Objective The purpose of this clinical trial was to compare the glucose usage of two oral nutritional supplement (ONS) products and to assess whether a diabetes-specific formulation provides improved glucose stabilization and management compared with a standard formula.

Research design and methods A total of 12 subjects with type 2 diabetes (7 males and 5 females) completed a randomized, cross-over design trial. Each subject consumed isocaloric amounts of either the standard ONS or the diabetes-specific formula ONS on different dates, 1 week apart. Glucose and insulin measures were recorded at baseline, and 10, 20, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210 and 240 min after the beverage was consumed and then used to calculate area under the curve (AUC) for each subject.

Results The mean glucose AUC was lower in the diabetes-specific ONS group than in the standard group (p<0.0001), but there was not a significant difference observed for mean insulin AUC (p=0.068). A sensitivity analysis of the mean insulin AUC measures was performed by removing a potential outlier from the analysis, and this resulted in a significant difference between the groups (p=0.012). First-phase insulin measures and an insulinogenic index calculated for the beverages showed no significant differences.

Conclusions On the basis of the results of this trial of 12 subjects, the diabetes-specific ONS appears to provide better glucose maintenance in persons with type 2 diabetes when compared to the standard formula ONS.

Trial registration number NCT02612675.