Effect of fenugreek seed supplementation on fasting and postprandial blood glucose level in type 2 diabetic subjects

Diabetes mellitus has a high prevalence, morbidity and mortality globally. Management of type 2 diabetes is difficult with synthetic drugs as they cause many side effects and have some limitations. Thus, as an alternative and immense interest in medicinal plants with indigenous, inexpensive fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) is considered to be a potent food-based treatment for managing type 2 diabetes. This study was undertaken to evaluate the blood glucose levels and diabetes status with the consumption of fenugreek seed powder in type 2 diabetic patients. In a clinical trial study, 49 type 2 diabetic patients were pooled using randomization and divided into two groups (controlled and exposed group). The exposed group was placed on 10 g/day of powdered fenugreek seeds soaked in water for 60 days, while the control group was not placed on any test diet. Demographic, clinical characteristics, fasting blood glucose (FBG) and postprandial blood glucose (PBG) were measured before and after the study. No adverse reaction was found after the treatment resumed and all participants finished the trial. Findings showed that 20.83% of the patients who took the supplementation had reached the non-diabetic state where zero success rates were observed in the control group. Multivariable linear regression demonstrated that patients’ blood glucose level was significantly associated with fenugreek supplementation (p < 0.001) and the type of therapy (p < 0.05) while adjusted with their demographic variables, physical and medical conditions. When adjusted for covariates, fasting and postprandial blood glucose in the exposed group was estimated to be 2.38 mmol/L (95% CI: -3.45, -1.32, p < 0.001) and 4.18 mmol/L (95% CI: -5.41, -2.95, p < 0.001), which was significantly lower than the control group, respectively. The lowering of blood glucose level in the exposed group was gradually distributed over time while significant changes were observed starting from 30 days of supplementation. It is therefore concluded that fenugreek seed supplementation could be generalized to mitigate the complications of type 2 DM.