The science underpinning the efficacy of Reducose® continues to expand, with 9 clinical studies to date!
Nestlé Health Science just published a study demonstrating how GlucoSmart with Reducose® significantly reduces post-breakfast glucose spikes for up to 3 hours.

May 2023

Nestlé recently published, in the journal ‘Diabetes Therapy’¹, the results from a clinical trial evaluating the effect of Reducose® on blood glucose, insulin, and incretin hormones in response to a complete meal.

In the study, 30 participants consumed a 2g blend containing either 250mg Reducose®, 1.75g fiber, vitamin D3 and chromium, or the same blend without Reducose®, and mixed this blend directly into a 350 kcal breakfast meal.  Participants had blood drawn regularly via cannula or venipuncture for glucometabolic, incretin and inflammation assessment. The study followed a cross-over design, so each subject acted as their own control and participated in active and control test groups¹.

This study is the second published clinical trial by Nestlé ^{1, 2}, and the nineth study overall that explored the blood glucose benefits of Reducose® when taken together with a meal (two slices of white bread, two slices of gouda cheese, 250mL apple juice in this study) and confirmed the positive effects that Reducose® has on lowering postprandial glucose and insulin levels¹.

For the first time, this study also explored the effects of Reducose® on incretin release.  Incretins are hormones that are made by our gut and are secreted after we eat.  One of their primary functions is to stimulate insulin.  There are two incretin hormones, GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1).  GIP is predominantly released in early stages of digestion when glucose binds to the GIP receptor (K-cells) and this triggers a release in insulin.  There are GLP-1 receptors in the early part of the digestive system (L-cells), but they predominate in the distal (last portion) small intestine³.  The study reported a 45% reduction in GIP in the Reducose® arm compared with control.  This correlates with the reduction in both postprandial glucose and insulin.  GIP stimulation requires free glucose to bind to the K-cells (Reducose® lowers free glucose available for binding by preventing carbohydrate breakdown), and as GIP stimulates insulin release, if there is less GIP released there will be a corresponding reduction in insulin¹.

GLP-1 is our other incretin hormone, and while there is early GLP-1 release, it is predominantly released later in digestion, once food that has not been digested has moved from the first parts of the small intestine to the later portions (jejenum, ileum)³.  GLP-1 agonists have attracted a lot of attention recently for their effect on body weight, and these reductions in weight observed in trials with semaglutide (Ozempic®)⁴ are due to the effects that GLP-1 (and synthetic versions) have on satiety, desire to eat and gastric emptying.

The study by Nestlé showed that in the early stages of digestion (0-1 hour after eating), GLP-1 levels were equivalent between Reducose® and the control arm.  This is to be expected as GLP-1 is released when any carbohydrate binds to the L-cells and there would be equivalent levels in both arms of the study as the same amount of carbohydrate entered the gut (although the Reducose® arm would have larger carbohydrate molecules and the control arm more carbohydrate broken down to glucose).  What is interesting is that there was an increase in GLP-1 in the Reducose® arm throughout the monitoring period, and over the three hour period that GLP-1 was measured, there was a 40% increase in GLP-1 compared with control¹.  Although not reported in the study, extrapolation of the data showed that in the median time period in the study (1-2hours after eating) there was 69% more GLP-1 released in the Reducose® arm, and this continued in the last stage of the study, with 60% more GLP-1 released in the Reducose® arm compared with control.

The study also looked at the effects on inflammatory markers and gastric emptying, but did not report a difference between groups¹.

This study is an important addition to the knowledge base supporting Reducose®.  Not only does it further confirm the benefits of Reducose® in moderating glucose and insulin levels after eating, it provides further insights into additional potential health benefits.

The primary function of incretins is the stimulation of insulin to modulate blood glucose levels, however they have additional biological effects including appetite regulation, caloric intake, body weight, triglyceride storage, gastric emptying and slowing gut transit.  Elevated GLP-1 levels are associated with decreased appetite and decreased food intake, increased satiety, slowing gastric emptying and gut transit time.  GIP does not have these effects, however overstimulation and excess GIP increases hexose absorption (including absorption of sugars like fructose), which may be related to weight gain seen in GIP-knockout mice studies.  These studies also suggest that high levels of GIP may promote fat storage³.  The effects of Reducose® on glucometabolic endpoints as well as these new insights into how Reducose® lowers GIP (GIP promotes weight gain) and increases GLP-1 (GLP-1 promotes weight loss) provides new evidence for the benefits Reducose® may have for maintaining a healthy weight.

References

1. Mafauzy M, Zagury RL, Bhaskaran K, Neutel J, Yusof BNM, Yeo L, et al. A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Study to Evaluate Postprandial Glucometabolic Effects of Mulberry Leaf Extract, Vitamin D, Chromium, and Fiber in People with Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Ther. 2023;14:749-66.
2. Gheldof N, Francey C, Rytz A, Egli L, Delodder F, Bovetto L, et al. Effect of Different Nutritional Supplements on Glucose Response of Complete Meals in Two Crossover Studies. Nutrients. 2022;14(13).
3. Nauck MA, Meier JJ, Schmidt WE. Incretin-based glucose-lowering medications and the risk of acute pancreatitis and/or pancreatic cancer: Reassuring data from cardio-vascular outcome trials. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2017;19(9):1327-8.
4. Wilding JPH, Batterham RL, Calanna S, Davies M, Van Gaal LF, Lingvay I, et al. Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity. N Engl J Med. 2021;384(11):989-1002.