Diabetes Research Bites: Nutrient Deficiencies, Obesity Defined, Flashy Headlines and More

Dr Jedha, Host

Hello there, Dr Jedha here and thanks for tuning in to episode 80, where we’ll be covering some diabetes research bites and bits.

01:18

When it comes to research, there are always drug trials occurring, and that’s no wonder as the pharmaceutical industry makes billions from diabetes. For prediabetes, the forecast market for prediabetes alone is 599 million. For type 2 diabetes, the forecast is 69.55 billion by 2032 – that’s just in the US alone. With the growing popularity of GLP-1 agonist drugs like ozempic and wegovy, the market is predicted to reach 49 billion by 2030, which is absolutely outrageous. In medical circles, doctors are increasingly using GLP-1 and many of them believe that these drugs have “solved” type 2 diabetes, with many doctors and professionals believing we don’t need anymore research due to GLP-1’s now being available. I think this is a ridiculous notion.  While taking a pill might seem like an easy solution, we spoke about the side effects and risks of taking these drugs in episode 55 and without a doubt, reports of side effects occurring are real and can be very serious, so while drugs can sometimes be useful, they are not an ideal long term solution and if you can avoid or reduce medication dependency through diet and lifestyle, that’s always the better option. That’s why, we will be focused on covering new and interesting research that focuses on foods, natural supplements, and lifestyle strategies that can help you achieve better results. 

03:23

But of course, not all research is good research and it’s common to see a lot of bad research making big claims across news headlines, so first we’re going to dive into a recent study that’s been making headlines with some crazy claims, like: Eating this fruit daily can improve insulin resistance in just 4 weeks or that eating 2 cups a day of this fruit can prevent diabetes – what is this supposed magical fruit, it’s mango.

My first line of thinking was this sounded ridiculous, two cups of mango amounts to around 40-54g of carbohydrates, and 38-50 g sugar, depending on the type of mango. In any case, mangoes are one of the highest carbohydrate and highest sugar fruits, so it doesn’t make sense logically that eating two cups of mangoes a day could prevent diabetes, as that’s a lot of carbs and sugar for any person’s body to process. So, I had to investigate this study closer, as with the logic, you can already assume the study has major flaws.

The participants were people with overweight or obesity and chronic low-grade inflammation. The researchers hypothesized that the mangoes would improve inflammation status in the participants, which would improve insulin sensitivity. 

The study indicated that there was an improvement in insulin sensitivity, but it wasn’t due to improved inflammatory status, as that didn’t change. 

05:01

The reality is, mangoes can’t be acclaimed as the next miracle cure to prevent diabetes, as this study practically demonstrates nothing. 

Let’s look closer at a few of the study flaws.

Firstly, The control group consumed Italian Ice, a sugar-laden frozen dessert with no fiber or polyphenols, so it’s very difficult to compare that to intake of a natural fruit that does contain fiber and polyphenols – it’s just not a good comparison and of course you would expect that the people eating mangoes would have a better outcome. 

It’s also unclear what the overall dietary intake of the participants was as no dietary data was provided. Plus, participants in the mango group were advised to eat other high-polyphenol foods, but the study did not specify which ones, or again, report any dietary data. What this means is that any improvements in insulin sensitivity could have been due to other dietary changes.

The results reported no effect on blood glucose, which is interesting, because if insulin sensitivity truly improved, we would expect to see glucose levels improving in an oral glucose test as well—but nothing changed there and it didn’t change for fasting glucose levels either, so this raises questions about the observed changes. 

The study also had other flaws, and, it should also be pointed out that the study was funded by the National Mango Board, which raises concerns about bias in study design and interpretation.

The takeaway here is that these click bait news headlines we often see, such as this claim that eating two cups of mango per day prevents diabetes is highly misleading. The high sugar content of mango makes it a very unlikely candidate for diabetes prevention. The fact that a person who eats more mangoes would eat other nutrient dense or polyphenol-rich healthy foods, well yes, overall that would suggest diabetes prevention was more likely. But this study was a straight comparison of mangoes compared to a sugar-laden frozen dessert with no fiber or polyphenols. Of course, mango is the better option in that scenario! But that doesn’t mean it’s some magic fruit for diabetes prevention—it just means it’s not as bad as ice cream!

So, I wanted to share this study so you can see that not all research is good research and in fact, there’s a lot of poor research making news headlines and misleading the public. You’ve always got to have a few radars on when you’re surfing the wild west web. If you’re one of our members, your best source of information is the members library which has over 500 resources ((and growing) and these resources cover all types of foods, blood sugar topics, supplements, and all the best strategies you can rely on and trust to help you get the best results with your blood sugar and achieve the best health possible. 

09:05

Moving on, there’s been another headline traveling around about the new plant-based pill that could change diabetes. This study was about berberine, which has a lot of previous research for its benefits, and we covered that research in episode 21 and how it can help you with lowering glucose levels, fasting glucose, A1c and improving insulin resistance. This new research was investigating a new formulation that binds berberine to ursodeoxycholic acid, which was supposedly designed to enhance its bioavailability and absorption. The previous research on berberine is all very impressive and it’s a supplement we certainly recommend, as it’s shown to be as effective as Metformin in clinical trials. The results of this new trial aren’t as good as some of the previous studies and they don’t demonstrate that this new formula is any better than current berberine formulas, so the fact of that matter is that they will need more trials and better comparisons before establishing whether this is in fact a new and improved way of delivering berberine. But again, berberine is a fantastic supplement for T2 and prediabetes and we will leave more info about berberine in the show notes. 

