A new study showed that eating peanuts or peanut butter with breakfast limited the rise in blood glucose after both breakfast and lunch. This “second-meal” effect was completely unexpected.
This study, “Acute and second-meal effects of peanuts on glycemic response and appetite in obese women with high type 2 diabetes risk: a randomised cross-over clinical trial,” was conducted jointly by Purdue University and the Federal University of Vicosa in Brazil. The was published in the June 2013 edition of the British Journal of Nutrition.
The study not only showed reduced blood glucose levels, but also reduced appetite and food consumption for most of the day in people who ate peanuts or peanut butter. This was based on levels of satiety or fullness hormones as well as self-reports by the subjects and actual food logs.
Not only glucose levels, but nonessential fatty acid levels were lower in the people that ate peanuts or peanut butter. The level of the hormone GLP-1, was higher in the peanut butter group, which is very good news. GLP-1 is the hormone that drugs like Exenatide try to mimic. It stimulates insulin production, lowers insulin resistance, and decreases appetite.
It needs to be noted that the subjects did not have diabetes. They were obese women at high risk for Type 2 diabetes. It is not yet known how much benefit peanuts will give people who already have type 2 diabetes.
Yet again it has been show that an as grown whole foods are beneficial in the control of diabetes. A return to a whole foods pant based diet is essential where blood sugars are to be normalised and then stabilised.