Andre Marette, Professor

Medicine
Laval University

Maple syrup as a natural and beneficial alternative to sucrose for cardiometabolic health: evidence from recent animal and human studies

There is growing interest in replacing processed sugars and sweeteners with natural or less-processed alternatives to achieve better cardio-metabolic health. Recent studies have also explored the potential role of the gut microbiota in the metabolic response associated with the consumption of these sugars. I will present some recent animal and clinical studies performed by our group showing that substituting sucrose for isoenergetic amounts of maple syrup have a beneficial impact on metabolic health as well as gut microbiota composition and function in animal models of obesity and in overweight, insulin-resistant human subjects.

Speaker/Chair Bio:

Dr. Marette is Professor of Medicine and researcher at the Heart and Lung Institute and holds a research Chair on the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and cardiovascular complications of diabetes. Dr. Marette's research has advanced the understanding of the physiological and molecular mechanisms by which unhealthy diets rich in sugar promote obesity, diabetes and liver diseases. He has published over 300 papers, reviews and book chapters and was invited to give more than a hundred lectures at various national & international conferences in the last 10 years. He served as Editor-in-Chief for the Am J Physiol: Endo & Metab. from 2016-2022 and has authored two books including one entitled "La vérité sur le sucre". Dr. Marette has received several awards for his work including the prestigious Charles Best Award and Lectureship from the University of Toronto for his overall contribution to the advancement of scientific knowledge in the field of diabetes.