Background: Vegetables are valuable health promotion foods because they contain vital nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, proteins, fibres and bio-functional components but are low in fat, sodium and calories as compared with many other foods. In terms of body fat, increase vegetable intake that consist of dietary fibre can play an important role in the regulation of body weight. Therefore, the supplementation of dietary fibre intake from vegetable may have benefit in reducing the percentages of body fat. Though, the clinical effect in human remains unclear and currently no study conducted in Malaysia regarding the effectiveness of this plant towards blood sugar control. Apart from that, lower intake of vegetable among Malaysian, lower cost vegetable choices and higher availability of Althernanthera Sissoo (Brazilian Spinach) due to easy growth may benefit the diabetes patient. Therefore, the investigators plan to conduct this study to determine the effectiveness of 12-weeks Brazilian Spinach supplementation on health outcomes among patients with type 2 diabetes especially in Kelantan region. The investigators hypothesized that diabetes patients on supplementation of Brazilian Spinach would have significant differ in terms of anthropometry, biochemical, clinical, and dietary intake compared to control group.~Method: A single-center randomized, controlled, and two-arm parallel design clinical trial will be carried out in Malaysia especially in Kelantan region. This study enrols 100 patients from Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Diabetic patients who meet eligibility criteria will be randomly allocated to two groups, which are Brazilian Spinach treatment group and control group. Both groups will be compared on the primary and secondary outcomes at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 weeks.~Discussion: The study will provide insights into the potential beneficial effect of Brazilian Spinach in type 2 diabetic patients. In addition, the therapeutic effect of Brazilian Spinach towards type 2 diabetes will reflect as a change of metabolite profile in serum.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether Brazilian spinach supplementation effective in improving the nutritional status of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus patient.