Glycemic indices of dates “Ramadan Symbolic Food” in patients with type 2 diabetes using continuous glucose monitoring system

The high consumption of dates during Ramadan raises the question about its glycemic index (GI) and its effect on the glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). We aimed to determine the GI of varieties of meals containing dates in healthy subjects compared to patients with T2DM and the effect of dates on the postprandial glucose excursions using continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS). Twenty patients with T2DM and twenty healthy subjects matched for age, sex and body weight participated. Testing was applied on separate days (on 3 occasions) with 50 g of glucose and 50 g equivalent of available carbohydrates from 9 date meals. The GI was calculated as ratios of the incremental areas under the response curves for dates in comparison to glucose. Minimed-530 g-diabetes-system-with-enlite was used for continuous glucose monitoring. There was no significant difference between the mean GI of dates between both study groups. However, there was a significant difference according to the time of peak blood glucose among varieties of meals containing dates in T2DM. Studied varieties of dates have low GI. CGMS valued beyond GI calculation to study the postprandial glucose excursions among patients with T2DM.