Can Probiotics Help People with Diabetes?
People with type 2 diabetes have insulin resistance, pancreatic β-cell dysfunction, and elevated blood glucose. Taking probiotics may help improve all three, according to a new study.
Recently, surprising research has suggested that, by modulating gut bacteria, probiotics can help regulate blood sugar and modulate type 2 diabetes.
This new double-blind study gave 42 type 2 diabetics who were on the drug metformin either a placebo or a Bifidobacterium probiotic for 6 weeks. The specific strain of probiotic was Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis TISTR 2591 (BA-2591).
In both the metformin + placebo group and the metformin + probiotic group, fasting blood glucose continued to increase. But it rose significantly less in the probiotic group: 1.143 mg/dL versus 12.57 mg/dL. Insulin resistance also increased significantly less in the probiotic group.
And that’s not all. While pancreatic β-cell function continued to worsen in the placebo group, it significantly improved in the probiotic group. This finding is important, since β-cells produce insulin.
An important additional benefit is that the probiotics were safe: there were no significant adverse gastrointestinal events, and kidney and liver enzymes were unaffected.
This study suggests that probiotics may have a role to play in safely managing type 2 diabetes.
Nutrients. 2025;17(19):3097.
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