Spices protect against the consequences of high blood sugar

Herbs and spices are rich in antioxidants, and a new University of Georgia study suggests they are also potent inhibitors of tissue damage and inflammation caused by high levels of blood sugar.

Researchers, whose results appear in the current issue of the Journal of Medicinal Food, tested extracts from 24 common herbs and spices. In addition to finding high levels of antioxidant-rich compounds known as phenols, they revealed a direct correlation between phenol content and the ability of the extracts to block the formation of compounds that contribute to damage caused by diabetes and aging.

“Because herbs and spices have a very low calorie content and are relatively inexpensive, they’re a great way to get a lot of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory power into your diet,” said study co-author James Hargrove, associate professor of foods and nutrition in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

Hargrove explained that when blood sugar levels are high, a process known as protein glycation occurs in which the sugar bonds with proteins to eventually form what are known as advanced glycation end products, also known as AGE compounds. The acronym is fitting because these compounds activate the immune system, resulting in the inflammation and tissue damage associated with aging and diabetes.

The researchers found a strong and direct correlation between the phenol content of common herbs and spices and their ability to inhibit the formation of AGE compounds. Spices such as cloves and cinnamon had phenol levels that were 30 percent and 18 percent of dry weight, respectively, while herbs such as oregano and sage were eight and six percent phenol by dry weight, respectively. For comparison, blueberries – which are widely touted for their antioxidant capabilities – contain roughly five percent phenol by dry weight.

Study co-author Diane Hartle, associate professor in the UGA College of Pharmacy, said various phenols are absorbed differently by the body and have different mechanisms of action, so it’s likely that a variety of spices will provide maximum benefit.

“If you set up a good herb and spice cabinet and season your food liberally, you could double or even triple the medicinal value of your meal without increasing the caloric content,” she said.

She added that controlling blood sugar and the formation of AGE compounds can also decrease the risk of cardiovascular damage associated with diabetes and aging. She explained that high blood sugar accelerates heart disease partly because AGE compounds form in the blood and in the walls of blood vessels. The AGE compounds aggravate atherosclerosis, which produces cholesterol plaques.

The UGA researchers tested for the ability to block AGE compounds in a test tube, but animal studies conducted on the health benefits of spices lend support to their argument. Cinnamon and cinnamon extracts, for example, have been shown to lower blood sugar in mice. Interestingly, cinnamon lowers blood sugar by acting on several different levels, Hargrove said. It slows the emptying of the stomach to reduce sharp rises in blood sugar following meals and improves the effectiveness, or sensitivity, of insulin. It also enhances antioxidant defenses.

Hargrove said their findings suggest it’s likely that the herbs and spices they studied will provide similar benefits in animal tests. He points out that because humans have been consuming herbs and spices for thousands of years, they come without the risk of possible side effects that accompany medications.

“Culinary herbs and spices are all generally recognized as safe and have been time-tested in the diet,” he said. “Indeed, some of spices and herbals are now sold as food supplements because of their recognized health benefits.”

Study co-author Phillip Greenspan, associate professor in the College of Pharmacy, noted that most people don’t get their recommended five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Rather than seasoning their food with salt – which provides no beneficial phenols and has been linked to high blood pressure – he recommends that people use a variety of herbs and spices to help boost the nutritional quality of their meals.

“When you add herbs and spices to food, you definitely provide yourself with additional benefits besides taste,” Greenspan said.

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Article adapted by MD Only from original press release.
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Contact: Sam Fahmy
University of Georgia

Herb works like modern-day prescription drugs used to treat diabetes, study suggest

An herb used in traditional Indian medicine to treat diabetes seems to lower blood sugar and insulin levels in a manner similar to prescription drugs, a new study reports.Researchers gave extracts of the herb Salacia oblonga to 39 healthy adults, and the results were promising. The largest dose of the herb extract – 1,000 milligrams – decreased insulin and blood glucose levels by 29 and 23 percent, respectively.

“These kinds of reductions are similar to what we might see with prescription oral medications for people with diabetes,” said Steve Hertzler, a study co-author and an assistant professor of nutrition at Ohio State University.

Salacia oblonga, which is native to regions of India and Sri Lanka, binds to intestinal enzymes that break down carbohydrates in the body. These enzymes, called alpha-glucosidases, turn carbohydrates into glucose, the sugar that circulates throughout the body. If the enzyme binds to the herbal extract rather than to a carbohydrate, then less glucose gets into the blood stream, resulting in lowered blood glucose and insulin levels.

