Role of fat replacers in diabetes medical nutrition therapy. American Diabetes Association.

Foods with fat replacers have the potential to help people with diabetes reduce total and saturated fat intake and may therefore, in time, reduce the increased prevalence of dyslipidemia in type II diabetes. However, for these foods to have any potential benefit to people with diabetes, people with diabetes must learn to use them appropriately. People with diabetes should receive self-management training on how to identify ingredients that are fat replacers on labels, how to use the food label to determine serving sizes, and how to incorporate these foods into their food/meal plan, along with the selection of a wide variety of nutritious foods. Health professionals and people with diabetes need to keep current with the ever-changing market-place, available food products, and growing body of scientific literature. Additional research is needed to assess the impact of the use of fat replacers on the macronutrient content of the diet, metabolic parameters related to diabetes, and potential health and nutrition benefits for the person with diabetes.