Effect of Tropical Vegetable Oil Consumption on Lipid Profile and Glycaemic Control in Type 2 Diabetics

Background and objective: Divergent relationships with several inconsistencies have been established on the effect of vegetable oils consumption on blood glucose and lipid profiles in type 2 diabetes. The study sought to determine the effect of consuming some tropical vegetable oils on glycaemic and lipid control in type 2 diabetes patients in the middle belt of Ghana and evaluate the relationship between lipid profile and FBG.Materials and Methods: In an open-labelled 4-arm parallel prospective dietary cohort study, 62 type 2 diabetic out-patients on metformin medication, consumed meals supplemented with red palm oil (n = 17), groundnut oil (n = 16) or coconut oil (n = 21) as the only source of fat for 4 weeks except control (n = 8) whose diets were not supplemented with vegetable oil or any other oil. A twelve hour fasting venous blood samples were collected at baseline and week 4 (W4), FBG and lipid profile were then determined. Results: There were no significant metabolic changes in the fasting blood glucose and lipid profile generally in the diabetics after the consumption of the vegetable oils. No statistically significant (p>0.05) changes were observed in blood glucose levels across all groups from baseline to W4. Although, serum triglycerides (TG) was significantly increased (p = 0.020) among groundnut oil-treated group from baseline to W4, there were no significant correlations observed between FBG and lipid profile indices across all groups. Conclusion: The consumption of different tropical oils; red palm oil, coconut oil and groundnut oil did not impair glycaemic control or induce dyslipidaemia in type 2 patients.