A new review suggests that resveratrol a compound found in red grapes may be used as a dietary supplement to help people with diabetes mellitus.

The authors said that resveratrol supplementation has been found effective at treating type 2 diabetes mellitus although its efficacy in humans remains largely unknown.

The review of all major reports and clinical trials concluded that use of resveratrol can be beneficial to patients with diabetes mellitus.

Specifically, reviewers found resveratrol supplementation helped systolic blood pressure, hemoglobin A1c, and creatine.  And resveratrol is very safe to use.

But in in no way could resveratrol be used as a first line treatment for diabetes mellitus.  The compound was found to have no effect on fasting glucose, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, insulin, triglycerdies, LDL or HDL cholesterol. (David Liu)

Heather A. Hausenblas, Jennifer A. Schoulda and James M. Smoliga,  Resveratrol treatment as an adjunct to pharmacological management in type 2 diabetes mellitus—systematic review and meta-analysis, Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, Volume 59, Issue 1, pages 147–159, January 2015