There’s a new soldier in the fight against diabetes, and it’s out of Mexico. Researchers have found that a food staple from south of the border could help lower blood sugar levels after a meal.
Type 2 diabetes — it’s a growing problem all over the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of 2002, 18.2 million people in the U.S. have diabetes (6.3% of the population). And our southern neighbors are also facing the diabetes threat.
Type 2 diabetes is the more common type of diabetes, most often found in obese adults. It occurs when the pancreas doesn’t produce sufficient insulin, or when the body doesn’t make proper use of the insulin produced. The insulin hormone is instrumental in providing the body with the energy (blood sugar) needed to perform vital functions.
The Mexican study, published in the journal “Diabetes Care,” aimed to examine the potential effects of a local dietary favorite on the disease. We’re talking about cactus- pear stems, or “nopales.” These are actually the pad or stem of the prickly pear cactus. In central and southern Mexico, the average person eats nopales three times a week. It’s often consumed as a breakfast food. The prickly pear stem is also a popular ingredient in New Mexico cuisine.
Thirty-six volunteers with type 2 diabetes took part in this study. They were aged 42 to 72. First, all of the participants fasted for 18 hours. Then they ate one of three meals: scrambled eggs and tomato burritos; “chilaquiles;” or avocado and pinto bean quesadillas. The chilaquiles consisted of corn tortillas with cheese, beans, and tomato sauce. Along with their assigned meal, some of the volunteers consumed 85 grams of nopales.
The researchers found that, when the volunteers ate nopales, it didn’t matter what meal they had — their blood sugar levels were lower than those of the people who didn’t have the dish. The people who ate the quesadillas plus the nopales had the greatest after-meal blood sugar decrease: 48%. That’s pretty significant. The nopales-supplemented volunteers who had chilaquiles experienced a 30% blood sugar drop. And the burrito-nopales group had an average 20% decrease in their blood sugar after the meal.
Diabetes is manageable and even preventable if you make the right lifestyle changes and follow your doctor’s advice. However, if you do not address this health issue properly, it can lead to many complications, including heart disease, nerve damage, kidney problems, and blindness. Diet is an important factor, as obesity and blood-sugar fluctuations an lead to diabetes, or the worsening of symptoms or complications.
If you live in a state bordering Mexico, you might find nopales at your local grocery store. If you don’t have this delicacy available in your area, you might be able to find a prickly pear supplement. But take note that this study only looked at the effects of the actual food, not the supplement.
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Warning on Common Diabetes DrugTags: blood sugar, foods for diabetics
