Black tea helps fight diabetes

By David Liu (davidl@foodconsumer.org) 

Chinese researchers published a study report in the Journal of Food Science suggesting that black tea may be used to control diabetes.

Haixia Chen and colleagues from Tianjin Key Laboratory in China found that polysaccharides in black tea had the most glucose-inhibiting properties compared to green and oolong teas.

The black tea polysaccharides are also found to have the highest scavenging effect against free radicals, which are believed to lead to cancer and other illnesses.

The study was meant to examine the therapeutically effect of the polysaccharides of green, oolong and black teas on diabetes.

"Many efforts have been made to search for effective glucose inhibitors from natural materials," says lead researcher Haixia Chen. "There is a potential for exploitation of black tea polysaccharide in managing diabetes."

Tahrani AA and colleagues in Birmingham Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham, UK said in the March 2009 issue of Advances in Therapy that the conventional diabetes drugs such as metformin, sulfonylureas, glitazones, and insulin have proved unsatisfactory, 

The newly approved diabetes drug known as onglyza can result in side effects like side effects including upper respiratory tract infection, urinary tract infection, headache, and allergic-like reactions such as rash and hives, the Food and Drug Administration said in a press release.

Supplements like chromium, magnesium and vanadium may be used to improve diabetes control. Foods including brewer's yeast, buckwheat, broccoli and other related greens, okra, peas, fenugreek seeds and sage may also help, according to webmd.com.