10:37

There was a new systematic review and meta-analysis that found drinking herbal tea reduces fasting blood glucose and A1c, along with total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. Of course, we know something as simple as drinking tea can be particularly powerful to support better health, and we covered some of those teas in episode 53, one of our most popular episodes. While I won’t go into details on this new tea study, I wanted to emphasize that it really is small simple things done consistently that make all the difference. And something as simple as drinking herbal tea can help improve your blood sugar, cholesterol and health. 

11:29

Another important report that emerged earlier this year was a big shift in how obesity is defined. For years, body mass index or BMI has been the go-to measure for obesity, but here’s the problem: it doesn’t distinguish between fat and muscle or consider where fat is stored. We knew it was a poor measure, as even athletes were classified as obese using this simplified BMI definition. 

Instead of just BMI, this new approach recommends looking at a variety of factors. 

Waist Circumference (WC) – Fat around the belly, because that matters more than total weight, as visceral fat—fat in the belly area around your organs—is far more dangerous than fat stored in other areas like your arms or legs.

Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR) – compares belly fat to overall body shape, which is a very important consideration. 

Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR) – which is a better predictor of metabolic risk than BMI. 

And of course, we can get Direct Body Fat Measurements from tools like DEXA scans.

Using these measurements, instead of just BMI in solo, we can get a much better picture of a person’s overall metabolic health. 

This is certainly a step in the right direction and we’ll include more about these measurements and how you can use them in the show notes alongside this episode. 

But interestingly, there are also downfalls to new diagnostic criteria, as while it’s meant to improve care, it can often lead to more unnecessary medical treatments—just like we’ve seen with over-medicalization of prediabetes, something we discussed in episode 69. This new criteria creates two categories, preclinical obesity and clinical obesity. The new criteria suggest early weight-loss interventions for Preclinical Obesity, which sounds good… but does that mean more people getting pushed onto medications instead of focusing on nutrition and lifestyle changes? Let’s hope that’s not the case, but only time will tell. 

You can find more info on Waist Circumference, Waist-to-Hip Ratio and Waist-to-Height Ratio, so you can make these simple assessments on yourself as well. 

14:42

The last piece of important research that I wanted to highlight was a study that highlighted that many people with type 2 diabetes may be walking around with multiple, significant nutrient deficiencies that may be impacting blood sugar, energy levels, and overall health.

Your body needs essential vitamins and minerals to function properly. The study found that nearly half of people with type 2 diabetes have multiple deficiencies, with key nutrients like:

• Magnesium – Crucial for insulin regulation and glucose metabolism, a deficiency can worsen insulin resistance and blood sugar control and increase risk of diabetes complications.
• Vitamin B12 – often depleted by long-term metformin use, deficiency can lead to nerve damage and fatigue, constipation, depression and irritability.
• Vitamin D – Supports insulin production, helps combat insulin resistance and helps regulate hundreds of genes throughout our body, deficiency can worsen insulin resistance, increase oxidative stres and inflammation in the body’s cells and make blood sugar control harder.
• Zinc – Essential for immune function, wound healing, and blood sugar metabolism so deficiency increases risk of infection and slows wound healing.
• Iron – Vital for oxygen transport and metabolic function, deficiency impacting blood sugar control, inflammation and energy levels.

These are all essential nutrients that our body needs to function properly and for T2 and prediabetes, these deficiencies can obviously make blood sugar management more difficult. 

A combination of factors contribute to nutrient deficiencies in diabetes: 

The modern western diet is full of poor food choices and quite simply, processed, high-carb foods lack essential nutrients. 

Medication interference—metformin, for example, reduces B12 levels over time in a large percentage of people.

Things like chronic inflammation and metabolic dysfunction in type 2 diabetes may also play a role in reducing the body’s ability to absorb or retain essential nutrient

But, one of the most important factors is: in a state of high blood sugar and high insulin levels, the body’s cells simply have poor nutrient uptake and increased nutrient losses, which leads to deficiency in these essential micronutrients.

There have been previous studies highlighting nutrient deficiencies being more common in diabetes. But this study found almost half of people have multiple nutrient deficiencies and while that’s serious and concerning, it’s fixable! It emphasizes the power of nutrition and that a quality nutrition plan should be the foundation of diabetes management, as it helps to provide your body with all the key nutrients it needs to function at its best and avoid these deficiencies. And of course, if necessary, you can consider supplements to help boost levels. The key takeaway here: people with type 2 diabetes and prediabetes need to focus on NUTRITION as a priority – something we’ve been helping people do for over a decade!

To find out more about these deficiencies, food sources and supplements, head to the show notes for more info. And if you’re one of our members, you can find detailed food lists and resources inside the members library alongside episode 80. 

As we’ve seen from today’s exploration of research-based news headlines, not all research is good research—and just because a flashy headline claims something doesn’t make it true. Don’t believe everything you read or hear. You’ve got to dig deeper, think critically, and focus on evidence-backed strategies, getting trusted advice from places like this podcast, our website or our members library where you can. 

I’ve been doing this a very long time and I want to emphasize that when it comes to T2 and prediabetes, nutrition and lifestyle always come first, it is incredibly powerful to help you achieve and maintain optimal blood sugar and health. 

Find more resources alongside this podcast on our website and members you can find detailed food lists, insights and resources alongside episode 80 in the members library. 

Until next week, take care. 

Dr Jedha, over and out.