Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by elevated blood glucose levels because of a lack of insulin secretion or insulin resistance. 1 Based on International Diabetes Federation reports, 415 million adult subjects have DM around the world and the trend is ascending. 2 DM complications are categorized into the micro and macro vascular damages and can affect the heart, kidney, eyes and nerves. 3 Besides critical complications, DM can cause financial burden and decrease quality of life. 4 The global economic burden of DM was about US$ 1.31 trillion, or 1.8% of the global gross domestic product in 2015; the medical costs accounted for two-thirds of these costs. 5 Nowadays, the use of traditional and folklore medicines for prevention and control of diseases has increased. Widespread claims and advertisements about medicinal plants inspire patients to rush towards this kind of medications. In comparison to chemical drugs, medicinal plants have fewer side-effects and produce a greater sense of satisfaction in patients. Hence, patients with DM seek for herbal medicines to enable them to reduce the dosage of their hypoglycaemic medications or help them to get rid of the medications. 6 However, evidence-based research is needed to evaluate the usefulness and efficacy of these plants in clinical settings and determine if such treatments could be used in place of approved drugs. Among herbal medicines, there are plants that are valuable sources of anti-diabetic agents such as alkaloids, flavonoids and tannins that affect pancreatic β-cells' activity, increase insulin secretion, or decrease the intestinal absorption of glucose. 7,8 Artemisia is a wide genus of plants with 200-400 species belonging to the daisy family Asteraceae. 9 Animal and human trials reported hypoglycaemic

Objective This study sought to investigate the effect of Spirulina on cardiometabolic risk factors, oxidative stress biomarkers, glycemic profile, and liver enzymes in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients. Methods This randomized, double‐blind clinical trial was performed on 46 NAFLD patients. Subjects were allocated to consume either Spirulina sauce or placebo, each 20 g/day for 8 weeks. Fatty liver grade, liver enzymes, anthropometric parameters, blood pressure, and serum lipids, glucose, insulin, malondialdehyde, and antioxidant capacity were assessed pre‐ and postintervention. Results Fatty liver grade was significantly different between the two groups. A significant change for ALT (alanine aminotransferase) and AST (aspartate aminotransferase) was seen between the two groups (p = .03 and .02, respectively), while ALP (alkaline phosphatase) serum levels were not significantly different within or between groups. Pertaining to glycemic profile, all variables, except HOMA‐IR, were not significantly different within or between groups. Finally, statistically significant changes were seen in both MDA (malondialdehyde) and TAC (total antioxidant capacity) among the groups (p = .04 and <.001, respectively). Conclusions Spirulina may improve fatty liver grade by modifying liver enzymes, oxidative stress, and some lipid profiles; however, there was effect of Spirulina on anthropometric characteristics and blood pressure.

Despite the presence of various approaches for controlling diabetes mellitus (DM), such as dietary adjustment (Asif, 2014) and hypoglycemic agents, some patients do not receive the full advantages of current methods due to several restrictions, such as medication costs, accessibility, and concern about the adverse effects of drugs (Sasani et al., 2021). Due to the potentially severe complications of DM, recognizing new applicable approaches for prevention and controlling DM is critical. Identifying and utilizing functional foods (FFs) is one of these new strategies (Mirmiran et al., 2014), where FFs are products in the form of food, not drugs, which provide positive health effects when they are consumed in a normal amount in a usual diet (Amiri Ardekani et al., 2020).Throughout history, acorn, the oak fruit, has been considered as a food and is a part of the usual daily diet in various regions, globally (Burlacu et al., 2020). Acorn contains notable amounts of carbohydrates, protein, and unsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic acid (Taib & Bouyazza, 2021). Moreover, it contains a high amount of phenolic compounds, saponins, and tannins (Şöhretoğlu & Sakar, 2004), which confers antidiabetic effects by enhancing

We aimed to evaluate the effect of spirulina sauce on glycemic indices, lipid profile, oxidative stress markers, and anthropometric measurement in type 2 diabetic patients. Forty patients were randomly assigned to receive 20 g/day spirulina sauce (containing 2 g of spirulina) or placebo for 2 months. Anthropometric and biochemical indices were measured at the beginning and end of the intervention. Fasting blood glucose (mean difference (MD): −15.3 mg/dL, 95% confidence (CI): −44.2 to 13.60, p = .26), HbA1c (MD: 0.13%, 95% CI: −0.83 to 0.57, p = .75), insulin (MD: −1.46 μIU/mL, 95% CI: −4.0 to 1.09, p = .28), and HOMA‐IR (MD: −0.35, 95% CI: −2.0 to 1.32, p = .68) did not change significantly between groups. QUICKI increased significantly (MD: 0.025, 95% CI: 0.006 to 0.045, p = .03). Among the lipid profile, triglyceride (TG) (MD: −68.6 mg/dL, 95% CI: −107.21 to −29.98, p < .001), total cholesterol (MD: −29.55 mg/dL, 95% CI: −55.28 to −3.81, p = .02), and LDL (MD: −17.7 mg/dL, 95% CI: −33.24 to −2.15, p = .01) were significantly decreased in the spirulina group compared to the control; whereas, the change in HDL was non‐significant. No significant change was observed in body composition and anthropometric measurements, except waist circumference, which was reduced (MD: −2.65 cm, 95% CI: −3.91 to −1.38, p = .001). Hunger index significantly decreased and fullness increased marginally significantly. Although malondialdehyde was significantly reduced, no change was observed in total antioxidant capacity (TAC). Spirulina sauce was not effective for glycemic control in type 2 diabetes; however, could be useful for controlling appetite and ameliorating lipid profile.