A recent study found that drinking a cup of dark tea daily can help control blood sugar and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 47%.
The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia and Southeast University of China, and was presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Hamburg, which is held from the second to the sixth of this October, and was written about. Healthline website.
Dark tea consumption was associated with a 53% lower risk of developing pre-diabetes, and a 47% lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
“Pre-diabetes” is a condition that means that the patient’s blood sugar level is lower than when diagnosed with diabetes, but at the same time it is higher than the normal level. If not dealt with, a person will develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years or less.
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease caused by resistance to the hormone insulin, which is responsible for bringing glucose into cells, which leads to its accumulation and rise in the blood, causing major complications to the patient’s health.
The danger of “pre-diabetes” comes from the fact that it usually leads – if not treated appropriately – to type 2 diabetes, which exposes the person to complications such as blindness, amputation of limbs, heart disease, high cholesterol, and stroke.
Excretion of glucose in urine
Researchers suggest that drinking dark tea increases urinary glucose excretion and improves insulin resistance.
Experts say that drinking dark tea is a good way to manage blood sugar, so you should consider adding it to your general diet.
The study included 1,923 adults. 436 of the participants had diabetes, 352 had prediabetes, and 1,135 had normal blood glucose levels.
The group included non-habitual tea drinkers and those with a history of drinking only one type of tea.
The researchers examined the relationship between the frequency and type of tea consumption and urinary glucose excretion, insulin resistance, and blood sugar status.
“Our findings suggest protective effects of habitual tea drinking on blood sugar management by increasing urinary glucose excretion, improving insulin resistance, and thus better blood sugar control,” said Associate Professor Tongzhi Wu, co-lead author. These benefits were most apparent among daily dark tea drinkers.
For her part, nutrition expert Natalie Burrows expressed her admiration for the results, and said, “I am not very surprised by the results because we know how rich tea leaves are in antioxidants and how these antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds can support the health of blood vessels and inflammation.”
She adds that tea leaves have been proven to contain beneficial compounds that benefit the body in several ways.
“It has been proven that catechins, a polyphenol (also known as an antioxidant) found in tea, are responsible for regulating insulin, blood sugar, and energy metabolism by managing signaling pathways,” Burroughs continues.
The study indicates that drinking dark tea may contribute to reducing the risk of diabetes for two reasons:
First, it improves insulin resistance, which means the ability to better control blood sugar. Second, it contributes to increased urinary glucose excretion, which means there is less blood sugar that can actually be controlled.
What is dark tea?
It’s important to remember that the study is looking at the effects of black tea specifically. It is a type of fully oxidized tea, and should not be confused with green tea.
Dark tea has undergone microbial fermentation, and is referred to as dark because the leaves oxidize and change color, somewhat similar to the rusting process with iron.
One common type of dark tea is Pu-erh tea from China.
Explaining the differences between dark tea and other common teas, Burroughs says that black tea is highly oxidized, while green tea is not oxidized.
“The addition of fermentation may play an important role in the effect of dark tea on blood sugar regulation,” she explains.
2023-10-05 16:19:17
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