Poor man’s diet, millets can lower the risk of diabetes

Parnad Basu, Amity University Kolkata

Diabetes mellitus type 2:

It is the most common type of diabetes that happens to middle-aged or older people though kids suffering from childhood obesity are also at risk. In case of the type 2 diabetes, insulin (a hormone created in the pancreas) doesn’t get used by our cells, which ultimately lead to the chronic disease. Diabetes mellitus type 2 is also dangerous as it affects other major organs and creates a chance for other chronic diseases. It can affect our hearts, eyes, kidneys, blood vessels, and even nerves.

The recent study:

Scientists have been trying to work out an effective diet for diabetes type 2 for a long time now. In doing so, we already had a lot of studies done on different types of millets. Millets are known to be low on GI (glycaemic index) which makes them effective against diabetes. In a new systematic review, scientists tried and assembled a total of 65 studies done globally. Of these 65, 56 were used to analyze fasting, insulin index, and HbA1c (hemoglobin A1c) outcome. Likewise, 39 studies of those 65 were used to analyze the GI outcomes. The GI of the millets was found out to be 52.7 ± 10.3. Which is way lower than rice (71.7 ± 14.4) and wheat (74.2 ± 14.9). This shows that millets can be beneficial to fight diabetes for diabetic patients as well as those who are prediabetic.

How was the study performed?

The process of the study was fairly simple.

1. The first step was to collate all present studies done on the glucogenic effects of millets. Scientists included all the studies conducted from 1950 to 2020. The millets that were taken into consideration were sorghum, finger millet, pearl millet, little millet, kodo millet, barnyard millet, etc. However, in-vitro studies were considered separately.
2. The methods were then thoroughly reviewed. After that, scientists then conducted a regression analysis finding the effect of millets in diabetes.
3. The last step was to do a meta-analysis to evaluate the millet’s ability to reduce insulin concentration.

The meta-analysis and results:

From the collected 65 studies, 5 outcomes were discussed, GI, fasting and post-prandial blood glucose, insulin level, and HbA1c. Some of the previous authors had conducted a study on more than one millet. This brings the effective study count to 99. Of these 99 studies, 19 were on finger millet, 20 on foxtail millet, 10 each on sorghum and pearl millet, etc. The two in-vitro studies were on teff and fonio. Only a little millet didn’t show a lower GI compared to the control samples. Except that, all the other 11 millets showed significantly lower GI than rice, wheat, maize, and glucose.

When compared to maize-based foods, foxtail millet and Job’s tears-based foods showed a lowering of GI by 30% and 36 units on average. In addition to that, when tested upon diabetic and prediabetic subjects it was seen to reduce HbA1c level. However, for that to happen the subject had to maintain a millet-based diet for more than 3 months. Doing so a reduction of 15% in the HbA1c level was seen. In prediabetic cases, the HbA1c level fell back to the normal reference point. All of this resulted in a reduction of 12% for fasting and 15% for a postprandial blood glucose level.

Limitation of the study:

Although this study gave us a whole new opportunity to change our diet to fight diabetes, it had its limitations. For example, the in vivo studies didn’t have enough subjects to determine GI. Some studies had a very low number of studies done, also the age group was not fully analyzed. Be as it may, this meta-analysis gave us a clear view as to what precautions to be taken against diabetes.

Also read: Malaria and it’s Limited awareness in Sub-African Regions

Reference:

1. Anitha, S., Kane-Potaka, J., Tsusaka, T. W., Botha, R., Rajendran, A., Givens, D. I., Parasannanavar, D. J., Subramaniam, K., Prasad, K. D. V., Vetriventhan, M., & Bhandari, R. K. (2021). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the potential of millets for managing and reducing the risk of developing diabetes mellitus. Frontiers in Nutrition, 8, 687428. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.687428

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