Fuzzy Evaluation of Glycemic Load and Beta-Glucan Intake: Deriving a Dietary Circle Oriented Toward Type 2 Diabetes Prevention
4 affiliations
- 1Campus Treskowallee, HTW Berlin, 10313 Berlin, Germany
- 2Independent Researcher, Schubertstr. 4, 35440 Linden, Germany
- 3GOEmbH, Am Gemeindeplatz, 18375 Prerow, Germany
- 4Ernährungskonzepte, Gothaer Straße 17, 35396 Gießen-Wieseck, Germany
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2D) is a global epidemic affecting over 500 million adults. Glycemic load (GL) and beta-glucan intake are modifiable dietary factors related to T2D risk that are largely shaped by the choice of cereal-based foods. This theoretical study derives fuzzy sets for GL and beta-glucan to enable their joint nutritional evaluation within a multidimensional framework and uses the framework to derive a dietary circle oriented toward T2D prevention. Methods: Fuzzy membership functions for GL and beta-glucan were constructed based on epidemiological dose–response data, guideline values, and authorized health claims. These functions were integrated into an existing fuzzy evaluation system that aggregates the evaluations of nutrient intake using a Schweizer–Sklar T-norm (p = 6). A fuzzy optimization algorithm was applied to the food quantities underlying the current German food-based dietary guidelines. Results: The GL fuzzy set evaluates intakes below 80 g/d as desirable and penalizes intakes above 160 g/d; the beta-glucan fuzzy set evaluates intakes of at least 3 g/d as good, with an optimum at 6 g/d. Fuzzy optimization shifted the diet markedly toward vegetables, legumes, fish, and tofu while strongly reducing cereals and milk products, and GL decreased from 161 to 77 g/d. The resulting dietary circle achieved an evaluation >0.9 for the intake of every nutrient considered and an aggregate score of 0.894. Conclusions: Integrating GL and beta-glucan into the fuzzy evaluation framework yields a coherent, food-based dietary circle oriented toward T2D prevention that can serve as a reference for counseling, menu planning, and intervention studies; its preventive effect remains to be tested.
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BibTeX
@article{wirsam2026fuzzy,
title = {{Fuzzy Evaluation of Glycemic Load and Beta-Glucan Intake: Deriving a Dietary Circle Oriented Toward Type 2 Diabetes Prevention}},
author = {Jan Wirsam and Bernd Wirsam and Heike Schick and Sabine Poschwatta-Rupp},
journal = {Nutrients},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3390/nu18213666},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/21/3666},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Fuzzy Evaluation of Glycemic Load and Beta-Glucan Intake: Deriving a Dietary Circle Oriented Toward Type 2 Diabetes Prevention
AU - Jan Wirsam
AU - Bernd Wirsam
AU - Heike Schick
AU - Sabine Poschwatta-Rupp
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
JO - Nutrients
DO - 10.3390/nu18213666
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/21/3666
AB - Background/Objectives: Diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2D) is a global epidemic affecting over 500 million adults. Glycemic load (GL) and beta-glucan intake are modifiable dietary factors related to T2D risk that are largely shaped by the choice of cereal-based foods. This theoretical study derives fuzzy sets for GL and beta-glucan to enable their joint nutritional evaluation within a multidimensional framework and uses the framework to derive a dietary circle oriented toward T2D prevention. Methods: Fuzzy membership functions for GL and beta-glucan were constructed based on epidemiological dose–response data, guideline values, and authorized health claims. These functions were integrated into an existing fuzzy evaluation system that aggregates the evaluations of nutrient intake using a Schweizer–Sklar T-norm (p = 6). A fuzzy optimization algorithm was applied to the food quantities underlying the current German food-based dietary guidelines. Results: The GL fuzzy set evaluates intakes below 80 g/d as desirable and penalizes intakes above 160 g/d; the beta-glucan fuzzy set evaluates intakes of at least 3 g/d as good, with an optimum at 6 g/d. Fuzzy optimization shifted the diet markedly toward vegetables, legumes, fish, and tofu while strongly reducing cereals and milk products, and GL decreased from 161 to 77 g/d. The resulting dietary circle achieved an evaluation >0.9 for the intake of every nutrient considered and an aggregate score of 0.894. Conclusions: Integrating GL and beta-glucan into the fuzzy evaluation framework yields a coherent, food-based dietary circle oriented toward T2D prevention that can serve as a reference for counseling, menu planning, and intervention studies; its preventive effect remains to be tested.
SN - 2072-6643
ER -