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mcsblues
10-30-2006, 09:51 PM
You may have read or seen stories about this (the 'miracle' is that after eating one of the berries just about anything tastes sweet for an hour or so).

Well this study suggests benefits re insulin resistance as well;

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112773497/ABSTRACT

In an attempt to probe a new target to improve insulin resistance, miracle fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) was employed to investigate the effect on insulin resistance induced by fructose-rich chow in rats. Single oral administration of the powder of this miracle fruit decreased the plasma glucose in a dose-dependent manner for 150 min in rats fed fructose-rich chow for 4 weeks. Insulin action on the glucose disposal rate was measured using the glucose-insulin index, the value of the areas under the curve of glucose and insulin during the intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test. Oral administration of miracle fruit (0.2 mg/kg) to fructose-rich chow fed rats, three times daily for 3 days, reversed the raised value of the glucose-insulin index, indicating that miracle fruit has the ability to improve insulin sensitivity. The plasma glucose lowering action of tolbutamide, induced by secretion of endogenous insulin, is widely used to characterize the formation of insulin resistance. The time for the loss of the plasma glucose lowering response to tolbutamide (10.0 mg/kg, i.p.) in fructose-rich chow fed rats was markedly delayed after treatment with miracle fruit compared with the vehicle-treated group. Thus providing supportive data that oral administration of miracle fruit could delay the development of insulin resistance in rats. Also, the in vivo insulin sensitivity was markedly raised by miracle fruit. In conclusion, the results suggest that miracle fruit may be used as an adjuvant for treating diabetic patients with insulin resistance because this fruit has the ability to improve insulin sensitivity.

Gabriel Guzman
10-31-2006, 07:50 AM
Seems to me that the treatment aims at the symptom, not the cause, which is what insulin sensitizers do in humans.

mcsblues
10-31-2006, 03:34 PM
Seems to me that the treatment aims at the symptom, not the cause, which is what insulin sensitizers do in humans.
Not sure I understand what you are getting at. Surely even for those of us not consuming a diet of fructose laden rat chow :eek: - which I imagine is designed to stimulate insulin resistance - any natural supplement which can be shown with further dests on humans to improve/restore insulin sensitivity would be a good thing? And not just for diabetic patients but for those of us who (prior to low carb) were on the way to becoming diabetics (ie highly insulin resistant).

Perhaps you are placing this supplement in the Metformin category? (ie you have to keep taking it to get the effect?) In that case I think I'd still grow the berries!

Panama
12-23-2006, 04:33 PM
You could make lemon aid without sugar!
Many attempts have been made to use the berries from this plant as a sweetener, with an idea of developing this for diabetics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetics). However, Miraculin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miraculin) was denied approval for being marketed by the Food and Drug Administration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_and_Drug_Administration) (FDA).
I wonder why?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_fruit