The effects of MIND diet and propolis supplementation on metabolic syndrome: A randomized controlled clinical trial

Abstract

The MIND is a novel eating plan preserves cognitive function. Propolis is a resinous substance that has several biological and medicinal properties. This study examines the effect of the MIND diet and propolis supplementation on MetS indices among metabolic syndrome subjects. This RCT study, was conducted on adults with metabolic syndrome who were referred to the Hazrat Ali Health Center in Isfahan. 84 eligible subjects were divided into 3 groups. Including MIND diet + Propolis supplement, MIND diet + placebo, and control group. The data obtained from the subjects was analyzed in two descriptive and analytic levels. The Shapiro-Wilk test and examination of skewness were conducted to assess the normality of the distribution of quantitative variables. Quantitative variables were reported using either the mean (SD). SPSS Statistics software version 26 was used for statistical analysis of data. In this study the MIND + Propolis group compared to the control group after adjusting variables showed a significant decrease (p-value < 0.05) in weight, BMI, WC, SBP, DBP, and TG by 0.97 times (3%), 0.97 times (3%), 0.98 times (2%), 0.93 times (7%), 0.94 times (6%), and 0.75 times (25%), respectively; this significant change was also observed in FBS (p-value < 0.001) by 0.85 times (15%), and HDL-C (mg/dl) has shown a significant increase (p-value < 0.05) by 1.17 times (17%). MIND group compared to the control group after adjusting variables showed a significant decrease (p-value < 0.05) in BMI, WC, and SBP by 0.98 times (2%), 0.98 times (2%), and 0.95 times (5%), respectively; this significant change (p-value < 0.001) was also observed in DBP, FBS, and TG by 0.92 times (8%), 0.83 times (17%), and 0.71 times (29%), respectively; HDL-C has shown a significant increase (p-value < 0.001) by 1.21 times (21%), and weight has shown a non-significant decrease (p-value = 0.055) by 0.98 times (2%). This study indicated that the MIND diet + Propolis supplement and MIND diet compared to the control group can significantly decrease BMI, WC, SBP, DBP, FBS, TG, and weight (non-significant for the MIND group), and also increase HDL-C.

Keywords: Anthropometric indices; Blood pressure; Fasting blood sugar; Integrative medicine; Lipid profile; MIND diet; Metabolic syndrome; Propolis.

Graphical abstract

Fig. 1

Flow diagram of participants throughout the study.

Fig. 2

The SPIRIT figure outlines the enrollment, interventions, and assessments schedule according to the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials.