Canadian researchers discover a specific component of bacteria that helps lower blood glucose and allows insulin to work better during obesity

You've heard of probiotics and prebiotics and how they benefit your gut health. Now, it's time you learn about post-biotics, or the by-products of bacteria.

According to a new study conducted by researchers at McMaster University in Canada, post-biotics help lower blood glucose and allow insulin to work better during obesity. In turn, this combats prediabetes before type 2 diabetes develops. Here's the full scoop.

McMaster University study finds that post-biotics help combat prediabetes before type 2 diabetes develops during obesity

The study was published in the journal Cell Metabolism and led by senior author Jonathan Schertzer, an assistant professor of biochemistry and biomedical sciences.
 
“We know that gut bacteria, often called the microbiome, send inflammation signals that change how well insulin works to lower blood glucose,” Schertzer said.

“It was previously thought that bacteria only caused problems such as higher inflammation and higher blood glucose. But this is only half of the story. We discovered that a specific component of bacteria actually lowers blood glucose and allows insulin to work better during obesity,” he added.
 
Schertzer said that understanding how the different parts of bacteria control blood glucose may make way for new therapies that avoid some of the problems with probiotics and prebiotics. “We have found a post-biotic that lowers blood glucose in obesity,” he reported.
 

Obesity plays a major role in the development of type 2 diabetes as it leads to higher levels of blood glucose and insulin

The team behind this study highlight that their work is important, as a large number of people around the world are overweight or obese. This is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes because excess weight causes higher levels of blood glucose and insulin.
 
“But we haven't understood what triggers elevated blood glucose,” Schertzer said. “This is significant because only some individuals with obesity develop prediabetes. Blood glucose is influenced by our genes, the food we eat, and the bacteria in our gut,” he concluded.
 
At present, Schertzer and his team are working on developing new bacterial-based drugs to fight prediabetes before type 2 diabetes develops. At the time this article was published, they’d had success in studies with mice with a drug that’s currently used for bone cancer.

Tags: bacteria, post-biotics, blood glucose levels, insulin, post-biotics blood glucose levels, insulin resistance, blood glucose levels insulin, obesity, type 2 diabetes, type 2 diabetes obesity