“Lowering blood glucose levels lowers the risk of disease-related complications in people with diabetes,” Hertzler said. “Also, poor compliance with diabetes medications often hinders the effectiveness of these drugs. It may be easier to get someone to take an herb with food or in a beverage, as opposed to a pill.”

The study appears in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Thirty-nine healthy adults participated in four separate meal tolerance tests. These meals, which were given in beverage form, were spaced three to 14 days apart. Each participant fasted for at least 10 hours before consuming the test beverage.

Participants were asked to drink about two cups’ worth of the chilled beverage, which contained zero, 500, 700 or 1,000 milligrams of Salacia oblonga extract. Afterward, the researchers used the finger-prick method to draw blood samples from each person every 15 to 30 minutes for three hours. These blood samples were used to determine insulin and blood glucose concentrations. The biggest changes in blood glucose and insulin levels usually happen within the first two hours after eating.

The beverage that contained the highest concentration of the herbal extract – 1,000 milligrams – provided the most dramatic reduction in insulin and blood glucose levels. Insulin levels were 29 percent lower, while blood glucose levels were 23 percent lower as compared to the control drink, which contained no herbal extract.

As Salacia oblonga can cause intestinal gas, the researchers had the study participants collect breath hydrogen samples hourly for eight hours after drinking the test beverage. The participants collected their breath in small plastic tubes. The researchers then analyzed these breath samples for hydrogen and methane content – the level of either substance in the breath corresponds to the level contained in the colon.

The subjects also rated the frequency and intensity of nausea, abdominal cramping and distention and gas for two days after consuming each test meal.

While the test beverages containing Salacia oblonga caused an increase in breath hydrogen excretion, reports of gastrointestinal discomfort were minimal, Hertzler said.

Right now he and his colleagues are trying to figure out what dose of the herb is most effective, and when it should be taken relative to a meal.

“We want to know how long it takes for the herb to bind to the enzymes that break down carbohydrates,” Hertzler said. “The participants in this study took the herb with their meal, but maybe taking it before eating would be even more effective.”

The researchers also want to study the effects of Salacia oblonga in people with diabetes.

“A lot of studies show that lowering blood sugar levels reduces the risk for all kinds of diabetes-related complications, such as kidney disease and nerve and eye damage,” Hertzler said. “We want to see if this herb has this kind of effect.”

Salacia oblonga is still relatively difficult to find in the United States, Hertzler said, although there are manufacturers that sell the herb through the Internet.

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Article adapted by MD Only Weblog from original press release.
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Contact: Steve Hertzler
Ohio State University

This study was supported by the Ross Products Division of Abbott Laboratories in Columbus.

Hertzler is continuing to conduct Salacia oblonga studies with the Ross Products Division of Abbott Laboratories. He has no links to the company beyond this affiliation.

Hertzler conducted the work with former Ohio State colleague Patricia Heacock, who is now at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey; Jennifer Williams, a clinical scientist with Ross Products Division, Abbott Laboratories; and Bryan Wolf, a former research scientists with Ross Products Division.

Herbal medicine silymarin shown to help lower blood sugar in type II diabetes

Diabetes is a growing health problem. Giving antioxidants is recognised as one way of helping people with diabetes to control their blood sugar levels.

The herbal medicine extracted from seeds of the Milk Thistle, Silybum marianum (silymarin) is known to have antioxidant properties and research published this week in Phytotherapy Research shows that this extract can help people significantly lower the amount of sugar bound to haemoglobin in blood, as well as reducing fasting blood sugar levels.

Silymarin contains a number of active constituents called flavolignans which are also used to help protect the liver from poisoning.

“We don’t know the exact mechanism of action for this effect, but this work shows that silymarin could play an important role in treating type II diabetes,” says lead author Fallah Huseini, who works at the Institute of Medicinal Plants, which is based in Tehran, Iran.

The data came from a randomized double-blind clinical trial involving 51 people who had had type II diabetes for at least 2 years. One group of 25 patients received 200 mg of silymarin three times a day for 4 months, while the remaining 26 received a placebo treatment. All of the patients continued to use conventional oral hypoglycaemic treatment during the trial. Patients were examined at monthly intervals.

