Scientists at the University of Auckland are conducting a examine utilizing feijoa powder to help weight loss and reverse pre-diabetes, aiming to stop kind 2 diabetes in at-risk adults.
Often known as the “People’s Fruit,” is it potential for the humble feijoa to assist forestall kind 2 diabetes?
Can the humble feijoa assist the world sort out kind 2 diabetes? University of Auckland scientists are investigating.
As over 200,000 people in New Zealand are affected by kind 2 diabetes, discovering preventative measures is essential in addressing this vital health problem. Could an answer be discovered rising in New Zealand backyards?
The feijoa examine, named FERDINAND, is a six-month weight-loss and upkeep program, throughout which adults with raised blood sugar can be given a few gram of whole-fruit feijoa powder (or a placebo) every day.
Principal Investigator and self-described ‘feijoa addict’ Associate Professor Jennifer Miles-Chan is happy about the potential of feijoa powder to reverse pre-diabetes. “In theory, the feijoa powder will boost the benefits of weight loss, leading to improvements in blood sugar levels.”
A brief-term examine in Iran pointed to the advantages of feijoa for sufferers with kind 2 diabetes. FERDINAND will construct on that examine as the world’s first long-term scientific trial into the advantages of feijoa with an intention of reversing the threat of diabetes in these with pre-diabetes (folks with high blood sugar, however who don’t but have diabetes).
In the first two months of the examine, contributors will possible lose 5 to 10 p.c of their weight via a free meal substitute program – assume soups, shakes, and porridge, but additionally pasta and rice dishes – overseen by a Registered Dietitian. The following 4 months will concentrate on sustaining this weight loss.
Participants needs to be obese or have weight problems, aged between 18 and 70, and at high threat of kind 2 diabetes (however not have diabetes) based mostly on a fasting blood glucose check.
“We are really wanting to help those people who are on the borderline of developing diabetes to lower their risk, yet many people may not be aware their blood sugar levels are high,” says Miles-Chan. “So you don’t need to already know if you have pre-diabetes. We can test that for you.”
As nicely as the potential to reverse their diabetes threat and the many advantages of weight loss, contributors will uncover extra about their health. “Participants will get extensive diet and weight loss advice, detailed blood tests, body composition scans and glucose checks. An added benefit is the two months’ worth of free meals,” says Miles-Chan.
Supported by the High-Value Nutrition National Science Challenge (Ko Ngā Kai Whai Painga), the examine is being carried out by the University’s Human Nutrition Unit in collaboration with AgResearch, the Malaghan Institute and Plant and Food Research.
To discover out extra about collaborating in the trial, e mail [email protected]
