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Review
. 2021 Jan 25;13(2):355.
doi: 10.3390/nu13020355.

Genetically Guided Mediterranean Diet for the Personalized Nutritional Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Kalliopi Gkouskou  1   2 , Evgenia Lazou  1 , Efstathios Skoufas  1 , Aristides G Eliopoulos  1   3   4
Affiliations
Review

Genetically Guided Mediterranean Diet for the Personalized Nutritional Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Kalliopi Gkouskou et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

The current consensus for the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is that high-quality diets and adherence to a healthy lifestyle provide significant health benefits. Remarkably, however, there is little agreement on the proportions of macronutrients in the diet that should be recommended to people suffering from pre-diabetes or T2DM. We herein discuss emerging evidence that underscores the importance of gene-diet interactions in the improvement of glycemic biomarkers in T2DM. We propose that we can achieve better glycemic control in T2DM patients by coupling Mediterranean diets to genetic information as a predictor for optimal diet macronutrient composition in a personalized manner. We provide evidence to support this concept by presenting a case study of a T2DM patient who achieved rapid glycemic control when adhered to a personalized, genetically-guided Mediterranean Diet.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet; SNP; glycemia; nutrigenetics; personalized nutrition; type 2 diabetes mellitus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest with the exception of K.G. who is founder and CEO of Embiodiagnostics S.A.

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