The Effect of Unsweetened Pomegranate Juice on Insulin Resistance, High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein and Obesity among Type 2 Diabetes Patients

Diabetes mellitus is one of the prevalent metabolic disorders in the world and mostly it is related to Obesity. Central obesity results in higher risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hyperinsulinemia. Hyperinsulinemia is the main reason of central obesity disorders. Studies have been shown that the fruits, vegetables and drinks are rich in phenolic and antioxidants components may alleviate diabetes diseases. One of these fruits is Pomegranate that is rich in flavonoids. Therefore, this study was designed to determine the effect of unsweetened pomegranate juice consumption on insulin resistance, inflammatory factor and anthropometric measures in diabetic patients. In this clinical trial, 50 patients with type 2 diabetes aged 30-50 years were recruited into the study and randomly assigned into two groups: (1) intervention group (n=25) who drank 240 ml unsweetened pomegranate juice daily and (2) control group (n=25) who drank 240 ml water daily for two months. Fasting blood glucose, inflammatory factors including hs-CRP, anthropometric measures including weight, height, waist and hip circumference, BMI were determined at the baseline and after 8 weeks. Nutritionist IV program, Independent sample t-test, Paired sample t-test were used for data analyses. Comparison of fasting blood glucose, HbA1C, body mass index, hs-CRP between the two groups before intervention did not reveal a significant difference. The result of the study showed a significant decrease in insulin resistance, body weight, hip circumstance, waist circumstance in intervention group (p <0.05، p <0.01، p <0.05، p <0.05 respectively) whereas no significant changes were found for serum glucose, HbA1C, hs-CRP in this group. These findings indicate the beneficial effect of the daily consumption of unsweetened pomegranate juice on insulin resistance, body weight, waist and hip circumstances.