Biochemical Effects of Some Traditional Nigerian Diets in Experimental Diabetic Rat Models

Diet, besides its simplicity and affordability, has been clinically recommended as the first line of intervention in type 2 diabetes. However, compliance with the so-called diabetic diet has been notoriously poor, mostly because the social and cultural aspects of eating as well as the degree of difficulty involved in entrenching permanent changes in diet have greatly been underestimated. The present study therefore evaluated the suitability of some traditional Nigerian diets namely Garri with afang soup (GAS), pounded yam with edikang ikong soup (PYES) and ekpang nkukwo (EN) in alloxan diabetic rats. 15-day feeding with GAS and PYES respectively reduced (P<0.05) fasting blood glucose by 25.61% and 25.19%, compared to the reference diet, plantain with beans (37.22%). The glucose lowering effect of EN was however, not significant. Except GAS, the effect of the test diets on serum lipid profile was similar and comparable to the reference diet. Further, the impact on serum biochemical indices - β-carotene, total protein, albumin, urea and creatinine, though not dramatic, was not different from the reference diet, except serum β-carotene that was higher in the reference diet-fed animals than others (P<0.05). Taken together, these results suggest that the studied diets, can potentially offer the patients the needed dietary diversification in diabetes management.