Camel (Camelus dromedarius) milk has emerged as a plausible alternative treatment for diabetes. This systematic review and meta-analysis is aimed to report on the treatment applications of camel milk in diabetic patients. A comprehensive literature search was performed on PubMed.gov, Google Scholar and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) databases to identify all published randomised clinical trials, clinical trials and experimental studies published within the past twenty years. The systematic review was conducted using a PROSPERO protocol prepared following the PRISMA guidelines (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses). Nine studies were included in the systematic review. In a fixed-effects model, we conducted measurements and obtained the following results: the mean difference (MD) for haemoglobin A1c% (HbA1c%) was -0.85% with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of [-1.51, -0.18]; the MD for blood glucose in humans was -5.73 mg/dl with a 95% CI of [-14.92, 3.47]; the standard MD for blood glucose in rats was -5.73 with a 95% CI of [-14.92, 3.47]; the MD for plasma insulin was -5.73 with a 95% CI of [-14.92, 3.47]; and the MD for BMI was -0.22 with a 95% CI of [-1.09, 0.65]. Despite the high level of heterogeneity in the included studies, the findings had overarching evidence with high significance indicating that camel milk improves HbA1c% among patients with diabetes. We recommend that health sectors should properly position foods like camel milk between mainstream treatments and conventional foodstuffs.
Key words: Camel milk, diabetes, meta-analysis, review
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