When it comes to health there are countless old wives tales that when taken seriously can cause more harm than good. Now here’s the thing, mouse poop and red wine may hold the key to getting the upper hand in terms of controlling diabetes. Sure it is a disgusting combo and sounds more like an urban myth than fact, but researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada believe that the effects of a compound found in red wine, resveratrol, may be more effective at treating diabetes and controlling blood sugar than traditional medicines.
The Alberta researchers recently published a study published the journal Diabetes, that studied the impact of resveratrol on the bacteria found in the guts of obese mice.
The study noted how obese mice saw their glucose tolerance improve after consuming resveratrol over six weeks. The science, argue researchers is that the compound changed the makeup of the bacteria in the rodents’ intestines.
The researchers then initiated a follow-up experiment where healthy mice were fed resveratrol for eight weeks. They gathered all the fecal waste from those mice and transplanted it into obese mice suffering from insulin resistance. According to the researchers, the results surpassed expectations as the obese mice responded even better to the fecal medicine than when they were fed resveratrol in a traditional way.
“What we found, surprisingly, in a very short period of time, is that the obese mice were completely cured of any symptoms of diabetes,” Jason Dyck, Canada’s Research Chair in molecular medicine and one of the study’s authors claimed.
Dyck believes the change in glucose tolerance was the result of a previously unknown metabolite found the fecal matter.
“I believe that there’s something else in the mix that’s causing this improvement in glucose homeostasis in obese mice,” he insisted. “We’re trying to isolate this unknown compound, with the hopes of using it as a potential treatment for impaired glucose homeostasis in obesity.”
Dyck believes the research could soon spawn human tests.
“Whether or not this is the wave of the future, we’re not sure yet, but it certainly is an exciting time.”
But Dyck and his team are confident that their findings could open the door to a slew of new therapies that will lead to a brighter future for Type 2 diabetics.
