Synbiotics Improve Diabetes Risk Factors

A multi-species synbiotic supplement has led to measurable improvements in weight, metabolic control and cardiovascular risk markers in elderly people with type 2 diabetes, according to results from a randomised controlled trial. The findings add to growing evidence that modulation of the gut microbiome may support cardiometabolic health in older patients at high risk.

Trial in High-Risk Older Adults

The study enrolled 96 patients aged 65 years and over with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and elevated cardiovascular risk between January 2022 and May 2023. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a synbiotic supplement or a placebo for four months. The synbiotic combined multiple probiotic species with fructooligosaccharides, a prebiotic fibre designed to promote beneficial gut bacteria.

The primary outcome was the difference in weight change between groups. Secondary outcomes included changes in body fat mass, lean body mass and biochemical markers related to glucose metabolism, lipid profiles and vascular inflammation. Eighty-five participants completed the study and were included in the final analysis.

Significant Reductions in Weight

Patients receiving the synbiotic experienced significantly greater weight loss than those given placebo. On average, body weight fell by 1.16 kg compared with placebo, alongside a reduction in body mass index of 0.44 kg/m². Body fat mass decreased by 0.99 kg, while lean body mass was maintained, an important consideration in older populations where muscle loss can worsen frailty.

Improvements in Metabolic Markers

The synbiotic group also showed clear metabolic benefits. Fasting plasma glucose fell by 22.83 mg/dl compared with placebo, and insulin resistance improved, with a reduction in the homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) of 1.31.

Cardiovascular risk markers improved in parallel. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased by 10.83 mg/dl, while total cholesterol fell by 11.78 mg/dl. Levels of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), a marker of endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation, were reduced by 85.70 ng/L in the synbiotic group compared with placebo. No serious adverse events were reported during the trial.

The authors conclude that multi-species synbiotic supplementation can deliver modest but clinically relevant improvements in weight, lipid levels, glycaemic control and vascular inflammation in elderly patients with T2DM. They suggest synbiotics may represent a safe, adjunctive approach to reducing cardiovascular risk in this growing patient population.

 

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Delicious fruit bursting with nutrients can help cut high cholesterol

Higher HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol levels are generally considered to be 'good' for heart health - and some foods can assist with raising HDL in the body.

A tasty fruit that’s a favourite with many can also help to actively lower your cholesterol. Bursting with nutrients and a specific type of insoluble fibre the unusual fruit has been associated with cardiovascular benefits in several studies.

Importantly, not all fat is bad when it comes to cholesterol and certain types of ‘healthy’ fats can actually lower ‘bad’ cholesterol in the body. Cholesterol naturally exists in the human body, it is found in the blood and works to keep the body’s cells healthy, however, there are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cholesterol types.

‘Bad’ cholesterol, also known as low-density lipoprotein (LDL), can lead to serious health issues such as heart disease or leave you at risk of a stroke. On the other hand, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is referred to as ‘good’ cholesterol because it ‘mops up’ LDL from the body’s artery walls.

This means that higher HDL levels are generally considered to be good for heart health - and some foods can assist with raising HDL in the body. One adaptable fatty fruit, the avocado, contains phytosterols, monounsaturated fats and several types of fibre - and studies show it could be helpful in reducing LDL cholesterol.

HEART UK - The Cholesterol Charity has listed avocado in a website post about ‘six cholesterol-busting foods’. The charity suggests that “cutting down on saturated fat” and replacing some of it with unsaturated fats is “a great way to lower your cholesterol” - as well as avocado, vegetable oils, oily fish, seeds and nuts are all good courses of ‘good’ fats.

The Cholesterol charity reports: “There are several foods which are not just part of a healthy diet, they can actively help to lower your cholesterol too. Try to eat some of these every day as part of your healthy diet. The more you add them to what you eat, the more they can help lower your cholesterol, especially if you cut down on saturated fat as well.”

The Healthline website also shared a post on ‘Foods That May Increase Your 'Good Cholesterol' or HDL’, which explained the science behind consuming certain foods. Healthline reported that "foods like olive oil, avocado, seeds, and nuts may reduce levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol, thereby improving the percentage of HDL (good) cholesterol in the blood”.

Healthline explained how HDL cholesterol helps to remove LDL cholesterol from arteries in the human body. The LDL (‘bad’ cholesterol) is sent to the liver to be processed and this cholesterol is therefore removed from the blood.

The website post by Healthline described this in more detail: “Eating certain foods cannot directly increase HDL levels because food doesn’t contain HDL cholesterol. However, making healthy food choices could affect the way your body metabolizes cholesterol. For instance, it could help lower LDL and raise HDL, thereby improving the HDL to LDL cholesterol ratio in your body.”

A study by the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics reported: “The results of the meta-analysis suggest that avocado consumption may reduce TC (total cholesterol) and LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) in people with elevated baseline LDL-C, without negatively impacting body weight.”

The research was published on Science Direct, and although the “certainty of these findings” was reported to be “low”. Further studies “to better understand the effects of avocados on cardiometabolic health” is needed, the paper reported.

 

 

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Huge diabetes breakthrough shocks scientists

Scientists may have just discovered a way to lower blood sugar levels in diabetics by putting them on a low-carb diet.

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A startling new discovery suggests that diabetics may be able to use a relatively straightforward trick to manage their blood sugar levels. By adopting a very low-carb diet, people with Type 1 diabetes can control blood sugar in a way researchers have not seen before, a huge discovery that could provide hope for people suffering with the disease.

