Onion extract could help high blood sugar

A supplement made from the extracts of onion bulb was shown to lower blood glucose levels in diabetic rats when taken with metformin – a common diabetes drug – according to a recent study.

Researchers gave three groups of diabetic rats varying doses of onion extract to test how the supplement would enhance metformin's effects. They also monitored control groups who took metformin and no onion extract or who took neither metformin nor onion extract.

Blood sugar reduction, cholesterol improvements

The onion supplement reduced fasting blood sugar levels in diabetic rats by up to 50 percent from baseline levels, and it also lowered total cholesterol, an effect that was most pronounced in rats taking the highest doses of the supplement (400 or 600 milligrams per kilograms of body weight daily).

One interesting finding from the study was that onion extract was also linked to an increase in weight for the non-diabetic rats, but not for the diabetic rats.

While researchers aren't sure of the exact mechanism that causes onion extract to influence blood sugar, they are hopeful that it might one day have a place in diabetes treatment.

"Onion is cheap and available and has been used as a nutritional supplement," said lead investigator Anthony Ojieh, MBBS (MD), MSc, from Delta State University in Abraka, Nigeria. "It has the potential for use in treating patients with diabetes."

Source: EurekAlert!