Introduction: Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) contain significant amounts of free sugars. SSBs consumption is strongly associated with overweight/obesity, dental caries, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and other illnesses. The aim of this work was to evaluate the content of free sugars in Argentinian SSBs.
Methods: fructose, glucose and sucrose concentrations were measured in 53 samples from carbonated and non-carbonated SSBs through colorimetric techniques; regular (n=26) and low-calorie (n=27) beverages, classified according to nutritional label, were included. The total amount of sugars was calculated and compared with the declared value.
Results: regular and low-calorie SSBs differ in their glucose, fructose and sucrose concentrations, but do not differ in their free fructose concentrations. Furthermore, SSBs display higher concentrations of fructose compared to glucose, with a fructose/glucose ratio of 1.45.
Conclusions: Regular and low-calorie SSBs differ respect of the free fructose content. This study, also, provides evidence of the variability in sugar composition in similar beverages of different brands, which can be a confounding factor for consumers. Besides the importance of the sugar content of food, it is necessary to evaluate the other components present to assess comprehensively their nutritional quality.
Calcium is an essential and critical component of human health. However, most people do not cover daily calcium recommendations. Therefore, a calcium-based drink, called BEVERAGE, is developed in order to offer an alternative source of this mineral to the population. A combination of kefir, eggshell, citric fruits, and tap water were investigated. Orange was selected because it provides the highest amount of carbohydrates for fermentation, and it is accessible to the population. The proportion of components that produce the highest concentration of calcium in the BEVERAGE was with 10 g of kefir, 6 g of eggshell, 200 ml of orange juice, and 800 ml of tap water, 20 ºC, and 72 h of incubation. With these conditions, the BEVERAGE was fortified with 600 mg calcium/liter. In addition, the intestinal absorption of calcium was evaluated through an ex vivo model of the everted small intestinal sacs, proving to be higher than the control solutions (water+CaCl2, juice+CaCl2). This study provides a methodology to prepare at home a beverage that could contribute to increase daily calcium intake.
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