Abstract
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>
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 - ?-carotene, total protein, albumin, urea and creatinine,
though not dramatic, was not different from the reference diet, except serum ?-carotene
that was higher in the reference diet-fed animals than others (P<0>
these results suggest that the studied diets, can potentially offer the patients the needed
dietary diversification in diabetes management.
