DO FIBER-ENRICHED DIABETIC DIETS HAVE GLUCOSE-LOWERING EFFECTS IN PREGNANCY

A fiber-enriched diabetic diet that contained a modest increase in die tary fiber and a commercially available fiber supplement was studied i n pregnant diabetic women for its potential glucose-lowering effects. Noninsulin-requiring gestational diabetic patients were placed on a fi ber-enriched diet of increasing fiber content starting with 40 gm and eventually achieving a maximum tolerable dose of 80 gm of fiber per da y. Initial pilot study demonstrated that patients could not tolerate m ore than 40 gm of fiber-rich food. Therefore additional fiber was admi nistered via commercially available high-fiber drink. Satisfactory pat ient acceptance and compliance were achieved using this method. The re sponse curve was flat with no lowering of blood glucose with increasin g dietary fiber content. Furthermore, when the group receiving the mod erate-fiber dose (40 to 60 gm), the high-fiber dose (70 to 80 gm), and a third group on an American Diabetes Association recommended diet (2 0 gm or less of fiber) were compared, no significant difference was ob served in the mean blood glucose and postprandial glucose levels. This pilot study demonstrates that high-fiber diets, although better toler ated by patients when administered in divided amounts, are not associa ted with a concomitant lowering of blood glucose levels in pregnant di abetic patients.