Individuals with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). We assessed how dietary counselling on a high-quality, fibre-rich diet influenced the cardiometabolic health profile of patients with type 2 diabetes. In this 6-month trial, 121 patients with type 2 diabetes (67±8.7 years, 68% men, mean body mass index 27.8 kg/m2) were assigned to dietary counselling (n=61) or continued standard care (n=60). Counselling included 4-7 individual sessions with a dietitian, aimed at increasing fibre-rich food intake to improve diet quality. As the primary outcome, a composite cardiovascular risk score was used to estimate 10-year CVD risk. Secondary outcomes included changes in diet quality, assessed by the Dutch Healthy Eating Index-2015 (DHD15-index), HbA1c, LDL-cholesterol, blood pressure, body weight, and medication use. Mean diet quality score (DHD15-index) at baseline was 115±26 and was similar across groups. Over 6 months, DHD15-index scores improved by 4.5 points (95%CI: -0.2; 9.1) in the intervention group vs control, but not significant. The change in 10-year CVD risk across the 6 months of the trial (primary outcome) did not differ between groups -0.1%, 95%CI: -0.2; 0.1. Changes over time in HbA1c (-1.1 mmol/mol, 95%CI: -4.4; 2.3), LDL-cholesterol (0.0 mmol/L, 95%CI: -0.1; 0.1), blood pressure (-1 mmHg, 95%CI: -6; 4), body weight (-0.1 kg, 95%CI: -1.2; 1.1), or medication use did not differ between groups. Dietary counselling for 6 months slightly improved adherence to a high-quality, fibre-rich diet in patients with type 2 diabetes but did not significantly impact cardiometabolic health or medication use.
Damme et al. (Fri,) studied this question.