Diabetes UK evidence‐based nutrition guidelines for the prevention and management of diabetes

Abstract

This article summarizes the Diabetes UK evidence-based guidelines for the prevention of Type 2 diabetes and nutritional management of diabetes. It describes the development of the recommendations and highlights the key changes from previous guidelines. The nutrition guidelines include a series of recommendations for the prevention of Type 2 diabetes, nutritional management of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, weight management, management of microvascular and macrovascular disease, hypoglycaemia management, and additional considerations such as nutrition support, end-of-life care, disorders of the pancreas, care of the older person with diabetes, nutrition provided by external agencies and fasting. The evidence-based recommendations were graded using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network methodology and, in a small number of topic areas, where strong evidence was lacking, the recommendations were reached by consensus. The Diabetes UK 2011 guidelines place an emphasis on carbohydrate management and a more flexible approach to weight loss, unlike previous guidelines which were expressed in terms of recommendations for individual nutrient intakes. Additionally, the guidelines for alcohol have been aligned to national recommendations. The full evidence-based nutrition guidelines for the prevention and management of diabetes are available from: http://www.diabetes.org.uk/nutrition-guidelines.

Design and baseline characteristics of the Food4Me study: a web-based randomised controlled trial of personalised nutrition in seven European countries

“…Recommendations based on age or physiological status, e.g. infants or pregnant women (FAO 2004), or diseases such as hypertension (Appel et al 2006) or diabetes (Dyson et al 2011), have been tailored to meet specific nutritional needs. However, recent progress in the field of genomic research may offer a further level of specificity by providing a rational basis for individual-level, genotype-based nutritional advice, thereby increasing the efficacy of interventions designed to reduce the risk of NCDs (Gibney and Walsh 2013).…”

Weight loss in type 2 diabetes

“…7 Whilst there is no universally agreed target for achieving this, most experts recommend decreasing energy intake by between 500 and 1000 kcal per day. 4 A variety of dietary strategies are used to help individuals lose weight, including lowfat diets, low-carbohydrate diets and meal replacements.…”

Does Advice Based on Less Restrictive Sucrose Intake Affect Glycaemic Control in Individuals with Established Type 2 Diabetes?

“…Eighty percent of people are overweight or obese when they are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (Smyth & Heron 2006). It is understandable, therefore, given the inextricable link with obesity, that dietary energy restriction and exercise to promote weight loss remain the cornerstones of the management of type 2 diabetes (Dyson et al 2011). …”

“…Foods with a low glycaemic index are actively promoted and saturated fats should be limited and replaced by unsaturated fats (predominantly monounsaturated fats) (Riserus, Willett, & Hu 2009). For those who are overweight or obese, weight loss should be the primary nutritional strategy in managing glucose control (Dyson et al 2011).…”