Evaluating FEijoa foR DIabetes Prevention in a Multi-ethnic New ZeAlaND Cohort: the FERDINAND study. A community nutrition intervention in individuals with pre-diabetes.

Measure change in fasting plasma glucose ;; Change in body weight (using digital scales)

Prevention of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a key global health target, with change in diet being a first line strategy. Yet the optimum composition of the diet for long term prevention, to enhance outcomes that can be achieved through weight loss, remains under considerable debate. Additionally, response to dietary intervention, in particular the postprandial glucose response (PPGR), remains poorly characterised in those at risk of diabetes. Predicting response, and in turn personalising intervention diets to optimise glycaemic improvements in high risk individuals is an important step in understanding how diet may help to ameliorate dysglycaemia and T2D.. The proposed FERDINAND Study is a longer-term 8 month intervention in a larger multi-ethnic cohort of ‘at risk’ adults; with the aim of evaluating a F&B product that may contribute to improved glycaemia during both weight/adipose mass loss and longer-term weight loss maintenance. Plant-derived polyphenols, commonly found in fruits such as feijoa, may provide a novel nutrition approach with evidence from prior pre-clinical, and a human clinical study, demonstrating improvement in glycaemic parameters following short-term consumption of commercially available whole feijoa powder. Use of machine-learning algorithms will integrate clinical responses and ‘omics outputs to predict individual response to the intervention. The outcomes of PPGR from the FERDINAND Cohort will be important as it will provide predictive algorithms that can be validated in future follow-up assessments.