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Demand for dietary fibre-enriched and low sugar bakery products is increasing rapidly due to current high incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Overripe banana has been discarded due to its low quality and appearance. However, overripe banana exhibits rich sources of natural sweetener and dietary fibre which could potentially be used as a novel food ingredient in bakery product. Thus, the study aims to determine the nutritional properties, sensory acceptability and glycaemic index (GI) value of chocolate cookies formulated with overripe banana sweetener (OBS) as partial replacement (10, 15 and 20%) for table sugar and utilization of overripe banana residue (OBR) as partial replacement (8%) for wheat flour.

Nutritional composition was analysed using AOAC methods and sensory acceptability using 7-point hedonic scaling method. In Vivo GI determination was continued according to FAO/WHO method.

Incorporation of OBR and OBS significantly (p < 0.05) increased nutritional values of chocolate cookies. Chocolate cookies formulated with 8% OBR +20% OBS recorded the highest TDF (7.80%) and ash (1.47%) content. Sucrose content of chocolate cookies was reduced significantly with increasing level of OBS. Sensory scores for control and 8% OBR-incorporated cookie were not significant difference for all the sensory attributes. Moreover, incorporation of OBS up to 15% produced higher scores in term of aroma, flavour and overall acceptance. Three formulations of chocolate cookies (control, 8% OBR and 8% OBR +15% OBS) were selected for GI testing and recorded GI values of 63, 56 and 50, respectively.

Overripe banana can be used as a food ingredient in developing high fibre and low-GI cookie.

The ketogenic diet (KD) has gained popularity due to its ability to improve type 2 diabetes, weight loss, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. However, long-term use of the KD might not be safe due to its adverse effects. This study examined the effects of the KD alone or in combination with Zamzam water (holy water for Muslims) on glucose homeostasis, lipid parameters and oxidant-antioxidant variables in rats.

Based on the diet given for ten weeks, three groups of adult male Wistar rats were made (12 rats/group): (1) rats which fed on a chow diet and ordinary water, (2) rats which fed on KD and ordinary water and (3) rats which were given KD along with Zamzam. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), serum insulin, insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde were compared by one-way ANOVA followed by post-hoc Tukey’s HSD test among groups.

Rats which fed on KD and Zamzam water had significantly reduced FBG and LDL cholesterol compared to the rats which fed on a chow diet and ordinary water (p-values 0.001), and KD and ordinary water (p-value 0.004 and 0.006, respectively). Serum insulin, insulin resistance, HDL cholesterol, superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde did not differ significantly.

Consumption of KD along with Zamzam for ten weeks significantly reduces FBG and LDL cholesterol. KD alone does not decrease these parameters in ten weeks duration.

Background: Compliance of patients with self-care practices is the mainstay of measures to manage diabetes. This study explored self-care practices of type 2 diabetes patients receiving insulin treatment in North-East Ethiopia.

Methods: The study employed an interpretive phenomenological approach using purposive sampling. The data were collected from 24 (11 males and 13 females) participants (July 2019 to January 2020) using in-depth interviews till theoretical saturation. The data were analyzed thematically and organized using QDA Miner Lite v2.0.8.

Results: The findings were categorized into: labeling diabetes, self-care maintenance experiences, recognition of symptoms, and mitigating mechanisms. The self-care maintenance practice of patients was linked with diet input preferences and the effectiveness level of insulin. What guides the self-care behavior was the patients’ preferentiality of strictly adhering to their preferred dietary inputs. Barley and wheat were the most common preferential and non-preferential inputs, respectively. The patients strictly adhered to insulin treatment because they found it effective. The most common hyperglycemia symptoms to be managed by taking an additional dose of insulin, were frequent urination, increased thirst, and their consequence (dehydration). Excessive sweating (initial), shivering (middle), and falling (final), respectively in severity, were the most common symptoms of hypoglycemia which were perceived to be treated with sweet snacks.

Originality: To our knowledge, this is the first research in Ethiopia to investigate the self-care experiences of type 2 diabetes patients receiving insulin using an interpretive phenomenological approach.