Innovative Approaches in the Development of Specialized Food Products of Optimized Composition for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is a major medical, social and economic problem, due to the high prevalence and increasing incidence of the disease with subsequent progression of seriously disabling complications and need for specialized medical care. Globally, 382 million people have diabetes, and the number of people with the disease is set to rise beyond 592 million in less than 25 years. Diabetes caused 5.1 million deaths in 2013. Every six seconds a person dies from diabetes. Diabetic management is usually targeted at reducing weight, ameliorating glycemic control and reducing other risk factors that lead to vascular complications. Dietary intervention is considered a necessary part of the treatment of type 2 diabetes in addition to any glucose-lowering pharmacotherapy. The development of specialized foodstuffs with predetermined chemical composition is an important objective of clinical nutrition. This review provides medical and biological rationale for the use of food ingredients with benefits in the development of optimized food formulations for patients with type 2 diabetes. Key aspects of the development of specialized food products for patients with type 2 diabetes is to meet the physiological needs of the patient with foods containing biologically active substances which provide favorable metabolic effects and to be careful to preserve traditional hedonic qualities of the enriched product, which would be important for compliance and general product acceptability.