Ketone supplementation dose-dependently lowers postprandial blood glucose, lipid and ghrelin levels in individuals with type 2 diabetes: a randomised crossover study

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Ghrelin in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Postprandial hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia are independent risk factors for CVD in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 1, participants were involved.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

In two randomised, participant-blind crossover studies the researchers investigated individuals with type 2 diabetes treated with either metformin monotherapy or a lifestyle intervention alone.

The primary outcome was the incremental AUC (iAUC) for glucose.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the Ghrelin group and the comparison group should start out alike.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Ghrelin group a baseline to be compared against.

In the crossover set-up each of the participants took both Ghrelin and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

Both studies were conducted at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, with the primary investigator randomly assigning the intervention order.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Blood Glucose, Postprandial Period, Ketones, Ghrelin, Lipids and Dietary Supplements.

The authors tagged it with the keywords Metabolism, Postprandial hyperglycaemia, Postprandial hyperlipidaemia, Type 2 diabetes and β-Hydroxybutyrate.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, placebo-controlled and crossover study of Ghrelin in 1, participants.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Its findings take up roughly 6 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2026 (Diabetologia), a journal based in Germany.

More context: the Ghrelin compound page, all human trials.