Results and Discussion

Out of the 50 respondents surveyed, 46 (92%), were not engaged in any kind of exercise. The remaining 8% of respondents (4% males and 4% females) were having daily morning walks.

On analyzing the sleeping pattern of the subjects, it was clearthat majority of them had good sleeping hours. Only one of them hasreduced sleeping hours. Studies suggest that lack of sleep may alsobe a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Sleep loss seems to affect diabetesrisk in two ways. Sleep can cause weight gain by reducing the nightlyproduction of growth hormone, which triggers both the productionof protein in muscle and the breakdown of stored fat, which in turnregulates the body’s proportion of muscle to fat. The lack of sleepalso cause blood sugar levels to rise higher than usual and return tonormal more slowly and it slows the body’s production of insulin andincreases the risk of diabetes [3].

Lifestyle appears to play a significant role in the risk of developingtype 2 diabetes. Worldwide the lower frequency of type 2 diabetes is with populations eating meat Vs vegetarian diets. This may be attributed to the reduced chances of weight gaining and by the presence of high fiber in the diet. Lacto, lactoovo and semi-vegetarian diets were associated with a lower likelihood of diabetes. These findings may assist in the development of interventions to address the growing burden of overweight/obesity and diabetes in Indian population [4].

Out of the 50 respondents surveyed 43 were non vegetarians and 7 were vegetarians. Of the vegetarians, all were lacto vegetarians.

Fifty per cent of the respondents were following a 4 meals pattern and 40% of them were following a 3 meals pattern. Only 10% of them were having above 4 meal/day pattern. As energy intake has increased, a higher percentage of the energy consumed has come from refined foods laden with sugars and fats and a lower percentage from whole grains and fiber rich foods [5]. The reduction in whole grain, dietary fiber and associated phytonutrients may enhance the risk of type 2 diabetes [6] (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Meal pattern of the subjects.

Twenty percent of the respondents were skipping their breakfast. The female respondents were found to skip their breakfast due to lack of time in the morning schedule. No respondents were found to skip their lunch or dinner. Breakfast omission was associated with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes mellitus in men even after adjustment for BMI. A direct association between snacking between meals and Type 2 diabetes mellitus risk was mediated by BMI [7].

Twenty percent of the respondents had food from outside the home. Of these 16% were male respondents and the remaining were female respondents. Majority of the respondents (both male and female respondents) i.e. 14% had food from outside the home once in a month. The remaining 4% of female respondents and the 2% of the male respondents used to have outside food twice in a month and they had it with their family. Low-carbohydrate, low-GI, Mediterranean, and high-protein diets are effective in improving various markers of cardiovascular risk in people with diabetes and should be considered min the overall strategy of diabetes management [8].

Fast food consumption had strong positive association with weight gain and insulin resistance, suggesting that fast food increases the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Fast food consumption has been associated with higher intakes of energy, fat, saturated fat, sodium, and carbonated soft drinks and lower intakes of vitamins A and C, fruit and vegetables, and milk. Fried foods also contain large amounts of partially hydrogenated oils, which may lead to insulin resistance [9].

The survey categorized the respondents based on their BMI as normal, underweight and obese. Majority (60%) was normal and eight per cent were underweighted whereas 25% of the respondents were obese. Finding from epidemiological studies have repeatedly confirmed a strong association between excess adiposity and risk of developing type 2 diabetes [10].

Fasting blood sugar test was done in the macro sample to distinguish the normal and diabetic individuals. Out of the 50 respondents, 11 individuals were found to have high fasting blood sugar values. Out of these 11 diabetic subjects 3 of them had hypertension and one had hypercholesterolemia. Out of 11 diabetic subjects 2 of them had both diabetes and hypertension. The fasting blood sugar values of the macro sample were estimated using the “One touch blood monitoring system”. The result depicted that 22% of the respondents were diabetic. The oral glucose tolerance test was used to assess patients who had signs and symptoms of diabetes mellitus, but whose fasting plasma glucose is normal or suggests prediabetes. This test was done to know whether the person is normal, diabetic or having impaired glucose tolerance. Oral glucose tolerance test was done in the micro sample in order to assess their metabolic response. Seventy five grams of glucose was administered orally to the 12 subjects (6 diabetic and 6 non diabetic). The Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) helped in distinguishing the diabetic and non-diabetic samples.

