Pomegranate and diabetes
Hi, so I haven't posted in a while and since starting my second year at university studying Food With Nutrition I want to try and post more often!
Recently at uni we were set a piece of work where we've had to write an abstract for an article and the article I was assigned was about how the substances (or polyphenols) in pomegranate were linked to lowering blood glucose levels. Their study conducted research where 3 groups consumed a type of pomegranate substance (juice, supplement or acid solution equivalent to the acids in a pomegranate) after a small meal, this was only a piece of bread. The study didn't produce many significant findings in regards to the in-depth effect pomegranate could have on things like glucose transport but as an overall finding they did produce significant results in that the juice itself showed to have a positive effect in reducing blood glucose levels. I mean obviously there were flaws with this study, as there always is, but it made me think of it as an alternative way to aid those with diabetes in helping them control their blood sugar levels more naturally without large amounts of insulin injection (which can produce unpleasant problems in itself).
Moving onto something completely different, something that I found out this week surprised me. We are studying a lot about legislation at the moment, and how strict food labels are in what they must have on them. However something that is not so strict (at the moment) is that there is currently no legislation or legal definition for a product that claims to be vegetarian or vegan, it is up to the manufacturer's interpretation on what this means in regards to whether they put it on the label. I mean obviously it would not be allowed for them to claim a lamb curry as vegetarian but in regards to the finer details or processes the food has gone through in its manufacture, for instance fish bladders used in wine production, there is no legislation for what vegetarian or vegan standards mean for products. Being a vegetarian myself this shocked me! Private associations such as the Vegan and Vegetarian Society have their own rules and criteria for products, meaning a food with 'Vegetarian Society Approved' written on will be ensured to contain no meat or fish in the product or in the process of making the product, think I'll be looking out more for these labels!!
That is all for this week, see ya soon :)
Recently at uni we were set a piece of work where we've had to write an abstract for an article and the article I was assigned was about how the substances (or polyphenols) in pomegranate were linked to lowering blood glucose levels. Their study conducted research where 3 groups consumed a type of pomegranate substance (juice, supplement or acid solution equivalent to the acids in a pomegranate) after a small meal, this was only a piece of bread. The study didn't produce many significant findings in regards to the in-depth effect pomegranate could have on things like glucose transport but as an overall finding they did produce significant results in that the juice itself showed to have a positive effect in reducing blood glucose levels. I mean obviously there were flaws with this study, as there always is, but it made me think of it as an alternative way to aid those with diabetes in helping them control their blood sugar levels more naturally without large amounts of insulin injection (which can produce unpleasant problems in itself).
Moving onto something completely different, something that I found out this week surprised me. We are studying a lot about legislation at the moment, and how strict food labels are in what they must have on them. However something that is not so strict (at the moment) is that there is currently no legislation or legal definition for a product that claims to be vegetarian or vegan, it is up to the manufacturer's interpretation on what this means in regards to whether they put it on the label. I mean obviously it would not be allowed for them to claim a lamb curry as vegetarian but in regards to the finer details or processes the food has gone through in its manufacture, for instance fish bladders used in wine production, there is no legislation for what vegetarian or vegan standards mean for products. Being a vegetarian myself this shocked me! Private associations such as the Vegan and Vegetarian Society have their own rules and criteria for products, meaning a food with 'Vegetarian Society Approved' written on will be ensured to contain no meat or fish in the product or in the process of making the product, think I'll be looking out more for these labels!!
That is all for this week, see ya soon :)
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