Red Onion for diabetics????

[Jo_the_boat]

Well I never did. Here

 

[Resurgam]

I add red onion to quite a few things - not every day, but maybe 5 times a week - I chop it finely and add it to salads and stirfries towards the end of cooking so it remains pungent.
Perhaps that is the secret of my success.
I put the rest of the onion into a bowl with a saucer on top and keep it in the fridge.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Hmmm....the Express?

"is to regulate blood sugar - the main type of sugar found in blood".
[I assume it should be blood glucose.]

Haven't read the full study, but it seems to be comparing water fasting with eating red onion.
No sign that they tried white onion as a control.
Or any other food.

 

[Outlier]

I stopped eating onions of whatever colour when I went low-carb. I fail to see how something as full of sugars as an onion could lower blood glucose. I suspect we aren't getting anything like the full story. (It's a newspaper - why would we?).

 

[Redshank]

The article does provide a link to the scientific paper which gives more information of the study
Thank you for posting

 

[Pipp]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2978938/
For anyone who prefers to read the scientific article, rather than the interpretation by the Daily Express.

 

[Oldvatr]

An associated link at the end of the express article to a study on the use of a spice to reverse diabetes has an embedded link to this forum. Its nice to know one's work is appreciated by the media.

 

[Oldvatr]

First comment: They do not specify what fasting was done before the OGTTs. Second comment, they used an electronic glucometer, type unspecified, to measure the bgl. So immediately invalidateds the OGTT as a source of 'proof' since we know that this technique immediately introduces the possibility of a +/- 15% error between consecutive readings, We must presume that the graphs show an averged value for the group, but it is not stated. They should have used venous blood draw to measure the glucose levels and a reference analyser to assay it. These methodology error invalidates this trial.

They do not state at what time the water or onion were administered, and this will require time to be assimilated (digested) before becoming active.

There is no comment about the ingestion of the onion possibly affecting the digestion of the glucose trigger. The idea of the OGTT is the step kickstart shock, and the onion or water will affect that if taken at time 0. We do see a rise in BGL at time 1hr in the fasting test which shows that the carb content is significant. (100g is not LC)

I do not believe the onion is reducing glucose in the blood. I think it may be preventing absorbtion and thereby blunting the effect of the OGTT.

I am not a T1D but I would be worried about giving that group such a severe shock. There is no mention of how this group were protected i.e. did they use a bolus for 75g carb,

Speaking of carb content, the test organisers have used dextrose not anhydrous glucose as the test stimulus. They should have upped the dose to 82.5g to compensate for the difference in GI.

 

[KennyA]

Heavens! Could it be possible that a newspaper has got something wrong?

 

[Oldvatr]

Heavens! Could it be possible that a newspaper has got something wrong?

It is correctly reporting the results of a published research paper. Others are also quoting this study with similar article content. It is difficult to find any comparable study that would give an independent viewpoint. There is one, which is referenced in this study, that claims a 70% reduction in blood sugar levels simply from a single dose of onion extract, which is amazing. I suspect a systemic problem with these studies.

One possibility is that onions contain sugar, notably glucose and fructose and a small amount of sucrose. One possibility is that the glucose OGTT and the added sugar from the onion is causing the liver to increase lipid output. Now lab venous samples in a YSI analyser are not affected by lipids in the interstitial fluid, but handheld glucometers are sensitive to lipids which decrease the reported readings. Also eating onions reduces uric acid in the blood, and this is another contaminant that affects readings in handheld meters. These potential confounders have not been eliminated in this study.

 

[Ronancastled]

Hold on now, there are carbs in onions ?
I've been using them in everything, salads, curry's, spag bol, sandwiches
They don't look carby, sneaky.
Anyway, don't effect my BG so they stay on the good list

[mod radio edit.]

 

[Resurgam]

Hello All

Oops I didn’t realise about the carbs in onions. Now I think I use too much in my curries. Are leeks similar in carbs?

I think that leeks are lower carb, and they are so handy as they can be split to make sheet of faux lasagne.
I find that I need very little onion to add a bit of zing, so it isn't a problem.

 

[Oldvatr]

The carb content is just under 10% so is not low carb nor high carb, The study does mention that the onions were obtained locally and were selected for being in the optimum condition. The study does not offer a description for this. Is is using young or mature onions? Is it that they are fresh picked and not hung for weeks like they are supposed to be. Presumably if this is the case then the onions will have a different composition that those we would purchase in a shop or from an itinerant frenchman.
https://www.growveg.co.uk/guides/curing-onions-for-storage/
Note that the study was performed in a warm climate (Sudan) so may be short day prepared.

