Today, 1 out of every 3 American adults have Prediabetes with 15-30% expected to develop Type 2 Diabetes within 5 years. Without intervention, half will develop Type 2 Diabetes within 10 years. This means that the number of people with Type 2 Diabetes will be doubled or quadrupled in the near future, with disastrous consequences on millions of families, not to mention the cost to our health care systems (1).

In March of 2015, a qualified health claim petition was submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asking for the claim that resistant starch helps to reduce the risk of Type 2 Diabetes. It is based upon eight clinical studies, which showed that resistant starch significantly increases insulin sensitivity, especially in people with Prediabetes or high levels of insulin. For instance, The Maki study showed that overweight men adding three tablespoons of resistant starch as a supplement improved insulin sensitivity by 56%, and the Gower study showed that insulin resistant, postmenopausal women adding foods containing 6 tablespoons of resistant starch improved insulin sensitivity by 34%. Loss of insulin sensitivity and higher than normal insulin is the chief indicator of Prediabetes. Improving insulin sensitivity directly reverses Prediabetes.

The FDA has delayed its decision three times, with the most recent deadline now set to be November 15, 2016. Click here to go to the FDA’s website on this health claim petition. But, there is nothing to prevent them from delaying again, perhaps for months or years.

The Centers for Disease Control, the American Medical Association, the American Heart Association, the YMCA and many other organizations are working diligently to raise awareness of Prediabetes and to urge Americans to take action to reverse Prediabetes, primarily with weight loss and exercise programs.  The Food and Drug Administration needs to join this effort.

Exercise and weight loss programs are not enough (2) – Americans also need credible dietary tools to help reverse Prediabetes. The science on resistant starch has been done – now we need the FDA to rule on the claim to help spread the information and help stop this epidemic.

Awareness and utilization of all sources of resistant starch could benefit from an FDA-approved health claim – not just resistant starch sourced from corn, but also resistant starch from green bananas, beans, peas, potatoes and intact whole grains.

I am asking you to sign a petition on Change.org to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to issue their ruling on the health claim petition that resistant starch helps to reduce the risk of Type 2 Diabetes. Click here to go to the petition. Thank you for your help.

(1) Boyle JP, et al. (2010) “Projection of the year 2050 burden of diabetes in the US adult population: dynamic modeling of incidence, mortality, and prediabete prevalence.” Population Health Metrics 8(1): 1-12.

(2) Kahn R. (2012) “Reducing the impact of diabetes: Is prevention feasible today, or should we aim for better treatment?” Health Affairs 31(1): 76-83.

#resistantstarch #metabolism #insulinsensitivity #glycemic #diabetesprevention #prediabetes #starch #insulin