Glucose metabolism responds to perceived sugar intake more than actual sugar intake
Diabetes is commonly approached following the dominant biomedical model. However, there is some evidence which concludes that psychological aspects of diabetes patient play a role in its physiological processes. Chanmo Park and colleagues conducted research titled “Glucose metabolism responds to perceived sugar intake more than actual sugar intake” published in The Nature Journal. The summary of the study is given below:
Objective:
To investigate whether cognition affects glucose levels.
Method:
30 subjects with type 2 diabetes were included in the study. They were provided with beverages that have identical ingredients but have distorted nutrition facts labels. Blood glucose levels were recorded four times before and after beverage consumption.
Findings:
The study revealed that blood glucose levels are more aligned with the perception of participants in contrast to the actual sugar consumed. This highlights that individual perception results in a considerable number of biochemical changes in diabetic metabolism. On the other hand, the study design doesn’t indicate the long-term potency of this psychological effect. Additionally, the study found that controlling individualistic factors such as emotional eating habits and level of perceived stress results in less effect of perceived sugar intake on the blood glucose level.
Future studies are acknowledged to confirm that the mind has meaningful control in regulating health. This will encourage a new treatment approach with psychological considerations.
Limitation:
Participants with FBS of more than 200 mg/dl were excluded to minimize potential risks of postprandial hyperglycemia after consuming the beverage. Due to fewer data available that compare the study findings to the overall population, the author suggests that these findings should be cautiously generalized to the type 2 diabetic population.
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