A diet rich in fibre seems to protect against the metabolic syndrome (MetS), but there is scarce information about the role of fibre intake in patients with the MetS and diabetes. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of soluble fibre from partially hydrolysed guar gum (PHGG) on the MetS and cardiovascular risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes. In the present randomised controlled clinical trial, forty-four patients with type 2 diabetes (males 38·6 %, age 62 (sd9) years, diabetes duration 14·2 (sd9·6) years) and the MetS underwent clinical, laboratory and dietary evaluations at baseline, 4 and 6 weeks. All patients followed their usual diet and the intervention group (n23) received an additional 10 g/d of PHGG. In the intervention group, waist circumference (WC), glycated Hb (HbA1c), 24 h urinary albumin excretion (UAE) and serumtrans-fatty acids (FA) were reduced in comparison with baseline after 4 and 6 weeks: WC 103·5 (sd9·5) to 102·1 (sd10) to 102·3 (sd9·7) cm; HbA1c 6·88 (sd0·99) to 6·64 (sd0·94) to 6·57 (sd0·84) %; 24 h UAE 6·8 (interquartile range 3·0–17·5) to 4·5 (interquartile range 3·0–10·5) to 6·2 (interquartile range 3·0–9·5) mg;trans-FA 71 (interquartile range 46–137) to 67 (interquartile range 48–98) to 57 (interquartile range 30–110) mg/l (P< 0·05 for all). The only change in the control group was weight reduction: 77·0 (sd13·5) to 76·2 (sd13·3) to 76·1 (sd13·4) kg (P= 0·005). Other MetS components (blood pressure, TAG, HDL-cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose), total and LDL-cholesterol, C-reactive protein and endothelin-1 did not change in either group. In patients with type 2 diabetes and the MetS, the addition of PHGG to the usual diet improved cardiovascular and metabolic profiles by reducing WC, HbA1c, UAE andtrans-FA.

Context: Malnutrition has a negative impact on patients with cancer. Identifying risk, nutritional status, and functional capacity can contribute to adequate and early nutritional therapy, which can reduce unfavorable clinical outcomes.Objective: To evaluate and summarize the main instruments of nutritional assessment and functional capacity and associate their results with clinical outcomes in hospitalized patients with cancer.Data sources: A systematic search was performed in the PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, SciELO, and LILACS databases. Studies in which researchers evaluated and compared screening, nutritional assessment, and functional capacity instruments and their associations with clinical outcomes were included.Data extraction: The data were extracted by 2 independent reviewers.Results: A total of 29 studies met the inclusion criteria (n = 20 441 individuals). The Nutritional Risk Screening-2002 (NRS-2002) and Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) were the most common tools used for nutritional assessment. High nutritional risk according to the NRS-2202 and worse nutritional status according to the PG-SGA and Subjective Global Assessment were positively associated with a longer hospital stay and mortality. Low functional capacity, according to handgrip strength, was associated with longer hospital stay and nutrition impact symptoms.Conclusions: Tools such as the NRS-2002, PG-SGA, Subjective Global Assessment, and handgrip strength assessment are efficacious for assessing unfavorable clinical outcomes in hospitalized patients with cancer.