New study finds red wine can fight diabetes at He's Fit

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New study finds red wine can fight diabetes

Posted October 18, 2007 at 12:00 PM by Megan Hueter

Section: In The News, His Health, Physical Health, His Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Diets

I can hear the cheers from the streets. All those with type 2 diabetes are celebrating the recent news. A new study has found that resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red wine, may be able to counter type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.

Type 2 diabetes, often referred to at “adult onset diabetes,” or “diabetes mellitus.” Type 2 diabetes is a condition that is nearly taking over the population in the United States. Almost 20 million people in the US have type 2 diabetes and another 45 million have pre diabetes, a condition that is very close and often leads to Type 2 diabetes.

In those without diabetes, the hormone insulin controls blood sugar effectively in the body. When the body becomes “overloaded” or less sensitive to insulin, that’s called insulin resistance, a condition that can lead to type 2 diabetes.

Cheng Sun and Qiwei Zhai of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai recently found that resveratrol, the antioxidant found in red wine, curbs insulin resistance in mice.

If the findings apply to people, it might be possible to create new resveratrol drugs that could be a “valuable new strategy for treating insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes,” write the researchers.

The researchers aren’t recommending that anyone rely on wine to help their insulin sensitivity. Actually, it would take almost 3 liters of red wine each day (think about the content of a 2 liter bottle of soda - that would be almost a bottle and a half of wine) to get the biological effects of resveratrol needed to treat insulin resistance.

Research sources and for more information: [WebMD]; [Mercola]; [picture]

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Tags: adult onset diabetes, cheng sun, chinese academy of sciences, diabetes mellitus, health, insulin, insulin resistance, men's health, nutrition, qiwei zhai, red wine, resveratrol, shanghai, type 2 diabetes

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7 Responses to “New study finds red wine can fight diabetes” (Leave a reply)

Paul Reising from Indiana, US said:

Sometimes I think the medical community misses the forest for the trees. It seems that millions, hundreds of millions, of dollars are spent trying to find that next BIG drug and little is spent on follow up studies to further confirm studies like these and other interesting molecules found in foods. Do these potential food molecules disinterest the medical community? I’ve found another related food derivative product that seems to have a positive effect on insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. The brand name is called diabatrol (spelling?) I found some interesting clinical studies at the product website: http://www.healthydiabetic.com

With the string of FDA warnings for several diabetic drugs this year, when are we going to realize that a balanced approach of nutrition, exercise, these new food/plant products and as a last resort, prescription drugs should be used together to make us healthier.
Paul
October 19, 2007 at 09:06 AM
Eileen from NJ said:

As a diabetic, I find this very helpful. Looks like we have to keep looking for the natural answers.
October 22, 2007 at 12:28 PM
James Dalton from Los Angeles said:

All these research pointing to different products to help control diabetes. There is also another claim that cinnamon can be used to control this problem. This website http://www.aboutcinamondiabetes.com shows two different studies that were done to test the effectivness of this spice. I guess nothing tried, nothing gained
March 8, 2008 at 03:42 PM
Diabetes Recipe from canada said:

Interesting study. Then again, always follow the money. I bet association of wine producers had something to do with funding the study. Goof gor wine producers that their wine sale will go up a bit.
March 20, 2008 at 01:06 PM
Suboxone said:

Drinking wine certainly gives you more pleasure instead of taking prescription medicine– in this case insulin, but 3 litters per day is ALOT! You will die from alcoholic coma before you will get cure of diabetes.
August 10, 2008 at 08:11 PM
Find IP Address from United States said:

Why i got “Akismet thinks your input might be spam, so it will be moderated first.” ?
September 5, 2008 at 06:06 PM
Antioxidant Chart said:

Although antioxidants can prevent conditions such as diabetes and cancer, it is highly doubtful that they can cure them. And 3 liters of wine every day? Oh my god.
October 26, 2008 at 08:54 AM