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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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