The study, examined 300 people with Type 1 diabetes 130 of whom were children. Researchers found that those who ate a very low-carbohydrate and high-protein diet were able to have great control of their blood sugar levels despite taking lower doses of insulin.

They were even able to keep average blood sugar levels to 5.67 percent, below the normal level of 5.7 percent and far below the blood sugar threshold for diabetics, which is 6.5 percent. An extremely low-carb diet involves the consumption of less than 30 grams of carbohydrates per day, where as moderate consumption would be 130 to 225 grams per day. That means no sugar-sweetened foods or drinks, white bread, pasta, or starchy fruits and vegetables.

The full statement from a Hospital follows below.
Very-low-carbohydrate diets can improve blood sugar control in type 1 diabetes, with low rates of hypoglycemia and other complications, according to an online patient survey. The researchers, now call for controlled clinical trials of this approach.

The patients were drawn from a social network  community of people with type 1 diabetes committed to a very-low-carb diet as recommended by a book.

Of 493 people who took the survey, 316 provided enough information to be included in the analysis. For 138 of these participants, the researchers were able to confirm diabetes diagnosis, blood-sugar control measures, metabolic health measures and other outcomes with health care providers or through review of medical records. Forty-two percent of participants were children.

Participants reported an average daily carbohydrate intake of 36 grams, or about 5 percent of total calories (for comparison, the expert recommends about 45 percent of calories come from carbohydrates). Self-reported hemoglobin A1c values — the primary measure of blood-sugar control — averaged in the normal range, at 5.67 percent (the target is below 7 percent and prevailing levels average 8.2 percent).

Participants required lower-than-average doses of insulin (mean, 0.40 U/kg/day), and those for whom data were available had favorable measures of insulin sensitivity and cardio-metabolic health, such as low triglyceride levels and high HDL cholesterol levels.

Safety concerns have been raised about very-low-carb diets in type 1 diabetes, primarily that they increase the risk of hypoglycemia, or dangerous drops in blood sugar. However, in the study, rates of hospitalization for hypoglycemia (1 percent), diabetic ketoacidosis (2 percent) and other diabetes complications were lower than those generally reported for type 1 diabetes populations.

More than 80 percent of survey respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with their diabetes management. Yet about a quarter said they did not discuss the very-low-carb diet with their diabetes care providers, some citing concerns about being criticized or even being accused of child abuse.
The study authors note that severe carbohydrate restriction is actually a very old approach in type 1 diabetes.1 Before the discovery of insulin, it extended children’s lives, sometimes for years. Once insulin was introduced, carb restriction fell out of practice.

But the authors believe very-low-carbohydrate diets deserve further study in type 1 diabetes. Since this study was observational in nature and not controlled, they call for randomized clinical trials to rigorously test the diet’s safety and efficacy.

The authors emphasize that the results of this study, by themselves, do not justify a change in diabetes management. They strongly suggest that anyone with diabetes make dietary changes only with the supervision of a diabetes care provider.

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Eating dark chocolates may boost heart health

The team’s research summarising data from 19 trials found potential beneficial effects of flavanol-rich cocoa on cardiometabolic health.

Chocoholics, rejoice! Scientists have found that consuming flavanol-rich cocoa products such as dark chocolates may benefit cardiovascular health. 

Scientists conducted a systematic review and meta—analysis of 19 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of cocoa consumption. 

The meta-analysis focused on whether consumption of flavanol—rich cocoa products was associated with improvements in specific circulating biomarkers of cardiometabolic health as compared to consuming placebos with negligible cocoa flavanol content. In all, 1,139 volunteers were involved in these trials.

“Our meta-analysis of RCTs characterises how cocoa flavanols affect cardiometabolic biomarkers, providing guidance in designing large, definitive prevention trials against diabetes and cardiovascular disease in future work,” said Simin Liu, professor at Brown University in the US. 

“We found that cocoa flavanol intake may reduce dyslipidemia (elevated triglycerides), insulin resistance and systemic inflammation, which are all major subclinical risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases,” said Liu. 

The team’s research summarising data from 19 trials found potential beneficial effects of flavanol—rich cocoa on cardiometabolic health.

There were small-to-modest but statistically significant improvements among those who ate flavanol—rich cocoa product vs those who did not. 

The greatest effects were seen among trial volunteers who ate between 200 and 600 milligrammes of flavanols a day (based on their cocoa consumption). 

They saw significant declines in blood glucose and insulin, as well as another indicator of insulin resistance called HOMA-IR. They also saw an increase in HDL, or “good,” cholesterol. 

Those consuming higher doses saw some of the insulin resistance benefits and a drop in triglycerides, but not a significant increase in HDL. Those with lower doses of flavanols only saw a significant HDL benefit. 

In general, where there were benefits they were evident for both women and men and did not depend on what physical form the flavanol-rich cocoa product was consumed in - dark chocolate vs a beverage, for example. 

“The treatment groups of the trials included in our meta-analysis are primarily dark chocolate — a few were using cocoa powder-based beverages,” said graduate student Xiaochen Lin. 

“Therefore, the findings from the current study apparently shouldn’t be generalised to different sorts of chocolate candies or white chocolates, of which the content of sugar/food additives could be substantially higher than that of the dark chocolate,” Lin said. 

The study was published in the Journal of Nutrition. 

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