Functional Foods in the Therapeutic Management of Diabetic Gastroenteropathy.

Abstract

Diabetic gastroenteropathy is one of the main morbidities in long-term diabetic patients, which causes several symptomatic manifestations, such as heartburn, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and even constipation, diarrhea and fecal incontinence. Its pathophysiology differs for each organ and may be caused by neuropathy of the autonomic nervous system, by loss of interstitial cells in Cajal, as well as by oxidative stress resulting from hyperglycemia. Its main therapeutic interventions include maintaining glycemic control. In such context, nutritional therapy based on functional foods might emerge as an alternative treatment for diabetic gastroenteropathy due to the presence of bioactive compounds that assist the glycemic control, improving the quality of life of patients. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate, in the scientific literature, functional foods that have a role in glycemic homeostasis and the diabetic complications of the gastrointestinal tract. Cinnamon, oats, guava, yacon potatoes, pumpkin, flaxseed and avocado were among the functional foods studied here.