The spice ginger may be able to help people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes to increase their insulin sensitivity according to new research.
Type 2 diabetes is actually more complicated than Type 1. In Type 2 diabetes, both a deficiency of insulin and the body's poor response to insulin, known as insulin resistance, are operating.
Insulin resistance is a physiological condition where cells stop responding to the normal actions of the hormone insulin. The diabetic's body still produces insulin, but the cells in the body become resistant to insulin and are unable to use it as effectively, leading to hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels). The sugar is there waiting to enter the cell but the cells are thumbing their nose at the insulin - the cells become resistant to it. The pancreas makes more insulin because it wants to get sugar into the cells - but still the cells keep thumbing their nose. At this time, serum insulin is very high which leads to weight gain.
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So this is why increasing insulin sensitivity is vital for Type 2 diabetics and where ginger may prove to be helpful.
This study on the effects of ginger came from Iranian scientists working from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Scientists here conducted a two month double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial on 64 people with Type 2 diabetes. Study subjects were either given a placebo or 2 gram of ginger each day.
The study researchers concluded the participants who received the ginger had much higher insulin sensitivity and significantly lower levels of insulin, as well as lower LDL or "bad" cholesterol and triglycerides. When the study was published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition the research team indicated ginger might be helpful to reduce "secondary complications" of Type 2 diabetes.
Other studies have concluded similar results. In 2012 Australian researchers found that extracts from Buderim ginger could increase the uptake of glucose by the cells without the need for any insulin.
The Buderim ginger used in this study was particularly rich in the gingerols, especially the [6]-gingerols and [8]-gingerols, which appear to be most effective at increasing the uptake of glucose.
With one particularly interesting study in 2009 concluding that two different ginger extracts, spissum and an oily extract of ginger, interact with serotonin receptors to reverse their effect on insulin secretion, and that treatment with the extracts led to a 35% drop in blood sugar levels and a 10% increase in plasma insulin levels.
So the humble spice which is native to Africa, India, China, Australia and Jamaica, may be something all Type 2 diabetic's should consider adding to their eating plan on a regular basis - given the amount of research backing up the benefits for diabetics.
Ginger can be:
- grated and added to soups,
- chopped up into small pieces and juiced with other vegetables to give you a healthy nutrient rich drink, and
- can be eaten raw with whole-grain sushi rolls.
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Type 2 diabetes is no longer a condition you must just live with. It need not slowly and inevitably get worse. Now is the time to take control of the disease and take back your life.
For nearly 25 years Beverleigh Piepers has searched for and found a number of secrets to help you build a healthy body. Go to http://DrugFreeType2Diabetes.com to learn about some of those secrets.
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