Bigi Soft Drinks might Induce Hyperglycemia and Hyperlipidemia in Wistar Rats

Background: Bigi soft drinks are carbonated drinks produced by Rite Foods Limited. The company is an indigenous company in Nigeria. Before 2016, Coca-cola bottling company and 7up bottling company products were the dominant soft drinks in Nigeria. Rite Foods Limited introduced carbonated soft drinks into the Nigerian market in 2016 and have favourably competed with the existing products. As at today, Bigi soft drinks are the dominant soft drinks in Nigeria because of their palatable taste, large volume and low price.

Aim: This study sought to investigate the effect of Bigi soft drinks on fasting blood glucose and lipid profile of Wistar rats.

Methods: Thirty-five adult Wistar rats were used for this study. They were randomly divided into seven groups of five rats each after seven days acclimatization. They were treated accordingly: animals in group 1 were administered distilled water, those in group 2 were administered Bigi Cola, those in group 3 were administered Bigi Apple, those in group 4 were administered Bigi Tropical, those in group 5 were administered Bigi Orange, those in group 6 were administered Bigi Lemon and Lime, while those in group 7 were administered Bigi Chapman. The administration was done orally at a dose of 3 mL per 100 g body weight 12 hourly for fourteen days. At the end of the administration period, the animals were fasted overnight and anaesthetized using diethyl ether. Blood samples were collected by cardiac puncture. Fasting blood glucose and lipid profile were determined using standard methods.

Results: All the soft drinks used in this study (except Bigi Lemon and Lime) significantly increased the fasting blood glucose of animals. All the Bigi soft drinks (except Bigi Cola) significantly increased triglyceride, total cholesterol and VLDL of animals when compared with control at p<0.05 respectively. The soft drinks also perturbed the HDL and LDL of animals used in this study.

Conclusion: The result of this study implies that Bigi soft drinks might be deleterious to health as far as hyperglycemia and hyperlipidaemia is concern. This does not automatically translate to such effect on humans. However, individuals with a diabetic family history should minimize their consumption of these drinks.