People with type 2 diabetes who take soluble fibre supplements have slightly lower blood sugar than their peers who don’t add this type of fibre to their diets, a research review has found.

Researchers focused on supplements containing viscous fibre — a type of soluble fibre that forms a thick gel when mixed with water.

Foods such as legumes, asparagus, oats and flax contain viscous fibre; supplements with this type of fibre include guar gum, psyllium and pectin.

To examine the connection between viscous fibre supplements and blood sugar, researchers examined data from 28 clinical trials with almost 1400 participants with type 2 diabetes.