Experts claim that one vegetable found in every household has “diabetic potential”.
Diabetes is a long-term disease that requires not only treatment but also management through lifestyle habits.
There is no cure for the disease, but people may be able to reverse their condition.
People with diabetes cannot produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugar levels.
If left unchecked, their blood sugar levels can reach dangerously high levels.
However, findings presented at the 97th Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Diego showed that an extract from onion bulbs can “strongly reduce” hyperglycemia.
The extract is taken with the antidiabetic drug metformin.
Lead study author Anthony Ojieh from Abraka Delta State University in Nigeria said: “Onions are inexpensive and readily available and have been used as nutritional supplements.
“It has the potential to be used to treat people with diabetes.”
In their study, three groups of rats with medically induced diabetes were given different doses of onion extract.
The doses were 200 mg, 400 mg, and 600 mg per kilogram of body weight, respectively.
The researchers also gave the drug and onions to three groups of normoglycemic non-diabetic rats as a control group.
The blood sugar levels of mice given 400 mg and 600 mg of onion extract were significantly reduced by 50% and 35%, respectively.
Onion extract also reduced total cholesterol levels in diabetic rats.
Nondiabetic rats gained weight, but diabetic rats gained weight.
“Onions are not high in calories,” says Ojieh.
“However, it appears to increase metabolic rate, which in turn increases appetite, which in turn increases food intake.
“We need to study the mechanism by which onions lower blood sugar. We don’t have an explanation yet.”
But other scientists believe that curing diabetes with onions is hopeless.
Dr Anoop Misra, Chairman of Fortis CDOC Diabetes Centre, Delhi, India, said: “By this logic, India would not be the diabetes hotspot it is today.
“We consume a lot of onions, they’re a kitchen staple, but we still have a lot of diabetes.”
“It is too hasty to draw specific conclusions,” he told The Indian Express, but added that the findings should be replicated in human trials.
If you have diabetes and are looking for ways to control your blood sugar through your diet, vegetables are a great place to start.
Eating a healthy diet helps keep your weight low, which is important for people with diabetes—both type 1 and type 2.
It also controls blood sugar levels and reduces the risk of complications, such as heart or kidney disease.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to a diabetic diet, but there are some general tips that most people with diabetes can follow.
Eat fruits and vegetables (such as blueberries and sweet potatoes), legumes (beans or lentils), whole grains (oats), nuts and seeds, and proteins such as fish and chicken.
