BLACK TEA MAY FIGHT DIABETES

Black Tea May Fight Diabetes
Black tea was hitherto known for its antioxidant properties, stimulating the immune system or more recently as an anti-hypertensive, another property may well be added to the list. Black tea for use in the management of diabetes in a Chinese study published in the Journal of Food Science (reference below).

After water tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world. Researchers at the Chinese Tianjin Key Laboratory have analyzed the level of polysaccharides in green tea, oolong and black to determine if they could be used to treat diabetes. Polysaccharides are carbohydrates including starch and cellulose that could help diabetics because it delays the absorption of glucose.

Researchers found that among the three types of tea, the polysaccharide content in black tea had the inhibitory properties of glucose strongest. The researchers also found that the polysaccharide content in black tea had the highest property capital of free radicals, these compounds play a role in the development of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and certain cancers.

"Great efforts are made to the search for effective inhibitors of glucose derived from natural products,

Haixia Chen explained, the researcher who led the study.

"There is a possibility of using polysaccharides of black tea in the management of diabetes.

says.
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Reference:
Item: Physicochemical Properties and Antioxidant Capacity of 3 Polysaccharides from Green Tea, Oolong Tea and Black Tea
Authors: Haixia Chen, Zhishuang Qu, Lingling Fu, Peng Dong and Zhang Xin
Journal Publication: Journal of Food Science
DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2009.01231.x
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Source: Science Daily News