Khorasan wheat and diabetes risk markers in healthy volunteers
What it found
In 30 healthy adults, eating khorasan wheat products for 16 weeks led to a greater drop in body fat and insulin, and a rise in DHA, compared with modern wheat.
The authors say this may reduce some markers linked to type 2 diabetes.
What they found
Studies in people
Body fat
The khorasan group had a significantly greater decrease in fat mass compared with the modern wheat group.
Insulin
Fasting insulin dropped significantly more in the khorasan group than in the modern wheat group.
DHA
The khorasan group showed a significant increase in serum DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid, while the modern wheat group did not.
Gut bacteria
The khorasan diet was linked to more short-chain fatty acids and phenol compounds, and a slight increase in health-promoting gut bacteria, compared with the modern wheat diet.
Symptoms
Volunteers in both groups reported less hunger, longer fullness, less constipation, less tiredness and less bloating. The khorasan group reported the best improvement.
Other findings
Selenium in food
Khorasan wheat products had about 10 times more selenium than the modern wheat products. The authors suggest this may explain the DHA rise.
What the authors conclude
“Our study provides evidence that a substitution diet with KAMUT ® khorasan wheat products can reduce some markers associated to the development of type-2 diabetes compared to a diet of modern wheat.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say their study provides evidence that a substitution diet with KAMUT khorasan wheat products can reduce some markers associated with the development of type-2 diabetes compared to a diet of modern wheat.
- They call for further studies to confirm this hypothesis.
How it was done
Ancient grains are of growing interest because of their nutritional and health properties. The authors wanted to test whether khorasan wheat has antioxidant and diabetes-preventive effects in healthy people, compared with modern wheat.
They recruited 30 healthy volunteers, aged 25 to 60, and randomly split them into two groups of 15. For 16 weeks, one group ate organic whole grain khorasan wheat products as their only cereal source, while the other ate organic whole grain modern durum wheat products. Blood, body composition, fecal and urine samples were taken before and after.
What it can’t tell you
- The study was small, with only 30 volunteers, so the results may not apply to everyone.
- It cannot show whether khorasan wheat prevents diabetes in the long term, only that it changed some markers over 16 weeks.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- Spinoff Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy; Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy
The paper
- Title
- Evaluation of antioxidative and diabetes-preventive properties of an ancient grain, KAMUT ® khorasan wheat, in healthy volunteers
- 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
- Trozzi C, Raffaelli F, Vignini A, Nanetti L, Gesuita R, Mazzanti L (2019). Evaluation of antioxidative and diabetes-preventive properties of an ancient grain, KAMUT ® khorasan wheat, in healthy volunteers. European journal of nutrition. doi:10.1007/s00394-017-1579-8Free full textPubMed 29143934DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error