[Nutrition for diabetic patients (Update 2023)]

All patients with diabetes require individual and personalized nutritional consultation with professionals. The patient's needs should be the primary focus of the dietary therapy, taking their lifestyle and the type of diabetes into consideration. With the recommendations to the patient's diet, there need to be specific metabolic goals to reduce the disease's progression and to avoid long term health effects. Therefore, practical guidelines such as portion size and meal planning tips should be the main focus.According to the latest national and international standards, patients suffering from diabetes should have access to nutrition consulting and nutritional training. During consultation they can be supported on- how to manage their health condition and choosing food and beverage to improve their health.These practical recommendations sum up the latest literature on nutritional aspects of diabetes treatment.

Gradual reduction of free sugars in beverages on sale by implementing the beverage checklist as a public health strategy

Background

Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are a major source of free sugar intake and contribute to obesity and obesity-related diseases. Therefore, we analyzed the effect of a gradual sugar reduction strategy within the so-called 'beverage checklist' on free sugar content in beverages on sale in Austria.

Methods

From 2010 until 2017, data on the amount of free sugar of sweetened beverages (sweetened with sugars, fruit juice and artificial sweeteners) with 0.20-0.75l serving sizes in all main supermarkets and from industry was collected. These data were published annually as the beverage checklist, which displays beverages on sale in Austria. The checklist aims to encourage beverage production with a free sugar content of ≤7.4 g/100 ml and no artificial sweeteners.

Results

Free sugar content in the total supply decreased significantly [7.53 (2.86) vs. 6.75 (2.79) g/100 ml; 10.4%; P < 0.001] over time and also in those for which follow-up data were available until 2017 (n = 100) [7.55 (2.46) vs. 7.28 (2.44) g/100 ml; 3.5%; P < 0.001]. The percentage of beverages fulfilling the guiding criteria increased by 12.8% (P < 0.001) and of those containing sweeteners decreased by 13.3% (after 2012; P = 0.034).

Conclusions

This public health strategy, conducted by a small non-profit organization, showed a reduction in the mean free sugar content by working with the industry to voluntarily reformulate beverages. More beverages with less added sugar were brought to the market, which implies healthier choices. The challenge now is to further engage the industry and also policy makers to achieve a greater reduction in the future.

[Nutrition for diabetic patients]

Evidence demonstrates that medical diabetes treatment has to be accompanied by lifestyle modifications. Structured nutrition interventions and increased physical activity will help patients to normalise, respectively maintain their body weight. The main target of a diabetes therapy is aimed at achieving normal or nearly normal blood glucose levels. Reaching this goal may be facilitated by the following nutritional patterns: Using mainly carbohydrates from vegetables, whole grains, legumes and fruits, Restriction of mono- and disaccharides are often important factors in normalising body weight and blood glucose, Reduction of dietary fat could be indicated. However, the primary goal is the limitation of saturated fatty acids which to high percentage are consumed with animal products. There is not sufficient evidence to recommend a dietary protein consumption of more than 20% of energy intake. Individuals with diabetes should be aware of the importance of acquiring daily vitamin and mineral requirements. Natural food sources should be preferred.

PRESTO--Prevention Study of Obesity: a project to prevent obesity during childhood and adolescence

The PRESTO project has been launched as a school-oriented pilot project. The aims were to influence nutrition, physical activity and health. The intervention was performed by a multiprofessional team and covered 11 nutrition and health-related sessions with 1 h per week in each class. The initial poor knowledge was improved significantly to the control group with better results in grammar schools compared to comprehensive schools. BMI was not improved in overweight children. However, this project could serve as a successful model in Austria.