Can dates help diabetics lower blood sugar? Know how much, which variety and ripeness suits you - The Indian Express

Put together by Dr Anoop Misra, Chairman, Fortis CDOC Hospital for Diabetes and Allied Sciences, and Dr Meenakshi Bajaj, dietician, Tamil Nadu Government Multi-Super Speciality Hospital, Chennai, this is a narrative review of randomised control trials and cross-sectional studies related to the consumption of dates and its impact on blood glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin, lipid profile and body weight.

“It is like holding a mirror to all that is known about dates in studies conducted between January 2009 and November 2022 in Israel, Saudi Arabia and other nations, using various databases.

Apart from their favourable indices, which do not overload your bloodstream with glucose spikes, some date varieties are rich in proteins and fibre, which build satiety, delay hunger pangs and limit sugar consumption,” says Dr Bajaj.

Another study on date vinegar, conducted in Pakistan in 2018 as a double blind randomised controlled trial for 10 weeks, found an improvement in HbA1c levels.

Fairly recent data shows that the Tamesrit variety of dates, consumed on a daily basis, can bring down LDL cholesterol from as early as 21 days to six months.

Apart from the nutritional data available, dates have phytochemicals, a few examples of which are flavonoids, phenolic acids, isoflavones, curcumin, isothiocyanates, and carotenoids.