A 15P drink could regulate blood sugar levels for diabetics, a study has found.
Making tweaks to your diet is key to controlling, and sometimes even reversing, type 2 diabetes.
Drinking mulberry leaf tea reduces blood sugar levels, a study found
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Drinking mulberry leaf tea reduces blood sugar levels, a study foundCredit: Getty – Contributor
People with type 2 diabetes cannot produce enough insulin, which regulates blood sugar – without this, blood sugar can hit dangerous highs.
But researchers found drinking mulberry leaf tea can dramatically drop blood sugar levels.
A study published in the Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences found it is able to balance out the spikes that can happen after eating.
For the experiment 20 type 2 diabetic patients had bog standard tea, and 28 were given mulberry leaf tea.
Blood samples were collected after breakfast, with glucose levels checked 90 minutes after having 70ml of tea with one teaspoon of sugar.
Researchers noted there was a “very large” reduction in blood sugar levels after drinking mulberry tea, saying it is “highly significant”.
They said: “Mulberry tea suppresses postprandial rise of blood glucose levels after 90 min of its consumption.”
Regulating your diet and keeping an eye on what can cause sugar spikes is a simple way to keep on top of type 2 diabetes.
Knowing the importance of weight loss for those with type 2 diabetes, researchers led by the University of Glasgow wanted to conclude the most effective way of doing it, publishing their findings in the journal Diabetologia.
They considered low-calorie diets, low-carb, high-protein, vegetarian, Mediterranean, high healthy-fat and low GI foods diets.
The only one the researchers praised was a low-calorie diet made of between 500 to 1,500 calories per day.
It comes as thousands of people are likely living with type 2 diabetes with no idea.
The condition can go undetected because its symptoms are hard to spot, or brushed off as something else.
People can live for up to 10 years with type 2 diabetes – the most common type – before being diagnosed, charities say.
Already some 4.9 million people in the UK are estimated to have diabetes, of which there are various forms.
According to the NHS, the symptoms of type 2 diabetes to watch out for include:
Peeing more than usual, particularly at night
Feeling thirsty all the time
Feeling very tired
Losing weight without trying to
Itching around your genitals, or repeatedly getting thrush
Getting cuts or wounds taking longer to heal
Having blurred vision
These are the most common signs and typically reported by those suffering the condition.