Resveratrol, a compound found in the skins of grapes, the roots of some weeds and various foods, has been the subject of a lot of interest recently because of it’s ability counter the effects of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. Recent research has also shown that resveratrol is also very effective in helping to manage the effects of Type 2 diabetes.
Type 2, or “adult onset” diabetes comes about through high levels of of fat being in the bloodstream over a sustained period of time. Eventually the cells begin to no longer use insulin properly to draw glucose into them, and develop a resistance to it. To compensate for this, the pancreas attempts to produce more insulin, but gradually lose the ability to do so and produces less and less insulin as time goes by.
The result is high levels of glucose in the blood and no way to draw it into the cells to give them energy. This also leads to complications that include heart and kidney failure, inflammation, strokes, blindness and organ damage.
Drugs designed to increase insulin levels have often caused more harm than good, including a significantly higher risk of heart attack.
Resveratrol, however, has shown an ability to increase glucose metabolism in diabetics and lower their overall blood sugar levels. The interest thing is resveratrol does this in a way that does not involve insulin, or any increase of insulin production.
In a study performed at Brock University by Danna Breen and her associates in 2008, they discovered that resveratrol increased the absorption of glucose in muscle cells through a mechanism that involved sirtuins and was not dependent on the action of enzymes typically needed to allow glucose to enter the cell.
The potential consequences of this for diabetics are significant. Using resveratrol, diabetics may be able to lower their blood sugar levels and avoid the life threatening complications of diabetes, without the high risk of heart attack from using insulin boosting drugs, and without the daily insulin shots.
There is still more research to be done before resveratrol could be approved as a bona fide treatment for diabetes. The early indications though are very promising and certainly sufficient to warrant further investigation.