Herbal Artichoke, the Anti Hyperglycemia Natural Remedy, According to Scientists

By Kyle J. Norton

Artichoke may process a substantial and profound effect in managing the levels of post-prandial glycemia in diabetics, according to studies.

Hyperglycemia is a condition of abnormally high levels of glucose in the bloodstream.


Postprandial blood glucose is the levels taken after 2 hours of a meal, generally at the approximate peak value in patients with diabetes.

Management of postprandial blood glucose has become an important feature for diabetics against the risk of microvascular (retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy) and cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Diabetes is a medical and chronic disease characterized by insufficient insulin entering the bloodstream to regulate the glucose as a result of the cells in pancreas died off or receptor sites clogged up by fat and cholesterol. 

Insulin resistance is a hallmark of diabetes. The exact causes of insulin resistance are unknown. Researchers do not know why people with the same health conditions in the same family, some are susceptible to the onset of diabetes while others do not.

However, some researchers suggested that unhealthy diet with high saturated and trans fat, red meat and processed foods is one of the major risk factors associated with the onset of the disease in the Western world compared to a traditional diet.

In other words, if you follow the Western diet, you are at an increased risk of diabetes development.

Dr. David Hefner in the concern of the risk of diabetes in patients who are fans of the Western diet wrote, "The typical Western diet-red meat, high-fat dairy products, refined grains and desserts-may increase your chances for Type 2 diabetes" and  "That's what researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have found and reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine."

The doctor continued, "The news isn't particularly shocking but offers a new view on the health risks of a typical Western diet as a whole, rather than simply attacking elements within the diet such as fatty foods".

The finding argued the risk of diabetes is reduced if you change your Western diet pattern to traditional diet with high fruits and vegetables and whole grain with a limited intake of saturated and trans fat, processed foods and red meat.

Artichoke is a perennial thistle of Cynara cardunculus species of the Cynara genus, belonging to the family Carduoideae native to Southern Europe around the Mediterranean.

The herbal plant has been used in traditional medicine as a liver protective and detoxified agent, and for the treatment of digestive disorders, abdominal pain gas and bloating, etc.

With an aim to find a natural ingredient doe the treatment of hyperglycemia with no side effect, researchers examined the traditional use of artichoke (Cynara scolymus L., Asteraceae family) preparations for lowering post-prandial glycemia.

The study included non-selected Wistar and genetically obese Zucker rats treated acutely with a purified extract of Cynara scolymus flowering heads (500-1500 mg/kg by gavage) immediately prior to 1 h access to a fixed amount of food.

Any parts of Cynara scolymus flowering head extract with lack of any fiber content have excluded.

According to the results taking at 60, 120 and 360 min after food presentation, intake of Cynara scolymus flowering head extract showed a significant decrease of post-prandial glycemia in both rat groups.

The exclusion of the parts of Cynara scolymus flowering head extract with lack of any fiber content have excluded in the study suggested that the preparation induced hyperglycemic effect without involving the fiber which has been found to process a strong impact in the inhibitory activity.

Dr. Fantini N, the lead scientist wrote in the final report, "The results obtained constitute the first evidence of a hypoglycemic effect of an artichoke preparation in laboratory rodents and confirm previous observations made in humans".

In order to reveal more information of artichoke inhibited the hyperglycemic property, researchers evaluated the extract from Phaseolus vulgaris and Cynara scolymus and their combination on food intake and glycemia in rats.

The combination produced comparable reductions in intake of regular food and chocolate-flavored beverage, compared to low and ineffective to the single use of either extract.

Furthermore, P. vulgaris and C. scolymus extracts additively contributed to the reducing effect of the combination on the glycemic rise.

These results of the mixture of P. vulgaris and C. scolymus extracts was attributed to the efficacy of the anorectic effect of the P. vulgaris extract with the hypoglycemic effect of both extracts.

The findings strongly suggested that artichoke may play an important role in stimulating the mixture antihyperglycemic activity.

Based on the results, researchers wrote, after taking into account co and confounders, "These data support the recent clinical use of the combination of P. vulgaris and C. scolymus extracts in the control of appetite, food intake, and postprandial glycemia and represent a successful example of translational research in the nutraceutical field".

Taken altogether, artichoke used alone or combined with other herbal medicine may be considered a functional remedy for the prevention and treatment of hyperglycemia, pending to the confirmation of larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Evidence of glycemia-lowering effect by a Cynara scolymus L. extract in normal and obese rats by Fantini N1, Colombo G, Giori A, Riva A, Morazzoni P, Bombardelli E, Carai MA. (PubMed)
(2) Reducing effect of a combination of Phaseolus vulgaris and Cynara scolymusextracts on food intake and glycemia in rats by Loi B1, Fantini N, Colombo G, Gessa GL, Riva A, Bombardelli E, Morazzoni P, Carai MA. (PubMed)
(3) Western Diet Linked to Type 2 Diabetes by David Hefner. (PMC)