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Red raspberries with breakfast may lead to glycemic, cardiometabolic benefits
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Consuming red raspberries with breakfast could improve glycemic control in adults with overweight or obesity as well as prediabetes and insulin resistance, according to findings published in Obesity.
“Growing evidence has supported the antidiabetic properties of some dietary polyphenols through inhibition of carbohydrate digestion and glucose absorption, stimulation of insulin secretion or support of peripheral tissue glucose uptake through increased insulin sensitivity,” Britt Burton-Freeman, PhD, director of the Center for Nutrition Research at the Institution for Food Safety and Health and associate professor of food science and nutrition at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, and colleagues wrote. “Accordingly, consuming certain polyphenols regularly could be an effective strategy to manage and reduce the risk of diabetes and other diseases with metabolic underpinnings, including their associated complications.”
Burton-Freeman and colleagues conducted a randomized, single-blind, three-arm, 24-hour study with 32 adults (mean age, 24 years; 44.1% women) recruited to make study visits at the Clinical Nutrition Research Center of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Of the total cohort, 21 participants had overweight or obesity as well as prediabetes and insulin resistance. The other 11 participants were considered the reference group.
Each participant completed three study visits. On the morning of a visit, a participant was randomly assigned to one of three meals. The first included no frozen red raspberries, the second contained 125 g and the third included 250 g. The meals were roughly 900 kcal and, according to the researchers, had proportions of carbohydrates, fat and protein that matched a Western diet. Participants provided blood samples a half hour after eating and then hourly until 8 hours, with an additional sample at 6.5 hours. Blood was also sampled the following day at the 24-hour mark.
The researchers found that participants with prediabetes and insulin resistance who ate 250 g of red raspberries at breakfast had lower 30-minute peak glucose levels compared with a meal with no raspberries (7.2 mmol/L vs. 8.1 mmol/L; P = .0001). Glucose levels at 1 hour after the meal with 250 g of red raspberries were also lower compared with the meal with no raspberries (6.8 mmol/L vs. 7.3 mmol/L; P = .03). Participants with overweight or obesity and prediabetes and insulin resistance also had lower insulin levels on average in the 24 hours after a meal with 250 g of red raspberries compared with a meal without (228 pmol/L vs. 308.4 pmol/L; P < .0001).
“Red raspberries are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, and they possess a unique profile of polyphenols,” the researchers wrote. “These data suggest that individuals with prediabetes and insulin resistance may benefit from including red raspberries in their breakfast meals to manage glucose and insulin excursions post-meal and, furthermore, to lower insulin requirements for the day, which could have additional benefits for reducing cardiometabolic risk.” – by Phil Neuffer
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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