Ingredient in Grapefruit May Manage Type 2 Diabetes as Well as Two Current Drugs

Teresa Neumann : Aug 30, 2010
Staff - The Daily Mail

"It is a fascinating find. The results are similar to those induced by long periods of fasting."

(Israel)—A new study by Yaakov Nahmias from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has found that eating grapefruit could help treat diabetes. As reported in The Daily Mail, naringenin, an antioxidant which gives grapefruit its bitter taste, makes the liver burn fat instead of storing it and can do the same job as two separate drugs currently used to manage Type 2 diabetes.

Scientists were quoted as saying the effect of naringenin mimics the action of Fenofibrate and Rosiglitazone, two lipid-lowering drugs which are used to help control Type-2 diabetes.

Nahmias said naringenin as a treatment for diabetes was "remarkable," and Physorg.com quoted him as saying, "It is a fascinating find. The results are similar to those induced by long periods of fasting."

But Dr.Iain Frame of Diabetes UK adds a cautionary note. "This is a step forward in this research area," he said, "but we shouldn't get carried away that eating large amounts of grapefruit will be a magic bullet—it won't. 'We will watch developments with interest to see if the early promise in the laboratory delivers any benefits to people with Type 2 diabetes."