Ginger, a common spice in Indian kitchens can manage high levels of blood sugar which create complications for long-term diabetic patients, a new study said. Researchers from University of Sydney found that ginger has the power to control blood glucose by using muscle cells.
The potential implication of this finding is that people with adult-onset diabetes (type 2 or non-insulin-dependent diabetes) may experience fewer of the gastrointestinal complications that often occur with that disease.
In the new study, 22 healthy adults between the ages of 19 and 49 years underwent four different electrogastrographic (EGG) studies. (An EGG measures the rhythm of stomach contractions by placing electrodes over the abdomen.) Following ingestion of 1,000 mg of ginger root, the first EGG was performed after administration of intravenous glucose (to reach blood levels of 250 to 290 mg/dl) and the second after taking misoprostol (a substance known to disrupt the normal rhythm of the stomach). For the third and fourth EGGs, participants were given a placebo followed by the same administration of first glucose and then misoprostal. Each of the four EGG studies was recorded and analyzed for changes in normal stomach rhythm and rate of stomach emptying.
Ginger root significantly reduced the disruptive effect of elevated blood sugar on stomach rhythm and helped maintain a normal rate of stomach emptying, while the stomach rhythm and contractions were increased following taking a placebo. Similar results were observed after taking misoprostol; however, these results were not statistically significant. These findings suggest ginger root helps prevent abnormalities in stomach rhythm and emptying that could lead to constipation, heartburn, and ulceration in some individuals.
Although the current study was performed on healthy adults, the effects of ginger root may be useful in treating those with adult-onset diabetes. High blood sugar levels are known to disrupt the normal function of the stomach, and people with uncontrolled diabetes may have blood sugar levels that exceed those reached in the current study. Diabetics with stomach problems also tend to respond favorably to medications that normalize stomach rhythm and correct delayed emptying. Although controlling blood sugar is the most important thing diabetics can do to prevent complications associated with diabetes, ginger may help provide symptomatic improvement while they work on bringing their blood sugar down.
Since the study did not specifically examine those with adult-onset diabetes, it is unknown whether ginger would provide the same benefits in improving stomach function. Nonetheless, ginger is generally safe and may be worth trying for people with diabetes-related stomach disorders.
"Ginger extracts obtained from Buderim Ginger were able to increase the uptake of glucose into muscle cells independently of insulin," Professor of pharmaceutical chemistry Basil Roufogalis who led the research said in a statement.
"This assists in the management of high levels of blood sugar that create complications for long-term diabetic patients, and may allow cells to operate independently of insulin," Roufogalis said.
"The components responsible for the increase in glucose were gingerols, the major phenolic components of the ginger rhizome. Under normal conditions, blood glucose level is strictly maintained within a narrow range, and skeletal muscle is a major site of glucose clearance in the body," Roufogalis added.
The pharmacy researchers extracted whole ginger rhizomes obtained from Buderim Ginger and showed that that one fraction of the extract was the most effective in reproducing the increase in glucose uptake by the whole extract in muscle cells grown in culture.
The study also determined how the gingerols could increase glucose uptake and showed an increase in the surface distribution of the protein GLUT4.
When the protein localises on the surface of muscle cells it allows transport of glucose into cells.
In type 2 diabetic patients, the capacity of skeletal muscle to uptake glucose is markedly reduced due to impaired insulin signal transduction and inefficiency of the GLUT4.
The study was published in the journal Planta Medica.
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