Dairy and Non-Dairy Alternatives Comparative on Metabolic Outcomes
Condition: Obesity; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
MeSH terms: Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to compare the acute effects of a single serving of dairy and
      non-dairy alternatives on post-treatment and post-meal glycemia, appetite, plasma amino acid
      concentrations, and gastrointestinal hormones levels.
    

Detailed description: 
      In the past forty years, the prevalence of obesity in adults has doubled with nearly two
      thirds of Canadian adults currently overweight or obese. The global epidemic of obesity also
      makes certain individuals more vulnerable to common co-morbidities of obesity, such as
      type-2-diabetes. To combat these rising numbers, Health Canada released a new Canadian Food
      Guide (CFG) in 2019. One particular alteration to the new CFG includes dietary guidelines
      encouraging for an increased consumption of plant-based foods as protein rich sources,
      shifting away from the promotion of animal-based food products, such as dairy. However, many
      of the available plant-based substitutes in the market are highly processed with high amounts
      of sugar, fat, sodium, and additives compared to animal-based products. While literature has
      shown for plant-based foods to confer numerous health benefits, these are often plant-based
      foods that have been unprocessed, except for cooking. As the demand for plant-based products
      continues to grow annually, it is important to assess and compare various obesity and T2D
      related metabolic outcomes, such as glycemic regulation and appetite control, to better
      understand the physiological functionality of these products and what role they may or may
      not play in mitigating the obesity and T2D global epidemics. There is a growing body of
      evidence from clinical and meta-analysis trials that show dairy products reduce satiety and
      provide better glycemic control; highlighting their potential to help reduce risk factors
      associated with obesity and T2D. However, literature has mainly focused on nutrient profile
      or isolated protein comparatives between animal and plant-based sources. Instead, this study
      will be looking at comparing dairy products and their plant-based counterparts with respect
      to their food matrix as a whole, to understand what responses these products produce in the
      form consumers are naturally eating them by. This study will focus on assessing the metabolic
      outcomes related to satiety and glycemic regulation. Satiety is an important physiological
      function related to food intake, and thus, provides a measure to assess reduced obesity risk.
      Additionally, postprandial glycemic control is an important physiological function that is
      not only related to the development of type-2 diabetes but also satiety.

      A total of 16 participants (8 males and 8 females) will participate in this study at the
      University of Toronto.

      The study will include a total of 5 sessions over the span of 5 weeks. Prior to the visit,
      participants will be fasted for 12 hours, excluding water for up to 1 hour before the study
      visit. During each session, participants will consume a dairy product or a non-dairy
      plant-based product while subjective appetite, blood glucose, insulin, C-peptide, and gut
      hormones (ghrelin, GLP-1, GLP-2, and GIP) are obtained post-treatment at 20 min and post a
      secondary fixed meal of pasta within 15-30 min intervals over a 2 hour timespan. Plasma amino
      acid concentrations will also be measured within the same timeline outlined above.
    

Intervention name(s): Dairy and plant-based dairy beverages and solids
Intervention type(s): Dietary Supplement
Intervention description(s): Crossover design: participants received all treatment arms in a randomized order
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: Dairy; Post-prandial glycemia; Appetite; Satiety; Gut Hormone Responses