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Diabetes: How a prickly pear offers hope to diabetes sufferers
A new study offers hope to sufferers of diabetes. Researchers have found that prickly pear cactus pads consumed regularly in Mexico could reduce blood sugar rises after a meal by up to 50 per cent.
The study, published in the latest issue of Diabetes Care, looked at the effect of the cactus pear, known locally as nopales, on blood sugar levels when eaten with regular Mexican fodder like burritos and quesadillas.
Lead researcher Montserrat Bacardi-Gascon explained: 'Consumption of nopales (prickly pear cactus pads) in middle and low socioeconomic populations of central and southern Mexico is generally three times weekly. The purpose of this study was to estimate the glycemic index of three usual Mexican breakfasts and to measure the effect of adding cactus pads (nopales) on postprandial glucose response in type 2 diabetic subjects.'
Assessing the results
The researchers recruited 36 volunteers (average BMI was 25 kg per sq. m) with type-2 diabetes aged between 47 and 72 and, after an 18-hour fast, assigned them to eat a meal of scrambled egg and tomato burritos, chilaquiles (cheese, beans and tomato sauce with corn tortillas), or quesadillas with avocados and pinto beans, with or without 85 grams of prickly pear cactus pads.
Bacardi-Gascon and his co-workers, from the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, found that blood sugar levels were reduced in all meal types when nopales were consumed simultaneously, compared to those not supplemented with the cactus pear.
Reductions also varied depending on the meal, with nopales plus quesadillas being associated with a 48 reduction, nopales plus chilaquiles associated with a 30 per cent reduction, and nopales plus burritos associated with a 20 per cent reduction.
Commenting on the findings the researchers said: 'The promising results shown with these typical Mexican breakfasts provide Mexican patients with a broader and more culturally based choice for the management of diabetes.'
This is not the first time that cactus pear has been linked to improvements for diabetes-related health. It has also been found to help sufferers of metabolic syndrome (MetS) a condition characterized by central obesity, hypertension, and disturbed glucose and insulin metabolism. The syndrome has been linked to increased risks of both type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
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