Is it possible to get the sweetness of sugar along with the health benefits of fiber?

Transcript

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

For decades, doctors urged Americans to eat less sugar. It didn't work.

(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: The next level of Nerds.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: Refresh your senses with a kick of citrus flavor.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: Irresistibly smooth chocolate.

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

Since it's unlikely we're ever going to just stop eating sugar, what if there was a way for food to do what sugar does without the sugary downside? I mean, it's such a - sounds too good to be true.

FADEL: (Laughter) Well, maybe not. Back in 2018, the food company Kraft Heinz asked Harvard scientists to do just that. Sam Inverso is with Harvard's Wyss Institute, founded by scientist Don Ingber.

SAM INVERSO: So Don Ingber had the idea that nature's kind of already solved this - we have enzymes that convert sugar to fiber in plant stalks, and so really, what we needed was a method to prevent that enzyme from converting the sugar to fiber while it's on the shelf.

MARTÍNEZ: They figured out how to contain this enzyme - or, as Inverso says, cage it.

INVERSO: So while it's in the cookie on the shelf, it's not converting the sugar to fiber. When you eat it, you taste normal sugar. As it moves through your digestive system, it passes through your stomach, which is really acidic, and as it gets to your intestines, the cage actually opens up.

FADEL: Once released, the enzyme can convert 30% of the sugar into fiber.

INVERSO: At the moment, we've shown it works in juices. We've also done it in chocolate bars.

MARTÍNEZ: Inverso says the same concept might also be used to help people who are gluten sensitive or lactose intolerant.

INVERSO: The - kind of our invention doesn't depend on the enzyme itself. You could swap any enzyme in, so you can put a lactase inside of this encapsulation, and then put it into something that has milk.

FADEL: We should note, though, that this is just one study, funded by one company. Scientists, nutritionists and regulators are all seeking solutions to an overabundance of sugar in the American diet. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.