New spice for diabetes

Thu, 30 Oct 2008
According to experts at an American university, a type of spice commonly used in West African cuisine could have a serious role to play in lowering blood glucose levels amongst people with diabetes .

Aframomum Melegueta, one species of the ginger family that is common in West Africa, is used in cooking to add a distinctive, peppery taste. The spice is well known in African medical folklore for its ability to aid digestion, but this is the first study that indicates the spice could also be a powerful diabetes treatment .

Experts at Rutgers University in New Jersey have tested the spice amongst diabetic mice, and found that it lowers blood glucose . The spice could have a role to play in preventing diabetes onset. The team suggested ways in which the spice could be marketed as a diabetes supplement or food additive.

At this stage, the efficiency of the spice in humans remains to be seen.

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.
Share Us
Follow Us