Type 2 Diabetes: Common curry ingredient ‘significantly’ lowers high blood sugar

A COMMON curry ingredient lowers high blood sugar in type 2 diabetics, a study has found.

In people with this condition, blood sugar levels become too as, as the the insulin the pancreas makes can’t work properly, or the pancreas can’t make enough insulin.

Experts suggest the rising rates is due to the obesity epidemic - a key cause of type 2 diabetes.

It can be treated with drugs to keep blood sugar properly balanced, and many people can reverse their condition by adopting a healthy lifestyle.

One study, published in the , found taking saffron regularly could help keep blood sugar lower in type 2 diabetics.

54 patients were divided into two groups to get either placebo or saffron extract capsules twice a day for eight weeks.

Most markers were the same for both groups but fasting blood sugar levels - blood sugar levels after overnight fast - overnight "significantly" decreased within eight weeks in the saffron group.

The researchers said: "Saffron hydroalcoholic extract may improve blood glucose control by reducing FBS [fasting blood sugar] in T2D [type 2 diabetes] patients.

"However, saffron extract has no significant effect on other aspects of diabetic control in diabetic patients."

The serious condition, driven by soaring obesity levels,, heart attacks and strokes among other complications.

Type 2 diabetes is the more common form of the disease - accounting for between 85 and 95 per cent of all cases, according to .

A further 2.1 million people have a blood sugar level that is higher than normal, but not bad enough to be diagnosed with diabetes, called prediabetes or borderline diabetes.

It is different to type 1, where a person’s pancreas produces no insulin.

Typically, people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes from the age of 40, but there are some exceptions.

In people from southern Asia the disease can appear as early as 25.

And the condition is becoming more prevalent in children and teenagers of all ethnicities.

housands of children and young adults under the age of 25 have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in England and Wales in recent years.

The Obesity Health Alliance said it was "hugely concerning" to see so many young people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.