Effects of dates (Phoenix Dactylifera Linn) on Blood Glucose Levels in Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients

Type-2 diabetes mellitus (DM) burdens health care costs when complications occurred. Dates (Phoenix dactylifera Linn) contain almost complete nutrients, fiber and rich in antioxidants, which can control blood glucose levels. This study aimed to determine the effect of dates on blood glucose levels. This was the experimental study with Randomized Control Trial Pretest and Posttest. There were 36 outpatients of type-2 DM, divided into two groups, control and treatment. 50 grams of Lulu dates were given to the treatment group a day, while the control group were not. In 14 days, all groups were continued to consume oral anti-diabetic drugs. Daily intake data were obtained from 24-hr recall questionnaires, nutritional status data obtained from anthropometric measurements while data of DM from blood glucose levels. Data analysis using the Paired t-test. Results showed that the difference in the decrease of blood glucose levels, in control group (8.67 mg/dl, p-value=0.067) were lower than the treatment group (22.94 mg/dl, p-value=0.04). There were no significant decrease of blood glucose levels between control and treatment groups (p-value=0.223). In this study, consumption of dates has no significant effect on blood glucose levels, but further study are needed to know how dates can improve blood glucose levels.