Globally, diabetes mellitus has become a major threat to human health. An increase in the prevalence of diabetes has been observed, which in part can be attributed to the aging of the population, as well as to an increase in the rate of obesity and sedentary lifestyle in Canada and the United States.1 Diabetes mellitus is an emerging epidemic with an estimate, currently, of almost 18 million confirmed cases and another 20 million patients with impaired glucose tolerance at risk to diabetes, in the United States alone.2,3