Khorasan wheat and risk factors in type 2 diabetes
What it found
In 21 people with type 2 diabetes, swapping modern wheat for khorasan wheat products for 8 weeks improved total and LDL cholesterol, blood glucose and insulin.
The same people showed no such changes after 8 weeks on modern wheat products.
What they found
Studies in people
Cholesterol changes
Total cholesterol fell by 3.7% and LDL cholesterol by 3.4% after the khorasan phase. No significant changes from baseline were seen after the modern wheat phase.
Blood glucose and insulin
Blood glucose dropped by 9.1% and insulin by 16.3% after eating khorasan products. The modern wheat phase produced no significant changes.
Insulin resistance
The HOMA index, a measure of insulin resistance, fell after the khorasan phase. The change from before to after was significantly different between the two wheat phases.
Oxidative stress markers
Reactive oxygen species from granulocytes and monocytes dropped after the khorasan phase, and total antioxidant capacity rose by 6.3%. These changes were not seen after the modern wheat phase.
Inflammatory markers
Levels of VEGF and interleukin-1ra fell significantly only after the khorasan phase. A slight but significant rise in IL-8 was seen after the modern wheat phase.
Weight
Body weight did not change significantly between the khorasan and modern wheat phases. The authors say this shows the benefits were not due to weight loss.
What the authors conclude
“A replacement diet with ancient khorasan wheat consumption provided additive protection in reducing total and LDL cholesterol, insulin, blood glucose, ROS production, and some inflammatory risk factors, which are all key factors warranting of control in secondary prevention of T2DM compared to a diet with products made with modern wheat.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that a replacement diet with organic ancient khorasan wheat products improved total and LDL cholesterol, blood insulin, HOMA index, ROS production, total antioxidant capacity, and the inflammatory markers IL-1ra and VEGF.
- They say that despite the effects of medication, eating khorasan wheat within a Mediterranean diet provides additive protection in reducing high blood sugar, ROS production and inflammation in people with type 2 diabetes.
- They note that the study was small and will need to be repeated in a larger population to verify the results.
How it was done
The authors wanted to see whether a replacement diet with organic ancient khorasan wheat could give extra protection by lowering glucose, insulin, lipid and inflammatory risk factors and restoring blood redox balance in people with type 2 diabetes, compared with modern organic wheat.
They ran a randomised, double-blinded crossover trial with 21 people with type 2 diabetes (14 women, 7 men; average age 64.4). Each person ate bread, pasta, crackers and biscuits made from either khorasan or modern wheat for 8 weeks, then switched to the other for another 8 weeks, with an 8-week washout in between. Blood tests were done at the start and end of each phase.
What it can’t tell you
- The study was small, with only 21 people, so the results may not apply to everyone with type 2 diabetes.
- The trial lasted only 8 weeks per phase, which the authors say was too short to see changes in HbA1c, a longer-term measure of blood sugar control.
- The authors note that the two groups had different starting values for some measures, which could bias the results.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- None.
- Authors work at
- University of Florence, Italy; Careggi University Hospital, Italy; Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation Italy, Italy
The paper
- Title
- A khorasan wheat-based replacement diet improves risk profile of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM): a randomized crossover trial
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Whittaker A, Dinu M, Cesari F, et al (2017). A khorasan wheat-based replacement diet improves risk profile of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM): a randomized crossover trial. European journal of nutrition. doi:10.1007/s00394-016-1168-2Free full textPubMed 26853601DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error