Probiotics & Fasting: Study Linking To Diabetes Prevention Awarded New Zealand Grant

The effects of good gut bacteria from will be explored in a study that links probiotics and fasting to diabetes prevention. The Auckland study proposes that with help from probiotics and considerably lowered calorie intake, Type 2 diabetes risk may be lessened.

Scoop reports that the Health Research Council in New Zealand awarded University of Auckland's Dr Rinki Murphy a grant of $149,000. The study will focus on the effects of probiotics in pre-diabetes cases.

This is in line with the priority that New Zealand is now allocating to the prevention of pre-diabetes counts from progressing to Type 2 diabetes. Probiotics are being tapped for this goal as real life setting often made lifestyle intervention unrealistic to implement.

"There is way too much stigma attached to #diabetes and way too much stigma attached to prediabetes." - @kellyclose | #OnItMovement

— Amer. Diabetes Assn. (@AmDiabetesAssn) May 11, 2016

Previous methods used toward this goal proved unwieldy. Side-effects often made the methods difficult to sustain. "The effects of certain strains of probiotics in the prevention of Type2 diabetes are strongly encouraging with reduction in gestational diabetes, improvements in insulin sensitivity and weight loss seen with Lactobacillus supplements," Dr Rinki Murphy said.

With help from the recent fund infusion, a particular Lactobacillus rhamnosus (HN001) strain will be tested in different to pre-diabetes patients. The effect on blood glucose levels and on body fat distribution will be monitored through MRI scans.

The new study aims to determine if administering probiotic supplement to these patients will increase Type 2 diabetes prevention even more. Pre-diabetes patients for this test will come from different ethnicities.

"...#diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, amputations, and blindness in working age adults." - Dr. Ratner | #OnItMovement — Amer. Diabetes Assn. (@AmDiabetesAssn) May 11, 2016

Pacific, Indian and Māori pre-diabetes patients often ranked with the highest numbers of pre-diabetes and diabetes cases. Probiotics will now be tested among them and among other ethnicities to see if this supplementation is the safe solution to the problem.

The second phase to the study will partner probiotics supplement with intermittent fasting for the subjects. As New York Times reports, fasting (or lowered calorie intake) in itself is already expected to retard Type 2 diabetes progression.

Dr Rinki Murphy qualified intermittent fasting to pertain to reduced calorie intake in two days of each week. Each fasting day allocates 650kcal per day for male patients and 600kcal per day for female patients.

This second phase to the study will use the determined dosage of probiotics to see if its combination with staggered fasting is more effective than intermittent fasting alone. This second phase will be administered to a larger group of pre-diabetes patients.