This Consensus Report is intended to provide clinical professionals with evidencebased guidance about individualizing nutrition therapy for adults with diabetes or prediabetes. Strong evidence supports the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of nutrition therapy as a component of quality diabetes care, including its integration into the medical management of diabetes; therefore, it is important that all members of the health care team know and champion the benefits of nutrition therapy and key nutrition messages. Nutrition counseling that works toward improving or maintaining glycemic targets, achieving weight management goals, and improving cardiovascular risk factors (e.g., blood pressure, lipids, etc.) within individualized treatment goals is recommended for all adults with diabetes and prediabetes. Though it might simplify messaging, a "one-size-fits-all" eating plan is not evident for the prevention or management of diabetes, and it is an unrealistic expectation given the broad spectrum of people affected by diabetes and prediabetes, their cultural backgrounds, personal preferences, co-occurring conditions (often referred to as comorbidities), and socioeconomic settings in which they live. Research provides clarity on many food choices and eating patterns that can help people achieve health goals and quality of life. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) emphasizes that medical nutrition therapy (MNT) is fundamental in the overall diabetes management plan, and the need for MNT should be reassessed frequently by health care providers in collaboration with people with diabetes across the life span, with special attention during times of changing health status and life stages (1-3). This Consensus Report now includes information on prediabetes, and previous ADA nutrition position statements, the last of which was published in 2014 (4), did not. Unless otherwise noted, the research reviewed was limited to those studies conducted in adults diagnosed with prediabetes, type 1 diabetes, and/or type 2 diabetes. Nutrition therapy for children with diabetes or women with gestational diabetes mellitus is not addressed in this review but is covered in other ADA publications, specifically Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes (5,6).
Background/Objectives
Vitamin D may modify the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The aim of this review was to examine the association between vitamin D status and incident type 2 diabetes, and the effect of vitamin D supplementation on glycemic outcomes.
Methods
We performed a systematic review of English-language studies using MEDLINE through February 2011. Longitudinal cohort studies reporting associations between vitamin D status and incident type 2 diabetes, and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of vitamin D supplementation, were included. Study characteristics and results were extracted, and study quality was assessed.
Results
A total of 8 observational cohort studies and 11 RCTs were included. In meta-analyses of observational studies, vitamin D intake > 500 international units (IU)/day decreased the risk of type 2 diabetes by 13% compared with vitamin D intake < 200 IU/day. Individuals with the highest vitamin D status (> 25 ng/ml) had a 43% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes (95% confidence interval 24, 57%) compared with those in the lowest group (< 14 ng/ml). In post hoc analyses from eight trials among participants with normal glucose tolerance at baseline and in three small underpowered (n = 32–62) trials of patients with established type 2 diabetes, there was no effect of vitamin D supplementation on glycemic outcomes. In two trials among patients with baseline glucose intolerance, vitamin D supplementation improved insulin resistance.
Conclusions
Vitamin D may play a role in type 2 diabetes; however, to better define the role of vitamin D in the development and progression of type 2 diabetes, high-quality observational studies and RCTs that measure blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and clinically relevant glycemic outcomes are needed.
In adults at risk of type 2 diabetes, short-term supplementation with cholecalciferol improved β cell function and had a marginal effect on attenuating the rise in Hb A(1c). This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00436475.
Evidence from available trials shows no effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on glucose homeostasis or diabetes prevention. Definitive conclusions may be limited in the context of the moderate degree of heterogeneity, variable risk of bias, and short-term follow-up duration of the available evidence to date.
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