Food and nutrition science has moved from identifying and correcting nutritional deficiencies to designing foods that promote optimal health and reduce the risk of disease. Diabetes is rapidly emerging as a pandemic. It is also accompanied by several health implications viz. cardiovascular diseases, obesity, hypertension, cancer, depression, and eating disorders. International Diabetes Federation estimates that in 2010, India is home to 50.8 million diabetics and the number is expected to go up to a whopping 87 million by 2030. The primary goal of medical nutrition therapy was to design special dietary products for patients with hyperglycemia, intended in controlling postprandial plasma glucose fluctuations and hypercholesterolemic tendencies. However, an effective way to minimize these health risks could be through modifications in the diet by inclusion of multiple functional ingredients, aimed for their concerted role in management of individuals suffering with diabetes.

A diabetic dietary supplement comprising of multiple ingredients was designed based on recommendation of Indian Council of Medical Research for a diabetic adult. Central composite rotatable design using three variables (ingredient source) and five responses comprising of sensory and physico-chemical attributes were used for computation of an optimized solution. All the responses fitted well into quadratic equation with R (2) > 0.80. The optimum levels of ingredient combinations recommended with 93% desirability were obtained. A total of 27 combinations were prepared and evaluated. The dietary supplement comprising of milk fat and groundnut oil (90:10), whey protein concentrate and sodium caseinate (50:50) and resistant starch and maltodextrin (70:30) were selected on 100 point sensory scale. The prepared supplement using recommended levels of ingredients contained 4.37 moisture, 15.93 protein, 10.15 fat, 66.15 carbohydrate and 3.39% ash.

A dietary supplement containing multifunctional ingredient sources was formulated and optimized for management of diabetes. The formulated dietary supplement comprised of milk fat and groundnut oil (90:10), whey protein concentrate, skim milk powder and sodium caseinate (50:25:25) and resistant starch and maltodextrin (70:30). The feasibility of the formulated dietary supplement in terms of physico-chemical, microbiological and sensory attributes was evaluated during storage period. The formulated supplement was found to have 4.37, 15.93, 10.15, 3.39 and 66.15 percent moisture, protein, fat, ash and carbohydrate respectively. It was observed that there was slight increase in moisture, free fatty acid, thiobarbituric acid and insolubility index while a decrease in dispersibility and sensory attributes (color and appearance, flavor, overall acceptability) during the storage period. However, the dietary supplement stored at room temperature indicated non-significant changes in all physico-chemical, microbiological and sensory parameters throughout the storage period of 180 days. Thus, dietary supplement prepared had better acceptability for a period of six months.

A dietary supplement with multifunctional ingredients was designed, formulated and optimized using Response Surface Methodology. To evaluate the hypoglycemic and hypocholesterolemic efficacy of dietary supplement an invivo studies were conducted for 8 weeks. A total of thirty rats was taken and allocated to five groups with 6 rats each, First group (Group I) was given 100 percent control diet, second group (Group II) was fed with 20 percent commercial diabetic supplements while the other three experimental groups (III, IV and V) were given formulated dietary supplement substituting with control diet at 10, 20 and 50 percent. In all groups diabetes was induced by intraperitoneally administration of streptozotocin. Body weight, Blood Glucose and Cholesterol were estimated during the experimental period. Among the various dietary groups, 50 percent dietary supplementation resulted in a reduction of 16.81 percent blood glucose, 33.94 percent blood plasma cholesterol and 4.16 percent increase in body weight.