T2 Diabetes and insulin resistance

[Guest guest]

Science News, May 1st issue, has a great article about

some substances they have found that lower insulin

resistance by quite a bit. Interesting substances!

The first is coffee. Decaf coffee. They found that

caffeine promotes insulin resistance, but something

else lowers it, so they cancel each other out, more

or less. But decaf really helps. The substance that

does it is chlorogenic acid. One thing it does is keep

sugar in the gut longer (lowers absorption).

Green tea is another one. It helps the cells absorb

sugar, which is one of the problems in T2. That gives

the person more energy too ... sounds like a good

idea for losing weight.

Black pepper is high in chromium, which helps. Chromium

in supplements is hard to absorb, but pepper works

better. It boosts insulin activity.

Cinnamon. Cinnamon also boosts insulin activity. It

has phenols that have an insulin-like effect.

Wine increases insulin sensitivity. In giving diabetic

mice the equivalent of 3 glasses of wine a day,

they became nondiabetic. But if given just the

alcohol part or the non-alcohol part, they didn't

get as much effect. Only " whole foods " wine here!

It is interesting that these substances are all ones

that people have tended to eat with foods, esp.

big meals!

-- Heidi Jean