Most of the pigments that fruits and vegetables have are called anthocyanins. A component of many foods, they are thought to have several beneficial effects, including being antioxidant and increasing the secretion of insulin. Thus, some scientists are starting to study the effects that anthocyanins may have on diabetics, but more research needs to be done.
What Are Anthocyanins?
Anthocyanins are responsible for the red, purple and blue colors of 50 percent of the flowers, 69 percent of the fruits and 80 percent of the leaves that have pigments, according to Dilip Ghosh, Ph.D. in the June 2007 issue of "Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition." They are in jams, wines, fruit juices, sweet potatoes, radishes, cherries, berries, red onions, grapes, cabbages and apples. Scientists have determined that anthocyanins have many beneficial qualities, including being anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-viral, anti-microbial, anti-carcinogenic and antioxidant.
Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetes mellitus is the number six cause of death, reports Belinda Vail, M.D., Vice Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in "Current Diagnosis & Treatment in Family Medicine." It causes birth abnormalities in the children of diabetic mothers, leg and foot amputations; blindness, cardiovascular problems and kidney failure. The beta cells of the pancreas normally secrete insulin to prevent glucose levels in the bloodstream from rising too high. In diabetes mellitus type 1, the beta cells do not function, while the cells are resistant to insulin in type 2.
Anthocyanins and Diabetes Mellitus
In the June 2007 article in the "Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition," Dilip Ghosh, Ph.D. writes about the effect that anthocyanins have on diabetes mellitus. Lack of exercise and obesity increase the resistance of the cells to insulin, but consuming food that is low in fat and high in antioxidants may lower obesity as well as insulin resistance. Anthocyanins found in fruits and vegetables are high in antioxidants. In addition, the he wrote that the anthocyanins in grapes increase the secretion of insulin.
Bilberry and Diabetes Mellitus
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, although bilberries have anthocyanins, there have not been many studies done on its effects and most of the research was performed on animals or in test tubes. And while the leaves of the bilberry fruit have been used by diabetics to manage their blood glucose levels, no studies involving humans have been done. As a result, the physicians at the University of Maryland Medical Center do not recommend diabetics use bilberry to control their blood glucose.
References
- Asia Pacific Journal of Clin Nutrition: Anthocyanins & anthocyanin-rich extracts - role in diabetes
- "Current Diagnosis & Treatment in Family Medicine"; Jeannette South-Paul, M.D., Samuel Matheny, M.D., Evelyn Lewis, M.D.; 2008
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Bilberry
