Abstract

Aims: Higher cruciferous vegetable (e.g., broccoli) intake is associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but limited causal evidence exists. We investigated if cruciferous vegetable intake improved glycaemic control compared to root/squash vegetables in non-diabetic adults with elevated blood pressure. Materials and Methods: This randomized, controlled, crossover trial consisted of two 2-week dietary interventions (300 g/day cruciferous [active] and root/squash [control] soups with standardized lunch/dinner meals) separated by a 2-week washout. Participants were blinded to the intervention allocation. Glycaemic measures were a pre-specified secondary outcome. Flash glucose monitoring measured interstitial glucose every 15-min throughout both interventions. Mealtimes and consumption were recorded in food diaries. Differences in continuous glucose, glycaemic variability (coefficient of variation [CV]), and overall, lunch, and dinner postprandial glucose response (PPGR; 2-h mean glucose [PPGR 2-h] and area under the curve [AUC]) were assessed using linear mixed-effects regression. Results: Eighteen participants (female = 89%) completed the study (median [IQR] age: 68 [66–70 years]). Glycaemic variability was lower in the active versus control (mean difference: −2.0%, 95% CI −2.8, −1.1, p < 0.001). Overall PPGR 2-h and AUC were lower in the active versus control (mean difference: −0.14 mmol/L, 95% CI −0.24, −0.04, p = 0.005 and −20.1 mmol/L × min, 95% CI −34.1, −6.1, p = 0.005, respectively), driven by the dinner PPGR (p = 0.004 and p = 0.003, respectively). There was no difference in mean continuous glucose for active versus control (p = 0.411). Conclusions: Cruciferous vegetable consumption improved postprandial glycaemic control compared with root/squash vegetables. The clinical impact remains uncertain and warrants further investigation, particularly in individuals with impaired glycaemic control. Clinical Trial Registry: This trial was registered at www.anzctr.org.au (ACTRN12619001294145).

Keywords

cardiovascular disease, cruciferous vegetables, diabetes, glucosinolates, glycaemic control, postprandial glucose response, randomized controlled trial

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

1-1-2025

Volume

27

Issue

8

PubMed ID

40375391

Publication Title

Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism

Publisher

Wiley

School

Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute / School of Medical and Health Sciences / Centre for Integrative Metabolomics and Computational Biology / School of Science

Funding Information

This research was funded by Edith Cowan University Early Career Researcher Grant 2019 (grant number G1004405) and Department of Health Western Australia Near Miss Merit Awards 2019 (grant number G1004519). ELC is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship at Edith Cowan University. CPB is supported by a Royal Perth Hospital Research Foundation (ID: CAF 127/2020) and the Western Australian Future Health Research and Innovation Fund (ID: WANMA2023Ideas/3). LCB is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (ID: 1172987) and a National Heart Foundation of Australia Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship (ID: 102498).

Funding received from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

1172987

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Comments

Connolly, E. L., Liu, A. H., Woodman, R. J., Shafaei, A., Wood, L. G., Mithen, R., James, A. P., Schultz, C. J., Gan, S. K., Bondonno, C. P., Lewis, J. R., Hodgson, J. M., & Blekkenhorst, L. C. (2025). Cruciferous vegetables improve glycaemic control compared to root/squash vegetables in a randomized, controlled, crossover trial: The VEgetableS for vaScular hEaLth (VESSEL) study. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, 27(8), 4300-4310. https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.16467

First Page

4300

Last Page

4310

Recommended Citation

Connolly, E. L., Liu, A. H., Woodman, R. J., Shafaei, A., Wood, L. G., Mithen, R., James, A. P., Schultz, C. J., Gan, S. K., Bondonno, C. P., Lewis, J. R., Hodgson, J. M., & Blekkenhorst, L. C. (2025). Cruciferous vegetables improve glycaemic control compared to root/squash vegetables in a randomized, controlled, crossover trial: The VEgetableS for vaScular hEaLth (VESSEL) study. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, 27(8), 4300-4310. https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.16467

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1111/dom.16467