Consumers’ growing concern about health and well-being has led to increased interest in functional foods. This research aims to evaluate the physicochemical and antioxidant properties of a functional plant-based (PB) snack bar enriched with Coprinus comatus powder. The snack bar formulations exhibited a wide range of flavor and textural characteristics. Two PB snack bars and four commercial bars were evaluated by a consumer panel of healthy volunteers (n = 20). The PB snack bar scored ‘like extremely’ on the 9-point hedonic scale. External preference mapping determined that sweetness, flavors, cohesiveness, gumminess, and adhesion had the greatest influence on consumer acceptability. Water content, ash, protein, fat, carbohydrate, reducing sugar, resistant starch, and dietary fiber were measured. Nutritional content was enhanced (omega 3, fiber and protein), and samples were shelf life stable (aw < 0.29; moisture content < 10%). In addition, the PB snack bar underwent simulated digestion according to the INFOGEST protocol, and from the comparative evaluation, the PB snack can be seen to control the post-prandial glycemic responses, as observed by the different degree of reducing sugars released via the matrix. The PB snack bar can be further functionally enhanced by the addition of their unique ingredients such as Coprinus comatus. Coprinus comatus powder is claimed to benefit glycemic control in diabetes and has attracted growing interest in terms of its potential use in natural products with possible health benefits.

Background: Until now, it is uncertain whether lifestyle interventions during pregnancy can prevent gestational diabetes mellites (GDM) in high-risk pregnant women. Objective: This study aims at investigating the effectiveness of dietary interventions and/or exercise interventions during pregnancy for preventing GDM in high-risk pregnant women. Materials and Methods: Eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were selected after a search in CENTRAL, Scopus, and PubMed. Synthesis was performed for the outcome of GDM in women with any identified GDM risk factor. Separate meta-analyses (MA) were performed to assess the efficacy of either nutrition or physical activity (PA) interventions or both combined compared with standard prenatal care for preventing GDM. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses, as well as meta-regressions against OR, were performed to assess potentional heterogeneity. Overall quality, the quality of RCTs, and publication bias were also evaluated. Results: A total of 13,524 participants comprising high-risk pregnant women in 41 eligible RCTs were analyzed for GDM. Women receiving only a nutrition intervention during pregnancy were less likely to experience GDM compared with women following standard prenatal care. Among 3109 high-risk pregnant women undergoing only dietary intervention for preventing GDM, 553 (17.8%) developed GDM; however, the result of the MA was marginally not significant (OR 0.73, 95%CI 0.51, 1.03; p-value 0.07), (Q 21.29, p-value 0.01; I² 58% (95%CI 10, 78%)). Subgroup analyses demonstrated an effect for studies that were conducted in Great Britain (OR 0.65, 95%CI 0.49, 0.81; p-value 0.003), and in Spain (OR 0.50, 95%CI 0.27, 0.94; p-value 0.03), for studies with forms of the Mediterranean diet as the intervention’s component (OR 0.61; 95%CI 0.46, 0.81; p-value 0.0005), and for studies including a motivation arm in the intervention (OR 0.71, 95%CI 0.58, 0.87; p-value 0.0008). Among 2742 high-risk pregnant women being analyzed for GDM outcome after receiving only an exercise intervention, 461 (16.8%) were diagnosed with GDM. Women after receiving PA intervention were less likely to develop GDM (OR 0.64, 95%CI 0.51, 0.80; p-value < 0.0001), (Q 11.27, p-value 0.51; I² 0% (95%CI 0, 99%)). Finally, 1308 (17%) cases of GDM were diagnosed among 7673 high-risk pregnant women undergoing both diet and PA intervention. Women in the group of mixed lifestyle intervention had a significant reduction in incidence of GDM (OR 0.70, 95%CI 0.55, 0.90; p-value 0.005), (Q 50.32, p-value < 0.0001, I² 66%, (95% CI 44, 79%)). Conclusions: The results of this study support the efficacy of lifestyle interventions during pregnancy for preventing GDM in high-risk women if an exercise component is included in the intervention arm, either alone, or combined with diet. A combined lifestyle intervention including physical exercise and a Mediterranean diet accompanied by motivation support may be considered the most effective way to prevent GDM among high-risk women during pregnancy. Future research is needed to strengthen these findings.

Diabetes is a metabolic disease that is a major health problem globally. Dietary interventions contribute to the management of the disease and the improvement in patients’ quality of life. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of a nutrition and lifestyle education intervention on a sample of patients with diabetes. The duration of the intervention was 3 months, and it focused on the promotion of the Mediterranean diet through information pamphlets, diet plans and healthy lifestyle guidelines, which were provided in addition to patients’ standard medical treatment. Patients were enrolled in the outpatient clinic of the University Hospital of Larissa (Greece). Anthropometric and biochemical parameters were recorded at baseline and follow-up using standardized equipment and methods. The intervention improved patients’ body mass index, body composition, fasting glucose, postprandial glucose, triglycerides, HDL/LDL cholesterol and cholesterol. For smoking status, alcohol consumption and physical activity categorization, physical activity improved but not the other two indices. The results of this study show that patient education should be provided according to the nutritional recommendations for T2DM plus a more individually structured intervention. It is therefore necessary to direct the attention of doctors to the need for continuous and detailed discussions with patients in relation to both the standards of a healthy diet and the benefits it brings. Patients, for their part, need to commit to following an appropriate, healthy diet.

