The Effect of Viscous and Non-Viscous Fibre Supplementation on Glycemic Control in Individuals with Diabetes Mellitus

This thesis project includes two systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRMA) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to assess the effect of viscous and non-viscous dietary fibre supplementation on glycemic control in individuals with diabetes mellitus. In study one, including 31 trials (n=1428), diets supplemented with viscous fibre isolates significantly lowered HbA1c, fasting glucose and HOMA-IR. In the second study, which included 13 trials (n=545), diets supplemented with non-viscous fibre significantly lowered HbA1c, fasting glucose and fasting insulin. Although both SRMA revealed significant improvements in glycemic control, the effect of viscous fibre supplementation appears to be stronger and with higher quality evidence as assessed by the GRADE tool. Overall, the results suggest that supplementing diet with fibre leads to modest improvement in conventional markers of glycemic control in diabetes mellitus, especially in T2DM. More research is needed to address the limitations of our analyses raised by GRADE.M.Sc