Supplementation of Conventional Therapy With the Novel Grain Salba (Salvia hispanica L.) Improves Major and Emerging Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Type 2 Diabetes Results of a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE — To determine whether addition of Salba (Salvia hispanica L.), a novel whole grain that is rich in fiber, -linolenic acid (ALA), and minerals to conventional treatment is associated with improvement in major and emerging cardiovascular risk factors in individuals with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCHDESIGNANDMETHODS — Using a single-blind cross-over design, sub-jects were randomly assigned to receive either 37 4 g/day of Salba or wheat bran for 12 weeks while maintaining their conventional diabetes therapies. Twenty well-controlled subjects with type 2 diabetes (11 men and 9 women, aged 64 8 years, BMI 28 4 kg/m2, and A1C 6.8 0.9%) completed the study. This study was set in the outpatient clinic of the Risk Factor Modification Center, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada. RESULTS — Compared with the control treatment, Salba reduced systolic blood pressure (SBP) by 6.3 4 mmHg (P 0.001), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (mg/l) by 40 1.6 % (P 0.04), and vonWillebrand factor (vWF) by 21 0.3 % (P 0.03), with significant decreases in A1C and fibrinogen in relation to the Salba baseline but not with the control treatment. There were no changes in safety parameters including liver, kidney an