The multi-centric, randomised and controlled trial was
simultaneously carried out in seven cities across the country
A unique study on effectiveness of yoga and fenugreek in
preventing diabetes that was carried out simultaneously in seven cities across
the country holds the potential for discovery of a lifestyle that could help
people diabetic people find new ways of managing the disease.
The multi-centric, randomised and controlled trial — of the
effect of yoga and seeds of the annual plant in diabetes patients — was carried
out as part of the Indian Prevention of Diabetes Study (IPDS). Noted physician
Dr. Arvind Gupta selected about 50 participants in Jaipur to test the efficacy
of a new lifestyle accompanied by the intake of fenugreek.
Within eight months, Dr. Gupta, a member of the research
committee of the Research Society for the Study of Diabetes in India, found
encouraging results. The participants, who were not on any medication, reported
an improved quality of life.
Besides Jaipur, the study was carried out in New Delhi,
Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Puducherry and Thiruvananthapuram. In all these
places, volunteers, aged 30 years or above, performed regular yoga and consumed
the prescribed quantity of fenugreek seeds twice a day.
Dr. Gupta told The
Hindu that the study would help
reveal the properties of fenugreek seeds that could prevent diabetes mellitus
type-2, a long-term metabolic disorder.
Fenugreek seeds are high in soluble fibre, which helps reduce
blood sugar by slowing down digestion and absorption of carbohydrates.
The study will also look into claims that yoga can effectively
reverse the mechanism that causes diabetes. Dr. Gupta said regular yoga
practice by the participants was keeping their weight as well as blood pressure
under check.
Undiagnosed, untreated
In his earlier studies, Dr. Gupta — at present, the director at
Jaipur Diabetes Research Centre — found that more than a quarter of patients
with diabetes in the urban India remained undiagnosed and the status of control
among them was low.
“As the cities move away from economic and social deprivation,
there is [a] greater prevalence of obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes.
Behavioural risk factors such as smoking, smokeless tobacco use, low fruits and
vegetables intake and high visible fat intake indicate that our urban
populations are facing a chronic disease transition,” he said.
Dr. Gupta is a recipient of several prestigious awards and has
edited the Journal of Association
of Physicians of India in the
past. He has received fellowships from the Indian College of Physicians and the
Madras Science Foundation.
Source: THE HINDU-14th March,2017
