Not all sugars are affected by the Maillard reaction; only reducing sugars, like the simple-structured types of lactose or glucose, transform. And crucially, there needs to be intensive heat.

Researchers from Jiangnan University in China conducted a study suggesting that gut microbes, particularly the bacterium Bacteroides vulgatus, may play a role in sugar cravings and blood sugar ...

Benedict's solution gradually turns from blue to cloudy orange or brick red when heated with a reducing sugar. Sucrose is a non-reducing sugar and does not react with Benedict's solution.