title: A novel carbon isotope biomarker for dietary sugar.
abstract: Light element isotope signatures have been used to study food webs in many ecological niches, including those of ancient humans, but to a far lesser extent in modern humans. A recent paper presented results from a pilot study testing the utility of carbon isotope ratio analysis of alanine to measure an individual's sugar intake in the United States. A strong correlation was found between the enrichment of (13)C in alanine and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. This candidate biomarker of sugar consumption deserves further consideration as an objective marker for use in the study of the relationship between sugar intake and health.
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA. dschoell@nutrisci.wisc.edu
authors.forename: Dale A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Schoeller
mesh_terms: D000409:Alanine / Q000097:blood*; D001628:Beverages / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000097:blood*; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D000409:Alanine