The Effect of Viscous Fiber on Glycemic Control in Individuals With Diabetes

Purpose of Study (The Effect of Viscous Fiber on Glycemic Control (VF \& GC) in Individuals with Diabetes Mellitus. According to the World Health Organization, about 347 million individuals are living with diabetes. (http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/diabetes/facts/en/, accessed on Nov. 23, 2015). Over the last decades, dietary fibers, namely dietary viscous fibers, have emerged as a nutrition component that may improve the postprandial glycemic response and hence aid in long term diabetes management. It is believed that supplementation with viscous fibers can control blood glucose by increasing viscosity of the gastric digesta, hence delaying gastric emptying and retarding entry of glucose into the bloodstream to result in a diminished postprandial rise in blood glucose. (Chutkan et al., 2012). Currently, the evidence of the relationship between viscous fibers and diabetes is mixed. The systematic review method depends on combining data from many small studies in order to get a pooled estimate of the true effect. The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the fasting glycemic and insulinemic effect of viscous fiber supplementation. We hope the findings of this study will play a key role in developing the nutritional guidelines for individuals with diabetes mellitus.