Millet Diet May Help Manage Blood Sugar Levels: Study

A new study has shown that consuming millet lowers the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and helps manage blood sugar. He indicated the need to have appropriate meals with millets for diabetics and pre-diabetics as well as non-diabetics as a preventative approach to keep disease at bay.

Based on research from 11 countries, the study published in The frontiers of nutrition shows that diabetics who consumed millets as part of their daily diet saw their blood sugar drop 12-15% (fasting and after meals), and diabetes blood sugar fell to pre-diabetic levels. HbA1c (hemoglobin-related blood sugar) levels fell on average by 17% in people with prediabetes, and levels went from prediabetic to normal. The results claim that eating millets may lead to a better blood sugar response, according to the release.

📢A new study from research in 11 countries shows that consuming millet may risk developing type 2 diabetes and helps manage blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
This indicates the potential of millet-based diets in the management #Diabetes.https: //t.co/9k2zT1xBi3# UNFSS2021 pic.twitter.com/BlAeddjKTk

-ICRISAT (@ICRISAT) July 29, 2021

The study led by the Smart Food Initiative of the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), included the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad; University of Reading in the UK; and other institutions, an ICRISAT press release said Thursday.

The authors reviewed 80 published studies of which 65 were eligible for a meta-analysis involving approximately 1,000 human subjects, making this analysis the largest systematic review on the subject to date, he said. No one knew that there were so many scientific studies being done on the effect of millet on diabetes.

These benefits have often been disputed, and this systematic review of studies published in scientific journals proved that millets control blood sugar, reducing the risk of diabetes, and showed how well these smart foods do, S Anitha said. , the lead author of the study and a senior nutrition scientist at ICRISAT.

Diabetes contributed to the high disease burden from 1990 to 2016 in the country. Diabetes-related health spending was over $ 7 million. “There is no easy fix, and it requires a change in lifestyle, and diet is an important part of it,” said Hemalatha, director of the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), quoted in the press release. “This study provides part of the useful solution for individuals and governments. How we use it and implement it in programs requires careful planning, ”she said.

According to the International Diabetes Association, diabetes is on the increase in all parts of the world. India, China and the United States have the largest number of people with diabetes. It was said that Africa would see an increase of 143% from 2019 to 2045, the Middle East and North Africa by 96% and Southeast Asia by 74%, according to the statement.

The authors called for the diversification of staple foods with millets to control diabetes, especially in Asia and Africa, he said.

Strengthening the case for the return of millet as a staple food, the study found that millets have an average low glycemic index (GI) of 52.7, a glycemic index (GI) about 30% lower than that. milled rice and refined wheat, and around 14-37 GI. lower points compared to corn, he said. All 11 types of mils studied had a low (<55) or medium (55-69) GI, with the GI being an indicator of how much and how quickly a food increases blood sugar levels.

The review concluded that even after boiling, cooking and steaming (the most common methods of cooking grains), millets had a lower GI than rice, wheat and corn, according to the release.

“The global health crisis of the coexistence of undernutrition and overnutrition is a sign that our food systems need to be fixed. Greater diversity on the farm and on the plate is the key to transforming food systems, ”said Jacqueline Hughes, Executive Director of ICRISAT. “On-farm diversity is a risk mitigation strategy for farmers in the face of climate change, while diversity on the plates helps fight lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes. Millets are part of the solution to alleviating the challenges associated with malnutrition, human health, degradation of natural resources and climate change, ”said the Director-General.

Transdisciplinary research involving multiple stakeholders is needed to create resilient, sustainable and nutritious food systems, said Hughes.

The study is the first in a series that has been working for four years as part of the Smart Food initiative led by ICRISAT which will be progressively published in 2021. It includes systematic reviews with meta-analyzes of the impacts of mils on diabetes, anemia and iron requirements, cholesterol and cardiovascular disease and calcium deficiency as well as a review of zinc levels, said Joanna Kane-Potaka, co-author of ICRISAT and executive director of the Smart Food initiative. “Within this framework, ICRISAT and the Institute for Food Nutrition and Health at the University of Reading have formed a strategic partnership to research and promote the Smart Food vision of making our food healthier, more sustainable for the environment and good for those who produce. that, ”she said.