Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.) logoLink to British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.)
. 1988 Apr 23;296(6630):1147–1149. doi: 10.1136/bmj.296.6630.1147

Does adding fibre to a low energy, high carbohydrate, low fat diet confer any benefit to the management of newly diagnosed overweight type II diabetics?

V A Beattie, C A Edwards, J P Hosker, D R Cullen, J D Ward, N W Read
PMCID: PMC2545619  PMID: 2837304

Abstract

The effect of supplementing a low energy (roughly 5·0 MJ), high carbohydrate (180 g), low fat (roughly 25 g) diet with 10-15 g of either cereal fibre or guar gum was investigated in 24 newly diagnosed overweight non-insulin-dependent (type II) diabetics. The patients were divided into three treatment groups: one received a low fibre control diet throughout the study period of 20 weeks and the other received two supplements of cereal fibre and guar gum in a crossover manner. The nutrient content of the diets was kept constant throughout. Though patients taking the low fibre diet showed a smaller reduction in fasting plasma glucose concentrations over the first eight weeks than patients taking a high fibre diet, this difference was not evident at the end of 20 weeks; reductions in weight and glycated haemoglobin values were similar for each dietary regimen throughout the trial.

There was little evidence that supplementing a low energy, high carbohydrate diet with fibre confers any therapeutic benefit to type II diabetics and no evidence that taking fibre as viscous polysaccharides is any more beneficial to overweight diabetics than taking a similar fibre supplement as cereal. On the contrary, guar gum caused more abdominal discomfort and flatulence than the other diets.

Full text

PDF

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aro A., Uusitupa M., Voutilainen E., Hersio K., Korhonen T., Siitonen O. Improved diabetic control and hypocholesterolaemic effect induced by long-term dietary supplementation with guar gum in type 2 (insulin-independent) diabetes. Diabetologia. 1981 Jul;21(1):29–33. doi: 10.1007/BF03216219. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Blackburn N. A., Redfern J. S., Jarjis H., Holgate A. M., Hanning I., Scarpello J. H., Johnson I. T., Read N. W. The mechanism of action of guar gum in improving glucose tolerance in man. Clin Sci (Lond) 1984 Mar;66(3):329–336. doi: 10.1042/cs0660329. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Flückiger R., Winterhalter K. H. In vitro synthesis of hemoglobin AIc. FEBS Lett. 1976 Dec 1;71(2):356–360. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(76)80969-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Heaton K. W. Food fibre as an obstacle to energy intake. Lancet. 1973 Dec 22;2(7843):1418–1421. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(73)92806-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hills M., Armitage P. The two-period cross-over clinical trial. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1979 Jul;8(1):7–20. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1979.tb05903.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hockaday T. D., Hockaday J. M., Mann J. I., Turner R. C. Prospective comparison of modified fat-high-carbohydrate with standard low-carbohydrate dietary advice in the treatment of diabetes: one year follow-up study. Br J Nutr. 1978 Mar;39(2):357–362. doi: 10.1079/bjn19780045. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hollenbeck C. B., Coulston A. M., Reaven G. M. To what extent does increased dietary fiber improve glucose and lipid metabolism in patients with noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM)? Am J Clin Nutr. 1986 Jan;43(1):16–24. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/43.1.16. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Jenkins D. J., Goff D. V., Leeds A. R., Alberti K. G., Wolever T. M., Gassull M. A., Hockaday T. D. Unabsorbable carbohydrates and diabetes: Decreased post-prandial hyperglycaemia. Lancet. 1976 Jul 24;2(7978):172–174. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(76)92346-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Jenkins D. J., Wolever T. M., Hockaday T. D., Leeds A. R., Howarth R., Bacon S., Apling E. C., Dilawari J. Treatment of diabetes with guar gum. Reduction of urinary glucose loss in diabetics. Lancet. 1977 Oct 15;2(8042):779–780. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(77)90721-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Jenkins D. J., Wolever T. M., Nineham R., Sarson D. L., Bloom S. R., Ahern J., Alberti K. G., Hockaday T. D. Improved glucose tolerance four hours after taking guar with glucose. Diabetologia. 1980 Jul;19(1):21–24. doi: 10.1007/BF00258305. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Simpson H. C., Simpson R. W., Lousley S., Carter R. D., Geekie M., Hockaday T. D., Mann J. I. A high carbohydrate leguminous fibre diet improves all aspects of diabetic control. Lancet. 1981 Jan 3;1(8210):1–5. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(81)90112-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Simpson R. W., Mann J. I., Eaton J., Carter R. D., Hockaday T. D. High-carbohydrate diets and insulin-dependent diabetics. Br Med J. 1979 Sep 1;2(6189):523–525. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6189.523. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Simpson R. W., Mann J. I., Eaton J., Moore R. A., Carter R., Hockaday T. D. Improved glucose control in maturity-onset diabetes treated with high-carbohydrate-modified fat diet. Br Med J. 1979 Jun 30;1(6180):1753–1756. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.6180.1753. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Williams D. R., James W. P., Evans I. E. Dietary fibre supplementation of a 'normal' breakfast administered to diabetics. Diabetologia. 1980 May;18(5):379–383. doi: 10.1007/BF00276818. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal (Clinical research ed.) are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES