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While the heart-protecting and cancer-fighting powers of tea and red wine are near legendary, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have discovered that imbibing these beverages may help regulate the blood sugar of people with type 2 diabetes.
"Levels of blood sugar, or blood glucose, rise sharply in patients with type 2 diabetes immediately following a meal," says Kalidas Shetty, professor of food biotechnology at the University of Massachusetts, and one of the authors of the study, which was published in the May issue of the Journal of Food Biochemistry. "Red wine and tea contain natural antioxidants that may slow the passage of glucose through the small intestine and eventually into the bloodstream and prevent this spike, which is an important step in managing this disease."Both red and white wines were tested using in vitro enzyme studies to determine how well they could inhibit the activity of alpha-glucosidase, an enzyme responsible for trigging the absorption of glucose by the small intestine. Compared with its paler counterpart, which was only able to inhibit the enzyme by only 20 percent, red wine outdid itself with nearly 100 percent.
"Our testing showed that red wine contains roughly ten times more polyphenolics than white wine," says Shetty. "Laboratory results suggest that these compounds, found in many plant-based foods, may play a role in inhibiting alpha-glucosidase and slowing the passage of carbohydrates into the bloodstream."
Four types of tea were also tested: black, oolong, white, and green. Water extracts of black tea had the highest effect on inhibiting alpha-glucosidase activity, followed by white and oolong teas.
A major challenge for diabetics is keeping blood-sugar levels as normal as possible, with few major fluctuations. Doing so can prevent the disease from contributing to heart disease and high blood pressure, as well as damaging the eyes, kidneys, nerves, and blood vessels. ::University of Massachusetts Amherst
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