Konjac is a tuberous plant grown throughout many countries in Asia and used worldwide for food products, including the vegetarian versions of meat products like shrimp and beef. The konjac's roots also hold glucomannan, a highly fibrous substance that may help treat diabetes. It's shown tremendous promise in improving blood sugar, and it can help with the heart-related complications of diabetes.
Konjac
Pronounced like "cone-yuk," konjac is a plant grown widely in Japan, China and much of Southeast Asia. It's more formally called Amorphallus kojac and because of its distinctive look also goes by the names "Devil's Tongue" and "Voodoo Lily." A tuber, food manufacturers use the plant to make several foods, such as noodles and tofu, and cooking aids like gelling agents and thickeners.
Konjac and Diabetes
Konjac is of interest to diabetics because from its roots derive a high-fiber substance called glucomannan, which can help to control blood sugar. For example, in a 1999 study published in "Diabetes Care" comparing a diabetic sample consuming konjac-mannan tea biscuits with a control group eating wheat bran fiber biscuits, the konjac group experienced significant improvements in their glucose and insulin readings. An earlier study published in "Biomedical and Environmental Sciences" demonstrated that konjac might be especially useful to diabetics with very high fasting blood glucose and high glucose levels following a meal. In that study, patients consumed konjac foods for 65 days. Those whose initial fasting glucose and postprandial was greater than 200 mg/dL decreased by an average of 51.8 percent and 84.6 percent, respectively. Those with lower initial readings also decreased substantially, but not by such wide margins.
Related Benefits of Konjac
As other fibers do, konjac-derived glucomannan is effective for improving your cholesterol profile, reports NYU's Langone Medical Center. It reduces the "bad" form and increases the "good" form of cholesterol. Also of interest to diabetics is the effectiveness glucomannan has demonstrated in reducing blood pressure. The American Diabetes Association reports that more than two-thirds of people with diabetes are also hypertensive. Moreover, given that 80 percent of type 2 diabetics are also overweight, konjac's fiber-filled glucomannan can help with weight control. It swells in the stomach and may make you feel full.
Dosage and Safety Concerns
In studies, reports the Langone Medical Center, participants' doses ranged from 3 to 5 g daily. That amount was typically divided three times and taken before meals. As a food product, konjac has been used widely with a long history of safety. As a dietary supplement, some safety concerns have been reported with glucomannan pills. It's a self-expanding fiber, and when taken in tablet form some people have experienced choking before the tablets reached the stomach. That may be due to not drinking enough water to pass it down. Capsules don't pose the same risk because of the casing.
References
- Glucomannan.com: What is Glucomannan?
- University of Connecticut Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Plant Growth Facilities: Amorphophallus Konjac
- NYU Langone Medical Center: Glucomannan
- "Diabetes Care"; Konjac-Mannan (Glucomannan) I m p roves Glycemia and Other Associated Risk Factors for C o ro n a ry Heart Disease in Type 2 Diabetes; Vladimir Vuksan et al.; June 1999
- "Biomedical and Environmental Sciences"; Effect of Konjac Food on Blood Glucose Level in Patients with Diabetes; C.Y. Huang et al.; June 1990
- National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse; Diabetes Overview; November 2008
