Kent State Interns

Costello, R.B., Dwyer, J.T., Saldanha, L., Bailey, R.L., Merkel, J., Wambogo, E. (2016). Do cinnamon supplements have a role in glycemic control in type 2 diabetes? A narrative review. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics . 116(11) 1794-1802. We’ve all read Facebook posts that claim cinnamon helps diabetes, turmeric helps crohn’s disease, and so on and so forth. This review set out to either prove or disprove the theory that cinnamon can help lower Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels and fasting blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. There were eleven studies found from PubMed, which included 649 adults total. The subjects were all kept on their regular medicines during the trial period, which lasted anywhere from 4-16 weeks depending upon the study, with dosages of 120-6,000 mg of cinnamon per day. The cinnamon species also varied, which may have played a part in the results.   The authors were unable to conduct a meta-analysis because of t

Munshi, S., Khandaker, S. (2014). Evaluation of metformin versus insulin and the management of gestational diabetes mellitus: a prospective comparative study . Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 3(2) 357-361. Providing medical nutrition therapy (MNT) to pregnant mothers with gestational diabetes can become more difficult when the mother is concerned about the well-being of her child. This study determined that there were equal outcomes of a desired birth and healthy child when comparing two groups of women with gestational diabetes, one with use of insulin and the other with use of metformin, and both with MNT. The differences were found in glycemic control in the mother, where 84% of those taking insulin had good glycemic control and only 72% of those using metformin had good glycemic control. Metformin crosses the placental barrier, whereas insulin does not, and when counseling clients the mother will have to make the decision to either potentially hinder

Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) is very common for diabetes, kidney failure, and even chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but what about for kidney stones? It may not be an area that we think of calling in the dietitian, but with the high recurrence rate in patients who develop kidney stones, they may benefit from MNT. Many patients with kidney stones have diets that are low in calcium and fiber, and high in refined carbohydrates, protein, and salt. Knowing the kind of kidney stone the patient is suffering from and doing a dietary recall will assist the dietitian in developing a meal plan for the patient. With most kidney stone patients, there is always a need for an increase in fluids. With more of the population wanting natural remedies, food is becoming the new version of a pill and dietitians should take advantage of their ability to help all kinds of patients. -SB Kohn, J.B. (2014). Is medical nutrition therapy appropriate for kidney stones? Journal of the