Enhanced Wellbeing of Adults with Type 2 Diabetes following Multi-Vitamin and Mineral Supplementation for Three Months in a Randomised, Double-blind, Cross-over Pilot Study

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effects of a daily multinutrient supplement on plasma indicators of glycemic and lipemic control and psychological wellbeing in type 2 diabetic patients. Design Double-blind, randomised, cross-over pilot intervention study. Subjects Twenty-nine subjects (15 males and 14 females) with non-insulin-dependent type 2 diabetes. Intervention Either a multinutrient supplement or placebo were provided daily during two intervention periods of 3 months separated by a 4 week washout. Results There were no significant changes of multinutrient treatment compared with placebo in HbA1c, fasting or postprandial plasma glucose and insulin concentrations and fasting plasma lipid concentrations. Using a validated wellbeing questionnaire (W-BQ 22) designed for diabetic subjects, the multinutrient supplement resulted in improvements in the secondary outcome of wellbeing of the volunteers in terms of anxiety (p = 0.020), vitality (p = 0.013) and general wellbeing (p = 0.021), relative to placebo. Conclusions Findings from this pilot study suggest that a multinutrient supplement may enhance the wellbeing of diabetic patients, even in the absence of a significant improvement in clinical parameters. If substantiated in a full clinical study the results would have important implications for the prevention of late complications of diabetes, as psychological factors can hinder successful management of the condition and adversely affect metabolic control.