Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) supplementation should not be considered a complementary therapeutic approach to treating type 2 diabetes, according to a study published in the European Journal of Nutrition.
“Recently, the use of natural products in chronic diseases such as diabetes has gained more attention. C. vulgaris, a single-celled green alga, is one of them. There have been some studies on the effects of C. vulgaris supplementation in chronic diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, prediabetes, and diabetic mice, but none of them examined the effects of C. vulgaris in patients with type 2 diabetes,” the researchers wrote.
In this double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, researchers assigned 84 patients with type 2 diabetes into two groups: C. vulgaris 1,500 mg/day or placebo for eight weeks. The researchers noted that anthropometric information, blood pressure, 24-hour food intake recall, and blood samples were collected at the beginning and end of the study to determine the changes of fasting blood sugar, hemoglobin A1c, insulin concentration, insulin resistance, and lipid profile.
According to the results, there was no discernible change after eight weeks of intervention with C. vulgaris.
“Supplementation with C. vulgaris with a dosage of 1,500 mg/day for eight weeks, does not improve the anthropometric measurements, glycemic status, and lipid profile,” the researchers wrote. “Thus, it cannot be considered as a complementary therapeutic approach to common medications at this dosage and duration. However, future studies with a higher dosage of C. vulgaris and more prolonged than eight weeks are needed.”
Key words: Anthropometry, Chlorella, Insulin resistance, Metabolic profile, Type 2 diabetes
