’s really inside a Lunchables tray is a good companion read.
Here’s the thing: this sweet protein research is not a free pass
If you or someone you love is managing blood sugar or liver health, this is the part to read twice. The researchers themselves are careful. The sugar-free recipes differed in other ingredients, so we cannot pin the effect on brazzein alone. The inulin arm muddies things further. The trial was also short. It tells us about one dessert, one sitting and one group of people with fatty liver disease, many of them obese.
It says nothing about liver fat, diabetes or blood pressure over months or years. The authors say as much. In their words, “longer-term studies are needed to determine whether repeated substitution of sucrose-containing desserts with brazzein-sweetened alternatives translates into sustained metabolic, hepatic, microbiome, or behavioural benefits.” Nutrition science often works this way, finding a link before it proves a cure, as our piece on the Mediterranean diet and cognition shows.
Why people with fatty liver care about the brazzein blood sugar study
MASLD affects an estimated 25 to 30 percent of adults worldwide. Cutting dietary sugar is a key target in managing it. A related double-blind sensory trial of 103 adults with MASLD found participants accepted brazzein ice cream about as well as the sugar version. The scores were 96.1 percent versus 98.1 percent. That is a different paper from the glycemic study, so don’t mix the two up.
Meanwhile, industry is already moving. Pentasweet has begun building a 65 million euro brazzein plant in Vilnius, Lithuania. The company’s own claims about the sweetener are just that: company claims. As with any food label that promises more than it delivers, read them with a grain of salt.
What comes next
The authors want longer studies that swap sugar for brazzein across many everyday foods, and they have announced no dates. As for the grocery aisle, we have not verified whether regulators have cleared brazzein for US foods, so don’t expect it on shelves just yet.
For now, the takeaway is modest but real. A sweet protein cut one dessert’s blood sugar punch in the people who need that most.
Whether it changes anyone’s health over a year is the question nobody can answer yet.
