"PILCHARDUS” is a clinical research project spurred by CIBERDEM that aims to test the hypothesis that a sardine-rich diet can improve metabolic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
To evaluate the effects of a sardine-rich diet on blood glucose control, inflammation markers, blood pressure, lipid metabolism and intestinal microbiota in patients with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes or patients not undergoing pharmacological treatment.
Fifty-three patients were included in the study. They were randomly divided into two groups: the intervention group (sardine diet) and the control group (normal diet). The diet consists of replacing part of the daily protein intake with 100 g of sardines, 5 times a week for 6 months.
The main results that will be obtained with the study will determine the effect of long-term sardine intake on glucose levels and glycated haemoglobin values. It will also allow obtaining information concerning its effects on inflammation markers and cardiovascular risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes (blood pressure and lipid profile).
The study will provide new scientific knowledge in the field of nutrition in diabetes, which will contribute to outlining future applications in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, allowing making sardine-based diet recommendations for patients with diabetes and other metabolic diseases associated with obesity. Considering the expected increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the years ahead, the results of this novel study will have an impact at the public health level, since the bases for outlining new studies in the field of nutritional strategies in type 2 diabetes will be created.
The implementation of this project was possible as a result of the collaboration of Fundación Catalunya-La Pedrera, the Galician fish-canning company, Cerqueira, and Fundación Alícia, a food research centre led by Chef Ferran Adrià who has designed the products for a sardine-based dietary intervention.
