The consumption of date palm fruits as a source of bioactive compounds in patients with type 2 diabetes: a cross sectional study

Abstract

Abstract It is commonly supposed among the public and health care providers that patients with diabetes should restrain or even avoid consumption of date palm fruits (DPFs). However, DPFs are a good source of nutritive and non-nutritive bioactive compounds. This study aimed to assess the nutritive and non-nutritive bioactive compounds of consumed DPFs and examine their relationship with glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) currently using oral antidiabetic medications (n=199) and insulin treatments (n=205). Blood glucose levels, HbA1c, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and triglycerides were retrieved from the medical records of the patients. The bioactive compound indices of consumed DPFs were calculated. The results revealed that the consumption of DPFs was higher in patients with oral medications than in those on insulin treatments. The bioactive compound content of the consumed DPFs ranged from 4.80±0.18 g/d for non-starch polysaccharides (NSPs) to 178±6.83 mg/d for selenium. However, the selenium index (273%) was the highest bioactive compound index in the consumed DPFs. Moreover, this study has detected a weak but significant correlation between the level of bioactive compounds of consumed DPFs and HbA1c levels. The study has revealed that the bioactive compound content of DPFs is negatively associated with lower HbA1c levels among patients with T2DM. An intervention trial is required to support this finding.