Can Probiotics Help People with Diabetes?

People with type 2 diabetes have insulin resistance, pancreatic β-cell

dysfunction, and elevated blood glucose. Taking probiotics may help improve all

three, according to a new study.

Recently, surprising research has suggested that, by modulating gut bacteria,

probiotics can help regulate blood sugar and modulate type 2 diabetes.

This new double-blind study gave 42 type 2 diabetics who were on the drug

metformin either a placebo or a Bifidobacterium probiotic for 6 weeks. The

specific strain of probiotic was Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis TISTR 2591

(BA-2591).

In both the metformin + placebo group and the metformin + probiotic group,

fasting blood glucose continued to increase. But it rose significantly less in the

probiotic group: 1.143 mg/dL versus 12.57 mg/dL. Insulin resistance also

increased significantly less in the probiotic group.

And that’s not all. While pancreatic β-cell function continued to worsen in the

placebo group, it significantly improved in the probiotic group. This finding is

important, since β-cells produce insulin.

An important additional benefit is that the probiotics were safe: there were no

significant adverse gastrointestinal events, and kidney and liver enzymes were

unaffected.

This study suggests that probiotics may have a role to play in safely managing

type 2 diabetes.

Nutrients. 2025;17(19):3097.