The 38th International Symposium on Diabetes and Nutrition (ISDN) was held virtually from June 21-24, 2021, and was attended by more than 470 participants from more than 30 countries. The INC co-sponsored the session ‘Nuts, Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome’, along with the NREF. The session, co-chaired by Dr. Cyril Kendall (University of Toronto, Canada) and Prof. Jordi Salas-Salvadó (Rovira i Virgili University, Spain), discussed the most relevant studies highlighting the beneficial effects of nut consumption on diabetes, including an INC-funded study on nuts, gut microbiota, and cognition.
The INC’s co-sponsored session took place on June 24 and featured four guest speakers who covered some of the most pertinent and recent scientific studies which examine how nut consumption can be beneficial for diabetes and the metabolic system.
Dr. Zhaoping Li from the University of California in the US presented various epidemiologic studies and clinical trials that examined nut consumption and Metabolic Syndrome (MetS). The results from the studies suggest that including nuts in your diet may significantly decrease risks for MetS, which is a cluster of cardiometabolic risk factors like type 2 diabetes, abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol, and hypertriglyceridemia. The protective effects of nuts could be explained by the modulation of inflammation and oxidation.
Prof. Anoop Misra from Fortis C-DOC Healthcare Ltd in India discussed how nuts assist in the management of diabetes. In a review of recent studies, data shows that nut consumption may have beneficial effects on glucose-insulin metabolism and decrease hepatic fat. The data also suggests there is an inverse relation between nut intake and type 2 diabetes and MetS, especially in women. In short-term intervention studies, it was noted that intake of nuts decreased blood glucose levels, triglycerides and inflammatory markers, and increased glucagon-like peptide-1 levels.
Next, Dr. Crystal Haskell-Ramsey from Northumbria University in the UK talked about the potential effects of daily tree nut consumption on cognitive function, metabolomics and intestinal microbiota. Studies have shown cognitive benefits of nut consumption. These benefits may be important because a number of studies have shown cognitive impairments in diabetes, which are also linked with alterations in gut microbiota.
Dr. Jagmeet Madan from Sir Vithaldas Thackersey College of Home Sciences, SNDT Women’s University in India presented the oral abstract “Effect of Almond Consumption on Glucose Metabolism, Hyperinsulinemia and Selected Markers of Inflammation: A randomized Controlled Trial in Adolescents and Young Adults in Mumbai, India.” Almonds have the potential to reduce hyperinsulinemia and thus improve insulin resistance at a fairly early stage that even precedes prediabetes, in addition to having beneficial effects on HbAIC and some lipid and inflammatory markers.