 

[Oldvatr]

Hi Resurgam

Faux lasagne sounds great so creative with the leeks!

@Oldvatr interesting read about onions - just shows how we often don’t think about our food and just use it out of habit, culture and traditions. I will be more mindful and start cutting down on the onions in any case....

For my Lasgne I use either sliced butternut squash zapped in a microwave to make it soft for slicing, or sliced aubergine pre baked in the oven or grill. I have not tried leeks yet but that sounds interesting.

 

[Outlier]

I use leeks in soup to compensate for not using onions, and it works really well. When I put spring onions in salad, I give my husband the more sugary white parts and slice up the green leaves plus add in some chives for me. It doesn't take much to create an oniony flavour this way and it's fewer carbs. Every carb counts.

 

[Deleted member 475901]

As a statistician my only comment is look at the number of participants in each group - not enough to make any (reasonable) conclusions about us. Worth the paper it was reported in?

 

[Oldvatr]

As a statistician my only comment is look at the number of participants in each group - not enough to make any (reasonable) conclusions about us. Worth the paper it was reported in?

On one hand i agree with you, but looking at it sideways, there were 7 individuals within each subgroup, and their group result is an average of the 7. So each individul can only affect the result by 1/7th at most. If one person saw a 7 mmol/l effect, but the other 6 had zero change, then the answer will only change by 1 mmol/l. But the trial is claiming something like 8.8 mmol/l shift simply by ingesting a single dose of onion. That is mindblowing. i am on a similar sulfonyl drug as one of the groups, and I can sometimes see a change of 3 mmol/l but only for simple carb meals. A change of 9 mmol/l would put me in subzero territory.

I do note that the onion group saw a rise above the others at the 1 hour mark, so onion makes the OGTT stress greater than the others, which in my mind is unusual since 75g of glucose should swamp the onion seeing as its only 10g carbs and onion is not so easily digested.

The figures being claimed for onion do not tie in with my n=1 experimental data where I was concerned that some meals that I had expected to be low carb turned out to be spiking me. These were meals with beef and onions (eg beefburger-no-bun, sliced beef with onion gravy. liver and onions) Turns out it was the gravy doing the damage, and onion seemed to have little effect when I tested it. So I find these claims to be surprising to say the least. Just one cornetto? Nope!

Another thing is they selected new diabetics. Did they stop their normal medication then take one sulfonyl pill for the test? The way the water group fasting levels drop is suspicious too. It does not seem that they started with true fasting levels as required for an OGTT.

 

[EllieM]

What I don't understand is why the Express is doing an article inspired by a 12 year old study? I understand the inaccuracies : they are a newspaper and know nothing about diabetes and/or science, but what inspired them to cover what is essentially "old news".

 

[Oldvatr]

I do not know who Adam Chapman is, but he is doing a series of articles in the
Express on Diabetes. He has recently discussed Cinnamon, Ginger Tea and the avoidance of mangoes. He is obviously a reader here, and is presumably getting inspiration from the Forum since he has directly linked to this Forum in one of the articles. (Hi Adam!)

He is described as
"Adam Chapman is Deputy Health Editor. He joined Express.co.uk in May 2019. He has held positions in lifestyle and medical publications since graduating with a Masters in Magazine Journalism from City University in 2016"

He is obviously trying to promote an alternative message on health conditions much as we do here. He is carb aware but not obviously promoting low carb. The other thing I note is that he is concentrating on low cost solutions that readers can try for themselves without feeling foolish or being out of pocket. He seems to be aware of Ayurvedic and other ethnic remedy sources.

He seems to have links to nutrition outfit JustCBD, who he quotes in several articles. Very alternative IMO.

 

[Oldvatr]

What I don't understand is why the Express is doing an article inspired by a 12 year old study? I understand the inaccuracies : they are a newspaper and know nothing about diabetes and/or science, but what inspired them to cover what is essentially "old news".

Don't knock it. I am promoting a diet plan that was put down in 1876 as a route to T2D Remission, so I can't complain, can I? I promote medication from the Middle Ages (French Lily aka Glucophage). The study is 12 year ago, and no one has picked it up and made a fortune from it, so it obviously has flaws in it. I hope Adam reads my dissertation on it.