Compared with the beginning of the trial, the treatment group had a significant reduction in fasting blood glucose levels (p<0.001), and a reduction in glycosylated haemoglobin (p<0.001). Both of these measures rose significantly in the placebo group (p<0.0001). There were also non-significant decreases in blood lipids in the treatment group.

“The results are very encouraging, and we now need to do further large multi-centre studies,” says Huseini.

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Article adapted by MD Only Weblog from original press release.
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Huseini, H.F: The Efficacy of Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn. (Silymarin) in the Treatment of Type II Diabetes: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Clinical Trial

Phytotherapy Research is an international journal for the publication of original medicinal plant research, focussing on pharmacology, toxicology and the clinical applications of herbs and natural products in medicine. Papers concerned with the effects of common food ingredients and standardised plant extracts, including commercial products, and mechanistic studies on isolated natural products are particularly welcome. Papers and communications range from case studies to full clinical trials, including studies of herb-drug interactions and other aspects of the safety of herbal medicines. Phytotherapy Research can be accessed online at: http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/ptr

John Wiley & Sons Ltd., with its headquarters in Chichester, England, is the largest subsidiary of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., provides must-have content and services to customers worldwide. Its core businesses include scientific, technical, and medical journals, encyclopaedias, books, and online products and services; professional and consumer books and subscription services; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley has publishing, marketing, and distribution centres in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb. Wiley’s Internet site can be accessed at http://www.wileyeurope.com/
Contact: Polly Young
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Hope for Diabetics at risk of blindness

Brand new research launched at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester is bringing hope to hundreds of people with diabetes who lose their sight each year as a side-effect of the disease.

People with diabetes commonly experience blindness, or a reduction in sight, when a lack of oxygen at the back of the eye causes tiny blood vessels to overgrow into the vitreous humour, which is a jelly like substance. This jelly like substance is removed during surgery to treat this problem.

Pharmaceutical researchers at the University of East Anglia have revealed that they are developing an artificial form of this vitreous humour so that it can be replaced following surgery or if it has been damaged or degenerated for other reasons.

Biologist Janine Morris working with Pharmacist Susan Barker and Biologist Julie Sanderson at the School of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of East Anglia, is identifying the essential characteristics of the human and pig vitreous humour so that they can be mimicked artificially.

She says: “I am currently making a gel that imitates the vitreous humour and which is non-cytotoxic to the human eye. The substance will also include anti-angiogenic drugs to prevent the blood vessels re-growing and the original damage re-occurring.”

Placing this artificial jelly into the damaged eye should certainly improve and potentially restore lost sight. Janine Morris says that the research, which is in the preliminary stages, is good news for diabetes sufferers who will be protected against recurring damage. “The idea that we can potentially improve and maintain sight for diabetes sufferers by replacing the vitreous humour is amazing,” she says.

The vitreous humour is a clear gel-like substance that fills the space between the lens and the retina of the eye. It is 99% water but also contains collagen fibres, inorganic salts, acids and sugar.

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Article adapted by MD Only Weblog from original press release.
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For further information please visit:
The University of East Anglia

Adding Vitamins C and E to diet improves effectiveness of insulin

Adding antioxidants to therapy improves drug’s ability to reduce blood sugar

Boosting insulin with vitamins C and E may improve the drug’s effectiveness for treating diabetes.

A UC Irvine College of Medicine study has found that the popular antioxidant supplements not only enhance insulin’s ability to reduce blood sugar, but also lower the risks of organ damage that can occur despite insulin treatments. The study appears in the January issue of Kidney International.

Dr. Nick Vaziri, professor of medicine, and his team found that untreated diabetes raised blood pressure and increased the production of damaging oxidizing agents called free radicals. The free radicals converted sugars and proteins into harmful chemicals, increasing the risks of tissue damage often seen in untreated diabetes.

Treating the rats with insulin alone improved high blood pressure somewhat and partially spared the sugars and proteins from the free radicals’ assault. But it also added a new problem, as the free radicals turned their attack on nitric oxide, a ubiquitous molecule that usually protects the body from free radicals. This new attack results in yet more toxic chemicals, with the potential to inflict damage to tissues.

Adding vitamins C and E to insulin, however, spared the sugars, proteins and nitric oxide from attack.

“Blood pressure was lowered to normal, and free radicals were not in sufficient numbers to degrade the sugars, proteins and nitric oxide,” Vaziri said. “We think this shows that a diet rich in antioxidants may help diabetics prevent the devastating cardiovascular, kidney, neurological and other damage that are common complications of diabetes.”

