DIRECT, to see if propionate levels and weight loss were connected.
At the start of the study, the team found a link between levels of propionate and insulin resistance. After 6 months, lower levels of propionate showed an association with more significant improvements in insulin sensitivity.
Dr. Tirosh acknowledges that the study’s limitations include that fact that he was unable to show cause and effect of propionate consumption on global obesity and type 2 diabetes. The team also did not study the long-term effects of chronic, low-level propionate exposure in humans.
MNT asked Dr. Tirosh if he would recommend that people avoid propionate in their diet.
“It will be premature to do so based on a single study. Therefore, we are not making such recommendations,” he explained. “Our research should serve as a proof-of-principle for the potential interference of propionate in normal metabolism, but most of the data was obtained in mice, and we need to be careful when translating these findings to humans.”
“We see our findings as one piece of the puzzle,” Dr. Tirosh explained.
Meanwhile, the team’s research efforts continue, with a focus on how preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and other natural ingredients might affect our metabolism.
“Given the epidemic proportion of obesity and diabetes, there is a need, in our view, to extensively assess the potential long-term metabolic effects of many environmental factors that have changed over the past few decades, both for their potential harmful and useful effects.”
Dr. Amir Tirosh