A series of five experimental diets were given to the micro sampleand a feedback was obtained from them after the administrationof each diet. All the test diets were supplied in the same quantity.The carbohydrate amount was higher for the rice diet while it waslow for the oats diet. On looking for the protein value of the diets,oats diet leads the table with the highest quantity of protein. In thecase of caloric value of the diets, almost all the five diets supply thesame amount of energy. The oats diet has the lowest energy value.Calcium content of the ragi diet was the one with the highest value.The oats has greatest amount of iron as well as fiber content amongthe experimental diets (Table 2).

Table 2: Nutritive value of the test diets.

The experimental diets supplied except that of maize diet and ragi diet were acceptable by most of the non-diabetic respondents.

Majority of the people argued that the diet was enough to satisfy their hunger. Only a minor percentage (16%) felt that the diet was not enough in quantity. One of the respondent said it was more than enough to satisfy the hunger. Even though the major portion of the respondents do not experienced any discomfort, some of them felt discomforts like heartburn and regurgitation. The acceptability as a breakfast item was poor for the maize diet and ragi diets. But these diets have got more acceptability among the diabetic population than the non-diabetic samples. The diabetic samples were ready to accept the experimental diets as a therapeutic mean to control their diabetes. Only a minority of the sample argued that the diet supplied was not enough in quantity. A small portion of the subjects experienced discomforts like heartburn and regurgitation. No other discomforts were observed (Table 3).

Table 3: Fasting blood glucose values of the micro sample.

The data in the above table go well with the classification of diabetes by WHO, (2014), which says that a person is said to have normal blood sugar values if his fasting blood sugar is below 110 mg/dl. The table clearly says that the fasting glucose values of diabetic samples lies above the normal range of blood sugar (below 110 mg/dl) i.e. in the range of 110-180. There were no subjects with blood sugars higher than 180 mg/dl.

The blood sugar values of the non-diabetic subjects after 1½ hour of the consumption of the diet says that for majority of the samples the post consumption blood sugar values were below 110 mg/dl. After consuming the ragi, oats and wheat diets, and after the glucose tolerance test, 100% of the respondents got a blood sugar value below 110 mg/dl. The post prandial blood glucose values after the consumption of rice diet and maize diet, respectively 67% and 83% of the respondents were below 110 mg/dl. The values were in between 110-180 mg/dl for some of them. Of the samples, 33% shows a blood sugar in the 110-180 mg/dl range after consuming the rice based experimental diet followed by 17% after the maize diet.

After the consumption of experimental diets for majority of diabetic individuals the post prandial blood sugar was in the range of 110-180 mg/dl. A minority have the values above 180 mg/dl. The post prandial blood glucose after the oats diet of the 100% respondent was in the 110-180 mg/dl range. A chi square test was done to analyze the statistical significance of the experiment. The results are given in the Table 4. A p value below 0.05 indicates that the result obtained is significant.

Table 4: Chi square test (diabetic).

The p value of the test diets indicates that maize has got greatersignificance followed by ragi and oats. As the values were significant,these cereals can be advised for diabetic subjects as a way to controldiabetes.

The two tailed p values of experimental diets in the non-diabeticrespondents (n=6) suggest that the test values were not statisticallysignificant. As the p values of experimental diets in non-diabeticrespondents was greater than 0.05, failed to reject the null hypothesis(i.e. there was no significant difference between the blood sugar levelsbefore and after the consumption of experimental diets) (Table 5).

Table 5: Chi square test (non diabetic).