Taking dietary guidelines to heart: Improving diet quality in the management of cardiovascular disease and diabetes

Summary

A healthy diet and lifestyle are key in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Clinical guidelines recommend to consume a healthy diet, but adherence to these guidelines is poor in practice. This dissertation aimed to evaluate and advance dietary advice in clinical care for patients with type 2 diabetes and CVD. While controlled studies show that several dietary patterns can effectively improve cardiometabolic risk factors, more pragmatic trials in routine care revealed that achieving meaningful dietary change in practice is difficult. This highlights a clear gap between dietary recommendations and real-world behaviour. To promote health of individuals with diabetes or CVD, dietary support must be tailored to an individuals’ daily lives, preferences, and personal circumstances.