Study shows high-fiber cereal diet could benefit Type 2 diabetes patients

CHICAGO A study of patients with Type 2 diabetes published earlier this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that a 6-month treatment with a low–glycemic index diet resulted in moderately lower HbA1c levels compared with a high–cereal fiber diet, suggesting that low–glycemic index diets may be useful as part of the strategy to improve glycemic control in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

“The reduction in HbA1c was modest, but we think it has clinical relevance,” authors of the study noted. The low-glycemic index diet resulted in a decline, on average, of 0.33 percent in HbA1c, which could result in a corresponding lower heart disease risk by as much as 12 percent.