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How does ginger protect against diabetes?
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Ginger, one of the most common spices and at the same time an ancient remedy in the countries of the Asian continent, helps control high blood sugar levels, which are fraught with complications in diabetics with a long history of the disease. This was stated by scientists from the University of Sydney, writes Medical Xpress.
According to the head of the study, professor of pharmaceutical chemistry Basil Roufogalis, Buderim ginger root extracts were able to increase the absorption of glucose by muscle cells regardless of insulin. Gingerols, the main phenolic components of ginger rhizome, play an important role in this process. The specialist and his colleagues studied gingerols-6 and gingerols-8 and found that it was all about their ability to increase the distribution surface of the GLUT4 protein. When the protein is localized on the surface of muscle cells, glucose easily penetrates them.
B. Roufogalis notes that in patients with type 2 diabetes, the ability of skeletal muscles to absorb glucose is significantly reduced due to impaired insulin signaling and GLUT4 inefficiency. "We hope that the promising results of the study will soon be studied in clinical trials on humans," the authors of the work comment.
Previously, researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School discovered that ginger root can fight inflammation in the colon, making it a good preventative measure against colon cancer.
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