Mango Cardiometabolic Study | School of Public Health

Mango Study Participants Needed

Thanks for your interest in the Mango Cardiometabolic Study. This study will test the health benefits of mangos. The primary goal of this study is to determine the effect of eating mangos daily for 12 weeks on glucose, inflammation, oxidation, and lipids in individuals with prediabetes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible for the study?

Investigators are looking for men and women between 40-60 years of age with prediabetes (HbA1C: 5.7-6.4%) and with waist circumference >102 cm for men or >88 cm for women. Participants should be able to commute to Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California.

If you have any of the following criteria you will not qualify for this study:

Intolerance or allergy to mangos or latex
Regular intake of mangos (greater than 3 servings per week) and/or other fruit (greater than 2 servings/day)
Smoking, use of tobacco, or alcohol intake (greater than 2 drinks/day for men or 1 drink per day for women)
Recent significant weight loss of greater than 5% within the last 6 months
A body mass index (BMI) greater than 35 kg/m2
Pregnancy or breastfeeding
Having a chronic disease (diabetes, heart disease, cancer, kidney disease, inflammatory bowel disease, or similar) or relevant psychiatric illness, including major depression
Use of medications or supplements that can affect blood glucose or lipids
Use of a pacemaker
Not having access to a computer or tablet with internet access.
Not able to read and/or communicate in English

If a participant has any of these criteria, he/she will not be included in the study.

What is expected of participants?

After the pre-randomization visit, participants must be willing to commit for a total duration of 28 weeks and to attend office visits. During this time, participants are expected to attend all scheduled meetings and visits. Participants must be equally willing to consume mangos or abstain from mangos and limit other fruit, while continuing their usual diet and other routines or lifestyle habits.

Participants will be randomized to 12 weeks of mango (1.5 servings per day) followed by 12 weeks off of mango following a 4 week break, or vice versa. Mangos will be available for pick up every 2 weeks.

Participants are expected to visit the clinic 8 times during the study (about once a month). Body composition measurements which means measuring your weight, body fat mass and muscle mass using an InBody machine will be done at each of the clinic visits (8 total) by a trained clinician. During three of these visits participants will be fasting (this means that you must have nothing to eat and drink except water after 8 p.m. the evening before) to provide blood samples. About 3 tablespoons of blood will be collected during the blood draw visits.

How can I participate?

You can let us know if you are interested in the study by any of the following 2 ways:

Send us an email to mangostudy@llu.edu
Call us at 909-558-8382 from 9am to 3pm

Please let us know the days and the time you will be available to take calls.

How long will the study last?

The study will last for 28 weeks (approximately 6 months) from start to finish.

Will it cost me anything?

There is NO cost to the participants for any of the study-associated intervention or tests.

Risks

The committee at Loma Linda University that reviews human studies (Institutional Review Board) has determined that participating in this study could expose you to minimal risk. Some of the foreseeable risks or discomforts of your participation include discomfort, bruising or bleeding from the A1C (finger prick) test and blood draw, and potential allergic reaction to the mangos.

Benefits

You may or may not benefit from this study. However, it is hoped that the information learned from this study will benefit other people in the future. Additionally, your results from a variety of tests and assessments will be provided to you at the completion of the study.

Results

You will be provided with the results of your diet assessment and a variety of tests at the completion of the study. These results will provide information that may pertain to your health, and if there are any abnormalities detected, we recommend that you follow-up with your primary care provider.

Compensation

You will be paid a total of $200 in the form of gift cards over the course of this study. Upon your completion of the first blood draw clinic (week 0) you will receive $25; upon completion of the second blood draw clinic (week 12) you will receive $50; and upon completion of the third blood draw clinic (week 28) you will receive $125.

Voluntary Participation

Participation in this study is voluntary. Your decision on whether to participate in or withdraw at any time from the study will not affect your ongoing medical care or relationship to your doctors and will not involve any penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.

Required Dates

Dates will be provided soon.

Who is conducting the study?

This study is one of the many dietary studies conducted by a team of nutrition researchers at Loma Linda University. The protocol of Mango Cardiometabolic Study is approved by Institutional Review Board (IRB), which is the independent committee of physicians and public health professionals, to make sure that there is no harm toward participants and possible benefits, not only for participants, but also for others in the future.

