Fiber Found to Help Some Diabetes Patients

A diet very high in fiber can improve the health of patients with Type 2 diabetes by significantly reducing blood glucose levels, according to researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Dr. Abhimanyu Garg and Dr. Manisha Chandalia report in today’s New England Journal of Medicine that a daily diet containing 50 grams of fiber--twice as much as recommended by the American Diabetes Assn.--reduces glucose levels by 10%. The researchers increased fiber intake by giving patients cantaloupe, grapefruit, oranges, papayas, raisins, beans, okra, sweet potatoes, squash, granola, oat bran and oatmeal. They did not use supplements.

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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II