Moscow Nutritionists Test Sugar-Free Vanilla Ice Cream on Metabolic Patients
In October 2026, researchers at the Federal Research Centre of Nutrition, Biotechnology and Food Safety in Moscow tested a sugar-free vanilla ice cream on 101 patients diagnosed with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, science-et-vie.com reported. The clinical trial, published in the journal Clinical Nutrition ESPEN, evaluated whether substituting traditional sucrose with a high-intensity plant protein could blunt the blood sugar spikes typically triggered by desserts. The experience aims at an ordinary scene, the end-of-meal dessert bowl, rather than a drug.
Brazzein Replaces Sucrose to Sweeten Dessert Formulas
These liver-fragrant patients ate an ice cream sweetened by a little-known protein named brazzein, which West Africans have long consumed in the fruit of the serendipity berry, a forest liana. At equal weight, it sweetens up to 2,000 times stronger than sucrose, meaning a few milligrams suffice where an ordinary ice cream claims tens of grams. The body can digest and treat it as a dietary protein, and because the body processes brazzein as a dietary protein, the ingredient withstands temperatures up to 80 degrees Celsius and remains stable across various acidity levels, widening its usage possibilities in making varied foods, including frozen desserts. However, replacing sugar in ice cream does not concern sweetness alone; it also contributes to texture, volume, and viscosity, meaning developing alternatives requires additional ingredients to preserve the usual characteristics of the product. Each volunteer consumed 100-gram portions of vanilla ice cream across three separate days in a randomized sequence. The first serving contained standard sucrose, the second used brazzein alone, and the third combined brazzein with inulin, a plant-derived dietary fiber. Continuous glucose monitors attached to the participants’ arms tracked blood sugar levels for two and a half hours after every tasting.
Glycemic Spikes Drop by Half Following the Trial Dessert
Continuous glucose monitoring showed that blood sugar levels rose about half as much after participants ate the sugar-free ice cream versions compared to the traditional sucrose recipe. The reduction in glycemic response was particularly pronounced among participants with type 2 diabetes, whose blood sugar typically surges higher after consuming carbohydrates. Neither the patients nor the medical staff knew which recipe was served during each tasting session. The trial appears on the public registry of clinical studies.
Researchers recorded no serious adverse effects during the investigation. However, the study formulations introduced variables beyond just the protein. The sugar-free desserts also incorporated polyols and fibers—such as maltitol, erythritol, and oligofructose—depending on the specific batch. Because these sugar alcohols and fibers independently slow glucose absorption in the intestinal tract—with polyols, those sugar-alcohols of sugar-free chewing gums, passing poorly through the intestinal barrier—investigators could not isolate the exact glycemic impact solely attributable to brazzein, and a direct comparison between brazzein alone and these ingredients would settle the question, though the trial did not plan it.
Long-Term Metabolic Studies Remain Necessary
Because participants consumed each ice cream recipe only once during the trial, study authors said longer-term investigations are needed to determine whether replacing sugary desserts regularly yields sustained benefits for liver health, metabolism, or the gut microbiome; while the results suggest a way to develop desserts with less impact on glucose levels, they do not prove a treatment for diabetes or metabolic steatosis, and researchers estimate that alternatives to traditional sweets could reduce added sugar intake without requiring people to give them up completely, as strict dietary restrictions can make recommendations difficult to follow. The World Health Organization advised against using sweeteners for weight management in 2023, noting potential cardiovascular risks associated with prolonged consumption, while brazzein itself still awaits formal market authorization in Europe.
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