Antidiabetic dietary materials and animal models

• Diverse non-medicinal foods ameliorate diabetic complications in vivo.
• New sources of antidiabetic materials described.
• Diversity of diabetic animal models among different studies observed
• Various cellular and metabolic biomarkers used for antidiabetic effect
• Generic antidiabetic dietary pattern associated with whole foods of plant origin

The ever-increasing occurrence of diabetes worldwide demands cost-effective anti-diabetic strategies. Food-based materials have great potential as efficient anti-diabetic agents. Focusing on the literatures of the recent 5 years, this review summarizes the methods, findings, and limitations of each research involving non-medicinal foods (individual and mixed) and diabetic animal models. Various types of fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, spices, beverages, oilseeds, and edible oils showed antidiabetic effects in different animal models. Animal feeding trials rarely had identical designs in food doses, feeding schedules, and routes of administration, as well as biochemical markers for antidiabetic evaluation. Various possible cellular and metabolic targets were speculated for the anti-hyperglycemic effects of the dietary materials, and the molecular mechanisms of action remain to be better explored. Short-term (maximum 16 weeks) antidiabetic studies have been established. Limited safety/tolerability data are available for antidiabetic dietary materials. Findings from current animal studies present a generic antidiabetic dietary pattern associated with plant-based whole foods, which agrees well with the findings of epidemiological studies.

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