Special soup helps diabetics?

[Jam&Scones]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/can-a-new-soup-cut-the-risk-of-type-2-diabetes-2f5wq9pvg

Interesting article sent to me - it’s behind paywall, but to summarise:

• the soup in question is made with a special type of broccoli with high levels of glucoraphanin
• Glucoraphanin converts into sulforaphane in the body which apparently turns on genes which are regulated by protein NRF2 involved in blood sugar control - drawing out stored sugar whilst preventing new sugar being ‘laid down’. Thus lowering blood sugar
• The researchers claim once a week is enough to reduce levels
• Interestingly, the trial quoted says it took people with high blood sugar levels and gave them the soup once a week, in 12 months their levels had lowered to normal ranges

It all reads a bit ‘gimmick diet’ to me. Or the quest for a ‘magic pill’ which cures all (when I firmly believe a wholistic lifestyle change is necessary). Could be the way the article is written though.

But I’d be interested in opinions and if anyone has heard of this before?

 

[EllieM]

Very frustrating, I can find studies with a mention of glucoraphanin as being helpful (good for people with prostate and breast cancer too apparently) but not the specific study that the times article must be using (If they have any journalistic integrity)..

@Oldvatr, can you find anything?

 

[Oldvatr]

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sulforaphane#what-it-is
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4629881/
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20170614/broccoli-extract-shows-promise-for-type-2-diabetes

Seems chewing raw broccoli is the best way of getting any benefit. The nutrients are water soluble and destroyed by heat. So commercially produced soup is probably not going to work especially if it is zapped in a blender, or dried and put in a packet. suggested dose is a plate full of raw broccioli a day for 12 weeks to drop HbA1c by less than 1 percentage point, so it is roughly equivalent to Metformin in that respect. Note that in the trial the participants also took metformin during the trial so that is a confounder and may negate the results.

Note that the study only really worked on people who were obese and had out of control sugars to start with

Finally the researchers took a patent out on using sulforaphane to treat diabetes, so supplements may become scarce.

 

[Riva_Roxaban]

We always put a full packet of frozen (thawed) broccoli into our stews, curries etc. in the slow cooker.

Apart from the extra flavour, broccoli has done nothing for my T2 or bowel cancer.

https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/768559/woolworths-broccoli-florets

 

[Jam&Scones]

I went back to the article to see if I could glean anymore helpful info on the study…

there is one study published by that team (quadram institute)in the American journal of clinical nutrition.

another study is quoted from the university of Gothenburg.

Your comments pretty much back up my original thinking on this. But I guess wholistic lifestyle changes are not as glamorous (or profitable) as a soup

 

[Oldvatr]

I went back to the article to see if I could glean anymore helpful info on the study…

there is one study published by that team (quadram institute)in the American journal of clinical nutrition.

another study is quoted from the university of Gothenburg.

Your comments pretty much back up my original thinking on this. But I guess wholistic lifestyle changes are not as glamorous (or profitable) as a soup

Indeed. What I did not find was a description of what the diet procedure was in the trials. It does seem in the study I posted above that they used powdered enzyme, at high dose, but that had already been extracted from the vegetable source so was not requiring the broccoli itself at all.

If there were other diet interventions that might have interferred with other nutrient intake such as reduced calorie or carb. People in a trial cohort are suddenly made aware of their health so may alter their behaviour especially since they recruited diabetics only and were monitoring their progress. That diet change could easily explain a 0,4 decrease in HbA1c especially if they were obese and were shamed into losing weight. There is no mention of weight being mnitored. They did mention that it was the obese participants that responded best.

They also did not stop the Metformin, and so any effect could be linked to that med being boosted by the enzyme, which blows their explanations out of the water.

 

[Oldvatr]

note also that the 0,4% drop in HbA1c equates to a drop of about 0,6 mmol/l in the average bgl level, which is a couple of peanuts. So even at high dose, the effect is minor and within the error band for the normal bgl meters. In other words, its not something anyone would normally get excited over. But if you take out a patent on it like they did, and hide the paper behind a paywall, then you are talking MONEY. If you sell a diet product or supplement based on the paper then that too is MONEY.

 

[Oldvatr]

We always put a full packet of frozen (thawed) broccoli into our stews, curries etc. in the slow cooker.

Apart from the extra flavour, broccoli has done nothing for my T2 or bowel cancer.

https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/768559/woolworths-broccoli-florets

You cooked it! Thats why. Destroys the nutrient.
Also apparently this nutrient is very difficult to produce since it is very variable and depends on pre harvest environmental fators, and also in post harvest storage and processing. Frozen is probably better at preserving these nutrients (similar to vitamins), but it seems quality control is one factor they need to be very careful about to get repeatable results. Shredding and pulping in a blender to make soup is also probably not going to help.

 

[EllieM]

Hi, we have deleted a number of posts from this thread because they refer to the website of the soup's manufacturer, and the original link quoted now leads to a "special offer" and a promotion of the product, which we feel goes against both the intention of the original poster and the rules on this site against sales promotion.

 

[Wilber123]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/can-a-new-soup-cut-the-risk-of-type-2-diabetes-2f5wq9pvg

Interesting article sent to me - it’s behind paywall, but to summarise:

• the soup in question is made with a special type of broccoli with high levels of glucoraphanin
• Glucoraphanin converts into sulforaphane in the body which apparently turns on genes which are regulated by protein NRF2 involved in blood sugar control - drawing out stored sugar whilst preventing new sugar being ‘laid down’. Thus lowering blood sugar
• The researchers claim once a week is enough to reduce levels
• Interestingly, the trial quoted says it took people with high blood sugar levels and gave them the soup once a week, in 12 months their levels had lowered to normal ranges

It all reads a bit ‘gimmick diet’ to me. Or the quest for a ‘magic pill’ which cures all (when I firmly believe a wholistic lifestyle change is necessary). Could be the way the article is written though.

But I’d be interested in opinions and if anyone has heard of this before?

 

[Yellredder]

Just wondered if anyone tried this? I’ve been using it for about five months now and hoping it will help.