Effect of a Dried Plum Nutritional Intervention on Glucose Regulation in Postmenopausal Women
Open Access
- Author:
- Barton, Emily
- Area of Honors:
- Nutritional Sciences
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Mary Jane De Souza, Thesis Supervisor
Alison Diane Gernand, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Dried plum
Plum
Postmenopause
Postmenopausal
Insulin
Blood Glucose
Menopause
Glucose
women - Abstract:
- Estrogen deficiency during the postmenopausal time period leads to significant metabolic changes, putting women at risk for metabolic syndrome (MetS), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). As such, finding treatments which enhance healthy metabolism and insulin sensitivity in postmenopausal women is a pressing health concern. Recently, dried plums (DP) have been investigated as a potential nutraceutical treatment for metabolic abnormalities, such as insulin resistance, impaired glucose and lipid handling, and inflammation. This randomized control trial assessed the effects of a 12-month DP nutritional intervention on blood glucose, insulin resistance, and body fat distribution. Participants were postmenopausal women with osteopenia (n=124) who were randomized to consume either 50g DP/day (50g DP; n=46), 100g DP/day (100g DP; n=35), or no DP/day (control; n=46). At baseline, the women were 62.3±0.5 years in age and had an average age of menopause of 50.7±0.4 years. Seventy-two percent of participants had no previous hormone therapy use. There were no significant differences between the intervention groups or control group at baseline. The aims of this study were to assess the relationship between a DP nutritional intervention, glucose metabolism, and body fat distribution. Fasting blood glucose increased by 3.5 mg/dL in the 50g DP group from baseline to 6-months (p=0.037), contrary to our hypothesis. Additionally, the absolute change over 12-months in fasting blood glucose was significantly different between 50g DP and 100g DP (p=0.009), with 50g DP group increasing by 4.1% and 100g DP group decreasing by 3.2%. Total android mass increased significantly in the entire cohort from baseline to 6-months (p=0.006). The 50g DP group had significantly higher visceral adiposity measurements (mass: p=0.036); volume: p=0.036; area: p=0.033), BMI (p=0.025), and total body fat (p=0.019) compared to the control throughout the entire study. All measures of central adiposity were found to be significantly and positively correlated with 12-month fasting blood glucose, fasting blood insulin, and HOMA-IR (all p<0.001). Such findings indicate that while dried plum consumption does not result in a dose-dependent reduction in fasting blood glucose since the 50g DP group experienced an increase in fasting glucose, consuming a larger dosage of dried plums (i.e., 100g DP) may be beneficial to reduce fasting glucose in postmenopausal women. Despite an increase in glucose concentration throughout the intervention in the 50g DP group, glucose concentrations remained below a pre-diabetic threshold, and it is unlikely that postmenopausal women will be at an increased risk of MetS, T2DM, or CVD as a result of consuming a moderate amount of dried plums. As such, the 100g DP intervention may be a better supplement dosage than 50g in postmenopausal women as it demonstrated no adverse effects on glucose metabolism or insulin resistance.