Consuming oats regularly provides numerous health benefits including improving lipid profile, blood sugar and cholesterol levels in diabetes. Appropriate nutritional interventions could have particular benefit here.
A new systematic review and meta-analysis involving experts from the University of Florence examined how the consumption of oats, brown rice, buckwheat, chia, Job's tears, barley, khorasan and millet affects the health of people with diabetes. The results can be read in the journal “Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases”.
Nutritional interventions for diabetes
The team evaluated various randomized controlled trials, 13 of which were examined in a meta-analysis. The duration of nutritional interventions in these studies ranged from one day to 24 weeks. Most diabetes outcomes examined were related to cardiovascular risk factors.
Ten studies examined the consumption of oats, six that of brown rice, four that of buckwheat, three that of chia, two that of Job's tears, two that of barley, one that of khorasan and one study analyzed the effects of consumption of millet the researchers.
In general, oats, brown rice, buckwheat and chia were the most common grains studied for their potential effects on people with diabetes, including on body weight, blood sugar levels and lipid profile, the team adds.
Thirteen of these studies, which examined the effects of oats, brown rice and chia, provided data for quantitative synthesis, according to the experts.
Improved lipid profile thanks to oats
The researchers found that consuming oats has potential positive health effects in people with type 2 diabetes and can also improve the lipid profile. There was also evidence of benefits for diabetes for brown rice and millet.
However, the pooled analysis of studies in which chia and millet were used showed no significant effects on diabetes, the researchers report.
Further intervention studies are now necessary to better understand the exact effects of consuming oats and the like on the health of people with diabetes.
Eat oats regularly if you have diabetes
The Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse (AOK) also sees it as proven that oats have positive effects on diabetes and, citing previous studies, reports that the blood sugar levels of people with type 2 diabetes who regularly eat oats increase less.
In addition, diabetes often results in elevated cholesterol levels, which promote diseases such as arteriosclerosis, and oats help to lower cholesterol levels in the blood.
Oats also increase the sensitivity of the body's cells to insulin, which is associated with a reduction in blood sugar levels, reports the AOK.
In summary, it makes sense for people with type 2 diabetes to eat oats regularly to reap the wide-ranging health benefits. (as)