The accurate prediction of blood glucose is critical for the effective management of diabetes. Modern continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology enables real-time acquisition of interstitial glucose concentrations, which can be calibrated against blood glucose measurements. However, a key challenge in the effective management of type 2 diabetes lies in forecasting critical events driven by glucose variability. While recent advances in deep learning enable modeling of temporal patterns in glucose fluctuations, most of the existing methods rely on unimodal inputs and fail to account for individual physiological differences that influence interstitial glucose dynamics. These limitations highlight the need for multimodal approaches that integrate additional personalized physiological information. One of the primary reasons for multimodal approaches not being widely studied in this field is the bottleneck associated with the availability of subjects’ health records. In this paper, we propose a multimodal approach trained on sequences of CGM values and enriched with physiological context derived from health records of 40 individuals with type 2 diabetes. The CGM time series were processed using a stacked Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and a Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) network followed by an attention mechanism. The BiLSTM learned long-term temporal dependencies, while the CNN captured local sequential features. Physiological heterogeneity was incorporated through a separate pipeline of neural networks that processed baseline health records and was later fused with the CGM modeling stream. To validate our model, we utilized CGM values of 30 min sampled with a moving window of 5 min to predict the CGM values with a prediction horizon of (a) 15 min, (b) 30 min, and (c) 60 min. We achieved the multimodal architecture prediction results with Mean Absolute Point Error (MAPE) between 14 and 24 mg/dL, 19–22 mg/dL, 25–26 mg/dL in case of Menarini sensor and 6–11 mg/dL, 9–14 mg/dL, 12–18 mg/dL in case of Abbot sensor for 15, 30 and 60 min prediction horizon respectively. The results suggested that the proposed multimodal model achieved higher prediction accuracy compared to unimodal approaches; with upto 96.7% prediction accuracy; supporting its potential as a generalizable solution for interstitial glucose prediction and personalized management in the type 2 diabetes population.

Objective: This study is a Narrative Review that aims at investigating the implications of obesity, excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Additionally, this Review seeks to explore the effectiveness of nutrition, and/or exercise interventions during pregnancy on reducing GWG and preventing GDM. Materials and Methods: The search in literature included studies that identified obesity, GWG, GDM and associated risks during pregnancy. Also, SR and MA focusing on interventions including diet, or physical activity (PA), or combined (i.e., lifestyle interventions) and their impact on metabolic risk during pregnancy, were identified through searches in PubMed, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSRs), and Scopus. Results: The study findings suggest that lifestyle interventions during pregnancy may be effective in reducing excessive GWG. Regarding the prevention of GDM, results from studies evaluating lifestyle interventions vary. However, significant and less controversial results were reported from studies assessing the efficacy of exercise interventions, particularly in high-risk pregnant women. Conclusions: Lifestyle interventions during pregnancy may reduce excessive GWG. Exercise during pregnancy may prevent GDM, especially in high-risk pregnant women. Future research is warranted to tailor lifestyle interventions for optimal effectiveness during pregnancy.

Background: The effectiveness of metformin in preventing Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is examined. There are new available data. Currently, there are no available analyses classifying its effectiveness compared to placebo, standard care, or lifestyle interventions, and there is limited evidence on the combined action of metformin and lifestyle interventions in preventing T2DM. Objective: To calculate the updated overall effectiveness of metformin in preventing T2DM using all available and most recent data, and to explore the effectiveness of metformin and lifestyle interventions in preventing T2DM. Materials and Methods: A search was performed in PubMed and the Cochrane Library Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (from inception to 24 May 2025). A systematic review (SR) and meta-analysis (MA) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was carried out, including metformin-naïve adults with any identified diabetes risk factors. The overall effectiveness of metformin was estimated by combining studies that compare metformin against placebo, metformin and standard care against standard care, and metformin plus lifestyle interventions and the same lifestyle interventions. The combined action of metformin and lifestyle interventions was evaluated against standard care. We performed a GRADE assessment of the overall evidence. Results: Overall, metformin may reduce the incidence of T2DM by 23% in high-risk adults (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.67, 0.88, p-value 0.0001) and 25% in patients with prediabetes (OR 0.75, 95%CI 0.66, 0.86, p-value < 0.0001). It is also effective in both obese and normal-weight patients, in Caucasians, in studies with female predominance, in studies with a mean age over 60 years, at 1700 mg daily, and after 18 months of administration. Effectiveness weakens after interruption of administration. Metformin is more effective compared to placebo and when combined with standard care than standard care alone, but not when combined with lifestyle interventions against lifestyle interventions alone. Metformin and lifestyle interventions reduce the incidence of diabetes in patients with prediabetes by 52% compared to standard care (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.30, 0.77; p-value 0.002). There are effectiveness concerns in studies with more men than women, Asian Indians and Pakistanis, a mean age below 60 years, 500 mg of metformin daily, and after six months. The effect is reduced during post-intervention. Finally, metformin alone is more effective than standard care (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.34, 0.90, p-value 0.02). The quality of evidence was moderate for the overall effectiveness of metformin and metformin combined with lifestyle interventions, and low for metformin against standard care. Conclusions: A 1700 mg dose of metformin daily is effective in preventing T2DM, especially in Caucasians, in women over 60 years, in prediabetes, and independent of obesity. Lifestyle interventions and 500 mg of metformin daily may prevent T2DM in patients with prediabetes, especially in men and Asian Indians or Pakistanis under 60 years. The effectiveness of complex interventions is more pronounced than that of metformin alone in patients with prediabetes. Further research is needed for post-intervention effectiveness, patients with any diabetes risk factors, patients from different regions, and women in complex interventions.