Blocking MG improved health in overweight and obese people and will likely help patients with diabetes and high risk of cardiovascular disease too.
Do you like grapes? How about oranges? Well, if you enjoy both, you’re absolutely going to love grape orange tablets!
When people who were overweight took the capsule that contains grape and orange compounds for eight weeks saw improvements in blood sugar levels and artery function, researchers report.
“This is an incredibly exciting development and could have a massive impact on our ability to treat these diseases,” Paul Thornalley, a biology professor at the University of Warwick Medical School noted. “As well as helping to treat diabetes and heart disease, it could defuse the obesity time bomb.”
The scientists assert that the two compounds are not naturally found in the same fruit and the quantities required cannot be obtained by simply eating more fruit. The compounds include trans-resveratrol, found in red grapes and hesperetin, a substance in oranges.
The compounds trigger a spike in a protein called glyoxalase 1 (Glo1) which neutralizes a damaging sugar-derived compound called methylglyoxal (MG).
Soaring amounts of MG can cause insulin resistance leading to type 2 diabetes, damages blood vessels, impaired cholesterol management and an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Blocking MG improved health in overweight and obese people and will likely help patients with diabetes and high risk of cardiovascular disease too.
During a trial of the grape orange compound, 32 overweight and obese people between the ages of 18 and 80 with BMIs between 25 and 40, consumed one tablet a day for eight weeks and were instructed neither to alter their usual diet nor change how much physical activity they were getting.
Researchers determined that subjects who had BMIs of over 27.5 began to have improved blood sugar levels and improved blood flow.
Professor Thornalley said: “Obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease are at epidemic levels in Westernised countries. Glo1 deficiency has been identified as a driver of health problems in obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.”
The research was published in the journal Diabetes and has received funding from the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.
