14 DAY TRIAL // Pumpkins could be more than Halloween bogies. It seems that they could also frighten the diabetes as chemicals encountered in pumpkin could potentially replace or at least drastically decrease the daily insulin injections, the lifelong nightmare of so many diabetics. And their number is of 230 million, almost 6 % of the world's adult population.
A new research led by Tao Xia of the East China Normal University showed that pumpkin extract boosts regeneration of harmed pancreatic cells in diabetic rats, increasing the number of insulin-producing beta cells and subsequently the insulin level in the blood. The researchers discovered that diabetic rats fed with the extract had just 5% less plasma insulin and 8% fewer insulin-positive (beta) cells than healthy rats.
"Pumpkin extract is potentially a very good product for pre-diabetic persons, as well as those who have already developed diabetes. Although insulin injections will probably always be necessary for these patients, pumpkin extract could drastically reduce the amount of insulin they need to take," said Xia.
"This research is very exciting? the main finding is that feeding pumpkin extract prevents the progressive destruction of pancreatic beta-cells? but it is impossible to say whether pumpkin extract would promote regeneration in humans. I think the exciting thing is that this may be a source of a medication that could be taken by mouth," said David Bender, sub-dean at the Royal Free and University College Medical School, London.
The beneficial effect of pumpkin is put on both antioxidants and D-chiro-inositol, a chemical involved in the insulin activity. As the insulin amounts grow, they favor the lowering of blood glucose levels, which decrease levels of oxidative radicals that harm beta-cell membranes, impeding further damage and permitting for some regeneration. Still, beta cells levels in the diabetic rats cannot reach the levels of the healthy individuals, as some of them are harmed beyond repair. The individuals employed in this study have type I diabetes (juvenile diabetes), linked to genes, not obesity, but the researchers think the pumpkin extract could also be active in type II diabetes (obesity-linked).