With diseases like diabetes already at high levels and seemingly on the march, there is much interest in natural foods that could lower blood sugar.
Chicory root, often consumed as a tea or in place of coffee, has been rising to the forefront of many people’s minds.
Does chicory root offer any potential benefit to those looking to lower blood sugar?
A study out of Japan sought to discover whether or not it has that potential, and there may be some useful information for us.
Published in the January 2015 issue of the Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, the researchers tested chicory root extract over four weeks in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
They observed that the group of participants who consumed the chicory root extract experienced a significant decrease of hemoglobin a1c, HbA1c, or hemoglobin with glucose attached.
So, consuming chicory root extract lowers blood glucose, right?
Maybe.
One other result they observed was that the chicory root group also experienced weight loss and a reduction in body fat and BMI. So, the question is, was there a reduction in HbA1c directly because of the chicory root, a a result of any associated weight loss, or something else altogether?
Further studies are needed to replicate the results and determine what factors, if any, might be at play.
Additionally, further studies can help us identify the most and least ideal forms of chicory root consumption. For example, if the extract is shown to be beneficial, what about the tea? If other forms are effective, how much is necessary to see an impact? And is there an upper limit that could be dangerous?
But, for the time being, this at least gives us some hope that this is something you can discuss with your doctor to see if it can or should be part of your plan to deal with blood sugar issues.
Reference: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2225411014000303?via%3Dihub
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