Diabetes.

Fiberus Maximus

Recommendations on dietary fiber intake in patients with type 2 diabetes may need to be revised in light of new evidence of impressive benefit with a high-fiber diet.

Dr. Manisha Chandalia of the University of Texas in Dallas and associates conducted a randomized, crossover trial in which 13 patients with type 2 diabetes followed two diets, each for 6 weeks.

One diet contained 24 g per day of fiber, in line with revised American Diabetes Association guidelines issued earlier last year (Diabetes Care 23[Suppl. 1]:S43-S46, 2000). The other diet contained 50 g per day of fiber, including 25 g of soluble fiber--more than three times the amount in the ADA-type diet.

Fasting plasma triglyceride levels were 10.2% lower after 6 weeks on the high-fiber diet than the ADA diet. Total cholesterol was 6.7% lower, LDL cholesterol was 6.3% lower, and VLDL cholesterol was 12.5% lower. Glycemic control was significantly better with the high-fiber diet, too: Mean plasma glucose concentration was 8.9% lower than with the ADA-type diet and plasma insulin concentrations were 12% lower (N. Engl. J. Med. 342[19]:1392-98, 2000).

Insulin Abuse

Adolescent girls with type 1 diabetes are significantly more likely than their healthy peers to have either overt or subthreshold eating disorders, reported Jennifer M. Jones of University Health Network in Toronto and ...