Type 2 diabetes can be a 'devastating diagnosis' says expert
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Type 2 diabetes can be either ruinous or unobtrusive depending on how well you manage blood sugar levels. High blood sugar levels can cause an onslaught of issues so steps must be taken to control them. Ordinarily, the hormone insulin regulates blood sugar. However, if you have type 2 diabetes, this mechanism is impaired.
Fortunately, there are alternative means of policing blood sugar levels: improving your diet.
Evidence suggests drinking a cup of ginger tea may perform this desired effect.
Ginger spice, which is extracted from the root of the flowering plant native to Asia, is also available in syrups, capsules, and liquid extracts.
Few clinical trials have investigated the anti-diabetic effects of ginger to date.
“Several recent clinical trials published in 2013 and 2014, although small, have added contradictory but compelling new evidence about the use of ginger in treating diabetes in humans,” researchers wrote in the Journal of Ethnic Foods.
They set out to fill this gap in knowledge by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis on the existing evidence for using ginger to treat diabetes.
A meta-analysis compares the results of multiple studies to arrive at a scientific consensus.
Five randomised clinical trials (RCTs) were identified and included in the meta-analysis.
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So, what did the researchers find out?
Ginger supplementation “significantly” lowered fasting blood glucose (sugar) concentrations and HbA1c levels, they wrote.
HbA1c is your average blood glucose (sugar) levels for the last two to three months. It provides a longer-term picture, similar to an average, of how high your blood sugar levels are.
Other research findings point to the blood sugar-lowering benefits of taking ginger.
A study published in the journal Planta Medica suggested that ginger may improve long-term blood sugar control for people with type 2 diabetes.
Researchers from the University of Sydney, Australia, found that extracts from Buderim Ginger (Australian grown ginger) rich in gingerols – the major active component of ginger rhizome – can increase uptake of glucose into muscle cells without using insulin, and may therefore assist in the management of high blood sugar levels.
What accounts for this effect?
Ginger has a very low glycemic index (GI), which is beneficial for blood sugar management.
How? Low GI foods break down slowly to form glucose and therefore do not trigger a spike in blood sugar levels as high GI foods do.
GI is a rating system for foods containing carbohydrates. It shows how quickly each food affects your blood sugar (glucose) level when that food is eaten on its own.
As a general rule, you should cut back on the following to control blood sugar levels:
- Sugar and sugary foods
- Sugary soft drinks
- White bread
- Potatoes
- White rice.
Type 2 diabetes – do I have it?
Many people have type 2 diabetes without realising. This is because symptoms do not necessarily make you feel unwell.
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes include:
- Peeing more than usual, particularly at night
- Feeling thirsty all the time
- Feeling very tired
- Losing weight without trying to
- Itching around your penis or vagina, or repeatedly getting thrush
- Cuts or wounds taking longer to heal
- Blurred vision.
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