Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Kundru can lower blood sugar: Study

New Delhi: This humble vegetable, so far met at the dining table with indifference, may now find new respect, even among picky palates. That's because new research shows that consuming 50 grams of kundru daily can help keep your blood sugar under check.

A three-month study conducted by doctors at the Institute of Population Health and Clinical Research, Bangalore, has found that the common kundru, which looks like a poor cousin of the tasty gourd parwal and has no particular gastronomic appeal, can reduce blood sugar levels in patients with mild diabetes.

The team found that sugar levels in new diabetics, with fasting blood sugar counts below 200, can drop by 16% by simply slurping the curried vegetable, known to botanists as Coccinia indica. It also reduced postprandial blood glucose (sugar count after a meal) by 18%.

The findings have been reported in the latest issue of the international journal Diabetes Care. ''We fed 30 early diabetics a daily capsule of one gram of frozen, dried powder of kundru, that is equivalent to 15 grams of the vegetable, for three months and found it to greatly reduce blood sugar. It also reduced glycosylated haemoglobin by 0.4%, which is significant,'' said Dr Ganapathi Bantwal, associate professor of endocrinology at St John's Medical College Hospital, Bangalore. However, doctors say when cooked and consumed, the dose has to be higher than that of the extract — typically about 50 grams.

Kundru used in many ayurvedic cures

New Delhi: A study conducted at the Institute of Population Health and Clinical Research, Bangalore, has found that kundru can reduce blood sugar levels in diabetics.

''For those with blood sugar count during fasting higher than 200, kundru could be a supplement along with blood sugar reducing tablets,'' Dr Bantwal said. Although modern science has just stumbled on this culinary oddity, ancient sages pounding herbs into ayurvedic cures have known of kundru's powers. It has been used to treat ''sugar urine" too. However, studies of its efficacy on blood glucose levels of type 2 diabetic patients requiring only dietary or lifestyle modifications were lacking. This triggered the research.

The study entailed giving a control group the kundru powder as well as observing a similar group given placebos. Sixty type 2 diabetics (aged 35-60) were recruited from St John's Medical College Hospital. The subjects were randomly assigned into the placebo or experimental group.

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