Diets with high fiber content improve most metabolic syndrome (MetS) profile in non-diabetic individuals, but there is scarce information about the role of fiber intake in patients with the MetS and diabetes. The objective of this study is to determine whether soluble fiber supplementation improve MetS profile for 8 weeks of intervention in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes (T2D) adult patients. After one week of dietary stabilization phase, 36 newly diagnosed T2D patients were stratified to different strata according to sex, age, fasting blood sugar (FBS), and waist circumference (WC). Then they were randomly allocated into 2 groups. The psyllium group (n = 18) received 10.5 g of psyllium daily for 8 weeks. The control group (n = 18) maintained their regular diet for 8 weeks. Soluble fiber supplementation showed significant reduction in the majority of MetS profile; FBS (43.55 mg/dL, p < 0.001), triglyceride (37.89 mg/dL, p < 0.001), total cholesterol (20.32 mg/dL, p < 0.001), systolic blood pressure (7.50 mmHg, p < 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (2.78 mmHg, p = 0.013), and WC (2.54 cm, p < 0.001) in the intervention group compared with the control group after 8 weeks of intervention. The high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was reduced in both groups, but this reduction was insignificant. The improvement in the MetS profile was enhanced by combining psyllium to the normal diet. Consumption of foods containing moderate amounts of these fibers may improve MetS profile in newly diagnosed T2D patients. This study was registered in Current Controlled Trials (PHRC/HC/28/15).
Keywords: Fiber; Metabolic syndrome; Type 2 diabetes.