Chemical Composition and the Effect of Walnut Hydrosol in Glycemic Control of Type 1 Diabetic Patients

Walnut hydrosol (WH) is used extensively by Iranian diabetic people in order to control blood sugar (BS). There are few data about its effectiveness and safety.. A pilot study to determine the efficacy and safety of WH in type 1 diabetic patients..Patients and Eight patients with type 1 Diabetes (DM) were enrolled. They did not use any medicine except insulin. They were advised to drink 250 mL WH after meals twice a day for 4 weeks. They measured their blood sugar (BS) and changed their insulin dose according to their BS. After 4 weeks, they discontinued WH use and checked their BS again for 2 weeks. Finally, we used descriptive statistics for analysis of the data. Also, the essential oil of the sample was extracted using a liquid extractor and then analysis of the constituents was performed.. Seven patients had a decrease in average daily BS and insulin dose. 2 patients developed generalized pruritic erythematous skin rash. One patient presented with hypoglycemic coma. She had not any other risk factor of coma. Seven compounds were identified in the oil and the percentage of mono terpenoid and sesqui terpenoid hydrocarbons were 53.45% and 5.95%, respectively. The main constituents of the oil were carvacrol (33.21%), thymol (16%), and homoveratrole (15.83%).. WH may improve the glycemic control in diabetic people, but it may be associated with minor and major side effects. Further in vitro studies using these seven compounds are recommended to be performed to determine the efficacy and complications of WH in diabetic people..