Effect Of Garlic, Fish Oil And Dietary Fibre On Postprandial Lipemia And Glycemia Of Type 2 Diabetes Subjects.

Objective: The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of garlic (deodourised powder), fish oil (Max EPA) and dietary fibre (wheat bran+pectin) on postprandial lipemic and glycemic profile in Type 2 diabetes mellitus subjects. Methods: Eight age matched male type 2 diabetes subjects with FBS of 144± 39.7 were randomly selected and anthropometric measurements were estimated. The study was divided into three phases, spaced 4 days apart; each phase consisting of 7 days supplementation of the each supplement in the breakfast and on the eight day the postprandial response was studied by drawing fasting and postprandial blood samples at every 1 1⁄2 hour interval up to 6 hours. The serum was analyzed for composite lipid profile (total lipid, cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-C, HDL-C and VLDL-C) and glucose levels.Results: The results showed that the fish oil supplement was most effective in controlling the peak rise of serum cholesterol (control 9%, fish oil 5%), LDL-C (control 53%, fish oil 6.7%) and increasing the levels of HDL-C (control 2.6%, fish oil 30%). Garlic supplement was observed to be effective in reducing the peak rise of serum triglyceride (control 91.6%, garlic 20%) and VLDL-C (control 106.5%, garlic 20.4%) and showed an early PP decline in lipid levels. Dietary fibre supplement only improved the postprandial glycemic response.Conclusion: The postprandial lipemic and glycemic response of the supplements have shown that while garlic is effective in controlling only postprandial lipemia and dietary fibre in controlling the postprandial glycemic response, fish oil is effective in controlling both the lipemic and glycemic response. It can therefore be suggested that a continuous supplementation with fish oil or a combination of fish oil and garlic is advisable for the management of type 2 diabetes to delay the onset of cardiovascular complications.