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Although the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee concluded that there was moderate evidence that substituting sugar-containing sweeteners with low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) reduces calorie intake and weight, dietary recommendations encourage substituting only water for sugar-sweetened beverages during weight management. This cross-sectional study evaluated the relation of water and no- and low-calorie sweetened beverage (LCSB) intake with nutrient intakes and prediabetes criteria using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001–2012 in 25,817 adults that were free of diabetes. Although linear trends were observed with both beverages, higher LCSB intake was associated with significantly lower consumption of carbohydrates (−9.1 g/day vs. −1.4 g/day), total sugars (−10.9 g/day vs. −2.2 g/day), and added sugars (−2.0 tsp eq vs. −0.8 tsp eq) than those associated with higher water intake. Higher intake of both beverages was significantly associated with lower insulin levels (p < 0.01); however, higher intake of LCSB was also associated with lower hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and lower homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (p < 0.01). We observed lower odds ratios for elevated HbA1c (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.79, 95% CI 0.64–0.98), HOMA-IR (0.68, 0.53–0.87), and insulin levels (0.63, 0.49–0.80) in LCSB among the higher (2+ servings) intake group compared to the lowest (<1 serving) intake group. Contrary to conventional wisdom, LCSB consumption was associated with equal, if not better, dietary intake and glycemic response than water consumption. Although observational in nature, these results contribute to the growing body of evidence from human studies suggesting that in addition to water, LCSBs can also be sensible choices for reducing sugars and carbohydrate intake, with no adverse associations to measures of glycemic response.

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The influence of various factors on the stability of free tryptophan was evaluated in several reaction systems. After treatment, tryptophan was measured by high performance liquid chromatography. Factors such as heating, protein, and glucose were responsible for tryptophan losses in a system undergoing Maillard browning. Hydrogen peroxide caused extensive losses while pH and light had minimal effect on tryptophan stability in solution. When the stability of tryptophan was compared to lysine and threonine during browning, threonine had the highest retention. At low water activity (0.22), tryptophan had the lowest retention (42%) while at a high water activity (0.75) lysine had the lowest retention (5%). When fortified corn tortillas were made using the typical heat treatment involved in preparation, retention of added lysine and tryptophan was 85–90%.