Effect of Qat on the level of blood glucose and lipids among Yemeni patients with type 2 diabetes

Background The habit of chewing Qat is one of Yemen’s social and cultural characteristics. Most Yemeni adults chew Qat regularly. The general belief among the Yemeni diabetics is that Qat chewing helps to lower their blood glucose. Objective In this study, we investigated the effect of Qat chewing on the level of blood glucose on patients with type 2 diabetes. Patients and methods The study included 260 patients with type 2 diabetes who were divided into two groups: Group 1 included 130 patients who were non-Qat chewers. Group 2 included 130 patients who were Qat chewers All patients underwent clinical examination; fasting, postprandial, and random blood glucose examination before and after Qat chewing; and glycated hemoglobin and lipid profile. Results The results of the study demonstrated that there was a significant increase in heart rate and arterial blood pressure after Qat chewing, whereas there were no significant changes in the level of blood glucose before and after Qat chewing. Moreover, we found that there were no effects in the levels of total cholesterol and triglyceride, whereas there was a nonsignificant decrease and a nonsignificant increase in the levels of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, respectively, among the Qat chewers. Conclusion We found that there was a significant effect of Qat on heart rate and hypertension. There was no significant effect of Qat on the blood glucose or lipids levels. The only effect, which leads to wrong belief, is that Qat chewing produces feeling of euphoria, stimulation, heightened awareness, increased confidence, alertness, and energy, resulting in temporary alleviation of fatigue which the diabetic patients experience. All these effects are because of the cathinone and moderate sympathetic effects.