Some diabetics can take insulin right before meals, study finds

Individuals with type 2 diabetes can eat immediately after injecting insulin without compromising their blood sugar level, according to a recently published study in the journal Diabetes Care.

Researchers in Germany conducted a test involving two groups of diabetics with a mean age of 66.7. For four weeks, a group of 49 people did not eat until 20 minutes after injecting human insulin. For the next four weeks, they began eating immediately after injection. A group of 51 people performed the test in reverse order, beginning by eating immediately after injection.

Blood tests revealed that eating immediately after injection resulted in a clinically irrelevant average blood sugar level increase of 0.08%. Furthermore, 86.5% of participants said they preferred eating right after taking insulin.

The results suggest that people do not have to observe an interval between injection and food consumption, which could increase adherence to an insulin regimen, researchers said.

Seniors on multiple medications often struggle to incorporate insulin injections into habits developed over a lifetime and can miss doses, according to a study from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Loyola University Maryland.