Celine Heskey, DrPH, MS, RDN

Principal Investigator

Dr. Heskey is an Associate Professor of Nutrition, and currently the program director of the MPH Nutrition program at Loma Linda University. She completed her BS degree in Dietetics and MS degree in Human Nutrition at Andrews University, and her DrPH in Nutrition at Loma Linda University. She has prior experience working as a clinical dietitian (Registered Dietitian Nutritionist) at Advent Health-Altamonte and Loma Linda University Medical Center. Her research interests include nutrition epidemiology, and clinical trials examining the effects of various nutrients and foods (including n-3 fatty acids, nuts, avocado, and mango) on adiposity and cardiometabolic health, including risk factors for heart disease and diabetes.

Sujatha Rajaram, PhD

CO-INVESTIGATOR

Dr. Sujatha Rajaram, is a Professor of Nutrition at Loma Linda University School of Public Health. She is a Co-Investigator for the Mango Cardiometabolic Study. She has contributed significantly to the research activities at the Center for Nutrition, Healthy Lifestyle and Disease Prevention. She has served as both principal investigator and co-investigator on several clinical trials, specifically feeding studies on tree nuts, and plant omega-3 fatty acids with respect to cardiometabolic disease outcomes and healthy aging.

Joan Sabate, MD, DrPH

INVESTIGATOR

Dr. Joan Sabate has a doctoral degree in public health nutrition, and has worked in the area of Environmental Nutrition for over 10 years. He has a broad, multidisciplinary background including nutrition, epidemiology, and statistics. He was Chair of the nutrition department at Loma Linda University for 17 years and led many research projects to completion. Currently, Joan is the co-Director of the Environmental Nutrition research program at Loma Linda University.

Amandeep Wright, MPH

Research Manager

Amandeep Kaur is a Research Manager at the Loma Linda University School of Public Health. She did her Master’s in Public Health at SPH. She has been working with the PI of the Mango Cardiovascular Study and the nutrition research team for the past five years. She has expertise in coordinating and managing the conduct of clinical trials. She has been involved with larger clinical trials like the Habitual Diet and Avocado Trail, which was a multi-center trial (UCLA, Tufts University, Penn State and Loma Linda University) with over a 1000 participants .She was the main coordinator for the Loma Linda site during the trial. Her role in Mango Cardiovascular Study will include among other things, the coordination of recruitment and selection of participants, clinic visits, and data collection and management.

Rawiwan Sirirat, DrPH

Research Associate

Dr. Rawiwan Sirirat is a research associate at Nutrition Research Center. She is a Registered Dietitian with doctoral degree of public health in Nutrition. Her main interest is in nutrition epidemiology. Dr. Sirirat has accumulated research experience over the years via multiple clinical trials as well as a large cohort study. Her experiences include nutrition data collections, quality control of the data as well as nutrition data management. She is also well acquainted with laboratory analyses of nutrition biomarkers, bio specimen processing and handling. She will be primarily involved in data and bio specimen collection and handling in this study.

Socorro Carranza, MPH, RDN, CDCES

GRADUATE ASSISTANT

Socorro Carranza is currently a doctoral student in nutrition at Loma Linda University School of Public Health. Socorro obtained her master's degree in public health nutrition from LLU and has been working as a registered dietitian nutritionist for almost 20 years, specializing in diabetes and weight management. She is the founder of Peak Nutrition Academy and is a part-time college nutrition instructor.

Razan Albar, MPH

GRADUATE ASSISTANT

Razan Albar is currently a doctoral student in the Nutrition Department at Loma Linda University School of Public Health. Razan earned her Master of Public Health from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in Louisiana. Razan has worked extensively in the inpatient settings in several hospitals in Saudi Arabia, where she applied her expertise to support patient recovery and health management. Since 2018, she has been a teaching faculty member at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where she continues to contribute to the field of nutrition education and research. Additionally, Razan is the founder of the Education and Innovation Awareness Center, an initiative dedicated to enhancing the overall health of Saudi Arabian communities through education and innovative health solutions.