Diabetes affects nearly 17 million Americans. Insulin is the predominant treatment, but patients eventually develop complications, like various forms of heart disease and nerve, liver and kidney damage. Studies would still have to be tested in humans, but Vaziri believes that adding vitamins C and E to an insulin-dependent diabetic’s diet should help treat the disease and perhaps prevent future organ damage.

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Article adapted by MD Only Weblog from original press release.
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Contact: Andrew Porterfield
University of California – Irvine

Ginseng extract fights diabetes, lowers cholesterol and decreases weight

An extract from the ginseng berry shows real promise in treating diabetes and obesity, reports a research team from the University of Chicago’s Tang Center for Herbal Medicine Research. In the June issue of the journal Diabetes, they show that the extract completely normalized blood glucose levels, improved sensitivity to insulin, lowered cholesterol levels, and decreased weight by reducing appetite and increasing activity levels in mice bred to develop diabetes.For more than 2000 years, traditional Chinese medicine has used ginseng root to treat a variety of ailments. This study focused instead on substances found in the ginseng berry, which has very different concentrations of ginsenosides, the substances thought to be medically useful.

“Ginseng berry has a distinctive chemical profile and has not previously been used for therapy,” said Chun-Su Yuan, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of anesthesia and critical care at the University of Chicago and director of the study. “We were stunned by how different the berry is from the root and by how effective it is in correcting the multiple metabolic abnormalities associated with diabetes.”

Yuan’s team, which included researchers from the Tang Center, anesthesia, clinical pharmacology and medicine, studied the effects of the extract, made from the pulp of the berry. They also studied one particular substance known as ginsenoside Re, which is concentrated in ginseng berries but quite scarce in the root.

They tested the extract by injecting it once a day into mice with a gene defect that causes weight gain and type 2 diabetes. They found that —

• Daily injections of 150 mg/kg of the ginseng berry extract restored normal blood-sugar levels in diabetic mice. Blood-glusoce levels fell from 222 mg/dl (quite high for a mouse) to 137 mg/dl (normal) within 12 days. Treated mice also had better scores on a glucose tolerance test, which measures how quickly the mice could remove excess glucose from the blood.
• The extract caused diabetic mice, which were also obese, to lose more than 10 percent of their body weight in 12 days. Untreated mice gained five percent of their weight in 12 days. The treated mice ate 15 percent less and were 35 percent more active than untreated mice. Once the injections stopped, weight gain gradually resumed.
• The extract improved insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity, both of which were abnormal in mice with diabetes.
• Treated diabetic mice had 30 percent lower cholesterol levels than untreated diabetic mice (117mg/dl versus 169mg/dl).

The extract had no detectable effect on normal mice.

Tests using a ginsenoside Re alone found that it had all of the anti-diabetic but none of the obesity-fighting activities of the extract.

“This novel compound could serve as the basis for a whole new class of anti-diabetic medications,” said Yuan, who is also working to isolate other substances from the extract that contributed to the weight loss.

There is a pressing need for new and more effective drugs for both diabetes and obesity. Diabetes is the seventh leading killer in the U.S. Type 2 diabetes affects almost six percent of the U.S. population and 18.4 percent of those over 65. The cost of the disease is estimated at $105 billion each year.

The U.S. Surgeon General estimates that 61 percent of adults are overweight or obese. Obesity — wieghing more than 20 percent over your maximum recommended body weight — contributes to an estimated 300,000 deaths each year. The economic cost of obesity in the U.S. was about $117 billion in 2000. The rising rate of obesity also contributes to the growing prevalence of type 2 diabetes.

“Since this berry contains agents that are effective against both obesity and diabetes, the ginseng fruit has enormous promise as a source of new drugs,” said Yuan, who has worked with the University to apply for a patent on the development of ginsenoside Re as a diabetes medication.

“The next step is to isolate the other substances in the extract, find out whether they also effect glucose regulation or weight gain, learn how they work and determine the safe and effective dose.”

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Article adapted by MD Only Weblog from original press release.
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Contact: John Easton
University of Chicago Medical Center

Additional authors of the study were Anoja Attele, Yun-Ping Zhou, Jing-Tian Xie, Ji An Wu, Liu Zhang, Lucy Dey, William Pugh and Paul Rue of the University of Chicago and Kenneth Polonsky, now at Washington University in St. Louis. The research was funded by the Tang Family Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.