Maltodextrin
Also known as: Modified food starch (variant)
Short-chain glucose polymer. Barely sweet. Spikes glucose harder than table sugar.
At a glance
How Maltodextrin compares to table sugar on the three numbers most people actually want.
What it actually is
Maltodextrin is a short chain of glucose units (DE 3–20) made by partial hydrolysis of corn, rice or potato starch. It is mildly sweet at best — its real role is bulk, mouthfeel and texture in 'low-sugar' or 'sugar-free' products.
Metabolically it is essentially fast glucose: GI of ~110, higher than table sugar. This is the catch in many 'sugar-free' Splenda packets and 'keto' protein bars — the headline sweetener has zero glycemic impact, but the maltodextrin bulking agent does.
Read labels. If maltodextrin is high on the ingredient list, the product's blood-sugar response will be much worse than its 'sugar-free' framing suggests.
- Useful textural bulking agent
- Cheap
- Glycemic load equal to or higher than sucrose
- Hidden in many 'sugar-free' and 'keto' products
- Microbiome shifts in animal models
Regulatory status
In practice
- Industrial bulking — rarely a standalone choice
- Diabetic
- Glycemic-conscious
- Strict keto
Many 'sugar-free' Splenda packets, protein bars, sports drinks
The evidence
Selected peer-reviewed sources behind the score. Open access where possible. Read our scoring methodology for how we weight evidence tiers.
Recommended swaps
Higher-scoring alternatives that perform similarly in use.