Diabetes is a disease that raises blood sugar levels above normal. In the long term, this can cause all kinds of problems in the body. From damaging the eyes, kidneys, nerves, skin, heart, bones or blood vessels… to making it difficult to control blood pressure and cholesterol (if left untreated, it can lead to heart attack or -even- in dementia). All of the above means that diabetics must have the permanently controlled blood glucose levels.
Now, a group of scientists from has discovered that a vegetable commonly used could help reduce by up to 50 percent blood sugar levels. The results of the study were presented at the 97th annual meeting of the San Diego Endocrine Society. Its main author, Anthony Ojieh, from Delta State University (Abraka, Nigeria), explained that -according to his findings- the onion bulb extract can greatly enhance the results of the metforminwhich is a fairly common antidiabetic drug, and “reduce considerably” high blood sugar levels and cholesterol.
In their experiment, the scientists supplied the metformin and various doses of onion extract to three groups of diabetic-induced rats for medicine. And as a control group, the researchers also administered the same doses of the drug and onion extract to another group of non-diabetic rats and with normal blood sugar levels.
The doses of onion supplied to both groups were 200mg, 400mg Y 600mg per kilogram of body weight. And the effect was more than noticeable. Of the diabetic rats, those that received 600 mg and 400 mg per kilogram of body weight “significantly reduced” your cholesterol and blood sugar levels. In a 50 percent and 35 percent, respectively.
Something that was equally surprising is that the onion extract caused a unusual weight gain in non-diabetic rats, which -however- it was not perceived in diabetics. “Onion does not have many calories”Ojieh explained. “However, it appears to increase the metabolic rate and thereby increase appetiteleading to increased feeding”. But – for some reason – the onion did not affect the metabolic rate of the diabetic rats.
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The lead author of the study, Anthony Ojieh, still doesn’t know how to put all the pieces together: “We need to investigate the mechanism by which the onion caused the drop in blood glucose. We still don’t have an explanation.” However, the results seem to be very hopeful: “It has the potential to be used in the treatment of patients with diabetes.”
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