Trial results for the Delish Study, investigating diabetes education with and without mindfulness for Type 2 Diabetes, were posted on ClinicalTrials.gov on 2025-12-08. The study enrolled 60 participants.
Background
Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) represents a significant health and economic burden, identified as the most expensive chronic disease in the U.S. Effective management of T2DM heavily relies on lifestyle modifications, particularly dietary adherence. However, maintaining long-term adherence is challenging, often due to difficulties in managing cravings for high-carbohydrate or sugar-laden foods in environments where such foods are readily available. Mindfulness-based approaches are explored as a potential strategy to equip individuals with skills to experience food cravings and difficult emotions without resorting to eating in response, thereby potentially improving dietary adherence.
Trial design
The Delish Study (NCT03207711) was a completed trial with an enrollment of 60 participants. The study focused on individuals with Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2. The trial compared two approaches: a 'Diet Education' group and a 'Diet Education + Mindfulness' group. While specific primary outcomes were not detailed in the provided data, the study investigated mechanistic outcomes such as the frequency of eating in response to cravings.
Key results
The study reported several key measurements comparing the 'Diet Education' group with the 'Diet Education + Mindfulness' group:
- Frequency of Eating in Response to Cravings (Primary Mechanistic Outcome):
- Diet Education group: Mean change of -20.39 % of EMAs with craving related eating.
- Diet Education + Mindfulness group: Mean change of -25.27 % of EMAs with craving related eating.
- Change in Impulsivity as Measured by Delayed Discounting Score:
- Diet Education group: Geometric mean change of 87.17 % change.
- Diet Education + Mindfulness group: Geometric mean change of 6.42 % change.
- Emotion-related Eating (Secondary Mechanistic Outcome):
- Diet Education group: Mean change of -0.62 scores on a scale.
- Diet Education + Mindfulness group: Mean change of -0.90 scores on a scale.
- Stress-related Eating (Secondary Mechanistic Outcome):
- Diet Education group: Mean change of -1.62 units on a scale.
- Diet Education + Mindfulness group: Mean change of -1.73 units on a scale.
- Glycemic Control, Using HbA1c:
- Diet Education group: Mean change of -1.32 % of hemaglobin with glucose (HbA1C).
- Diet Education + Mindfulness group: Mean change of -0.87 % of hemaglobin with glucose (HbA1C).
- Fasting Glucose:
- Diet Education group: Mean change of -30.21 mg/dL.
- Diet Education + Mindfulness group: Mean change of -25.92 mg/dL.
What this means
The results from the Delish Study present a mixed picture regarding the benefits of adding mindfulness to diet education for Type 2 Diabetes management. The 'Diet Education + Mindfulness' group demonstrated a greater reduction in the frequency of eating in response to cravings (-25.27% vs -20.39%), emotion-related eating (-0.90 vs -0.62), and stress-related eating (-1.73 vs -1.62) compared to the 'Diet Education' group alone. These findings suggest that mindfulness may be beneficial in addressing behavioral aspects related to food cravings and emotional eating.
However, for key metabolic markers, the 'Diet Education' group showed a larger mean reduction in Glycemic Control (HbA1c) (-1.32% vs -0.87%) and Fasting Glucose (-30.21 mg/dL vs -25.92 mg/dL) compared to the 'Diet Education + Mindfulness' group. The interpretation of the change in impulsivity score is less clear without further context on what constitutes a beneficial change in this specific measurement. Overall, while mindfulness appears to enhance coping mechanisms for cravings and emotional eating, the data does not conclusively show an additive benefit for direct glycemic control compared to diet education alone in this study.
Source
The information for these trial results was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a public database of clinical studies. The results for the study NCT03207711, titled "Delish Study: Diabetes Education to Lower Insulin, Sugars, and Hunger", were posted on 2025-12-08 on clinicaltrials.gov.