Will larger randomized trial show effect on outcomes?
The authors noted, however, that to determine whether these small improvements in intermediate cardiometabolic risk factors observed with low GI diets translate to reductions in cardiovascular disease, nephropathy, and retinopathy among people with diabetes, larger randomized trials are needed.
One such trial, the Low Glycemic Index Diet for Type 2 Diabetics, includes 169 high-risk patients with type 2 diabetes and subclinical atherosclerosis. The investigators are evaluating the effect of a low GI diet on the progression of atherosclerosis, as assessed by vascular MRI over 3 years.
“We await the results,” they said.
The study received funding from the Diabetes and Nutrition Study Group of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) as part of the development of the EASD Clinical Practice Guidelines for Nutrition Therapy. The study was also supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research through the Canada-wide Human Nutrition Trialists’ Network. The Diet, Digestive Tract, and Disease (3D) Center, which is funded through the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ministry of Research and Innovation’s Ontario Research Fund, provided the infrastructure for the study.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.