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SALACIA
Oblonga is a herb long-used in traditional Indian medicine, it may help
people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar, a new study
suggests. Researchers found that the herb reduced post-meal
blood sugar surges in 66 men and women with type 2 diabetes.
Also known as Saptrangi and Ponkoranti, Salacia Oblonga is from a native shrub plant found in the forests of India and Sri Lanka. The roots and stems of the herb are used in Ayurvedic and traditional Indian medicine to treat obesity and diabetes. The findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, support the results of earlier work that looked at Salacia Oblonga's blood sugar effects in people without diabetes.
The results suggests that the herb could be used along with diet, exercise and medication to help manage Type 2 diabetes. The researchers, led by Jennifer A. William, are with Columbus, Ohio based Abbott Laboratories, which has funded previous research on the herb.For the study, Williams and her colleagues asked participants to drink a high carbohydrate liquid meal replacement on three separate occasions. On one day, they had the meal alone and on another two days, they consumed the drink along with a dose of Salacia Oblonga extract, either 240mg or 480mg.
On average, the study found, the lower Salacia Oblonga dose decreased participant's peak blood sugar response by 19% while the higher dose lowered it by 27%. Both doses also tempered the normal post meal increase in insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar. The Salacia Oblonga plant grows in limited areas of Asia and is not widely known in the US. Extracts are used in Japan, however, as an ingredient in foods and supplements intended to mange diabetes and obesity.
The herbs is thought to work similarly to oral diabetes drugs called alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, which impede the body's absorption of carbohydrates.
Salacia oblonga, could be ideal nutritional therapies for diabetes. People often find it tough to stick with diet restrictions and a supplement like Salacia Oblonga could allow diabetics to eat a carbohydrate rich meal without an overly high blood sugar response.
Studies should now look at the herb's effects on blood sugar control over the long term, the researchers conclude.
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