The Mediterranean Diet Was Bested By The PPT Diet For Post-Meal Blood Sugar Response

Whenever it goes up against other diets in studies, we often see the Mediterranean diet come out on top—but not this time. In a study published in the American Diabetes Association's journal Diabetes Care, researchers found that a personalized postprandial-targeting diet (PPT diet) was more effective than the Mediterranean diet in improving glycemic control in people with prediabetes.

By comparison, a PPT diet is, according to the researchers, a diet that "relies on a machine learning algorithm that integrates clinical and microbiome features to predict personal postprandial glucose responses," also known as the post-meal glucose response. Unlike diets like the Mediterranean diet, it is not a generalized set of guidelines for any person but rather is highly personalized to the individual.

Researchers found that both groups saw a reduction in the time that their daily glucose levels were over normal levels (over 140 mg/dL), but the group who followed a PPT diet saw significantly greater reductions, even during the full 12-month follow-up.

While the Mediterranean diet may be often considered one of the most healthy options for dietary guidelines, this research suggests that for people with prediabetes, following a more personalized plan like the PPT diet may be more effective at managing blood sugar spikes, especially after meals.