Habitual Miso (Fermented Soybean Paste) Consumption Is Associated with Glycemic Variability in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Glycemic control, including glycemic variability, is important for the prevention of diabetic vascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). There was an association between miso soup intake and insulin resistance. However, the relationship between habitual miso consumption and glycemic control, including glycemic variability, in patients with T2DM remains unknown. We defined people without habitual miso consumption if they did not consume miso soup at all in a day. The average, standard deviation (SD), and coefficient of variation (CV), calculated as CV = (SD/average HbA1c) × 100 (%), of hemoglobin (Hb) A1c levels were evaluated. The proportions of habitual miso consumption of male and female were 88.1% and 82.3%, respectively. The average (7.0 [6.4–7.5] vs. 7.3 [6.8–8.4] %, p = 0.009), SD (0.21 [0.12–0.32] vs. 0.37 [0.20–0.72], p = 0.004), and CV (0.03 [0.02–0.04] vs. 0.05 [0.03–0.09], p = 0.005) of HbA1c levels in female with habitual miso consumption were lower than those of female without. Moreover, habitual miso consumption correlated with average (β = −0.251, p = 0.009), SD (β = −0.175, p = 0.016), and CV (β = −0.185, p = 0.022) of HbA1c levels after adjusting for covariates. However, no association between habitual miso consumption and any glycemic parameters was shown among male. This study clarified the association between habitual miso consumption and good glycemic control, including glycemic variability, in female, but not in male.

Fermented soybean foods and diabetes

“…Cross-sectional studies have reported that miso consumption reduces insulin resistance in individuals without diabetes 66,67 as well as the incidence of gestational diabetes 68 . Furthermore, cross-sectional studies in patients with type 2 diabetes revealed better glycemic control and significantly lower relative muscle mass loss in miso soup consumers 69,70 .…”

Fermented food: Should patients with cardiometabolic diseases go back to an early neolithic diet?

“…In T2D, probiotics such as fermented milk fortified with Lactobacillus acidophilus La-5, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp lactis or Lactobacillus Plantarum OLL2712, improve glycemic control and reduced inflammatory profile (Tonucci et al, 2017;Toshimitsu et al, 2020). Although scientific evidence indicates that yoghurt has the best positive impact on the risk of T2D (Gille et al, 2018), other dairy products, such as cheese (Aune et al, 2013;Gao et al, 2013), fermented milk (Aune et al, 2013;Drouin-Chartier et al, 2016) and milk (Jakubowicz & Froy, 2013;Rice et al, 2011) may have similar benefits (Mohamed & Schaalan, 2018;Takahashi et al, 2021).…”

Miso, fermented soybean paste, suppresses high-fat/high-sucrose diet-induced muscle atrophy in mice

“…( 19 , 20 ) Moreover, the glycemic control of diabetic people with habitual miso soup intake were better than that of diabetic people without. ( 21 ) In addition, we recently revealed that the prevalence of sarcopenia in diabetic people with habitual miso soup intake was lower than that in diabetic people without. ( 22 ) Therefore, there is a possibility that miso, a traditional fermented soybean food in Japan, has a protective effect on muscle atrophy.…”