Mexican student uses green plantain to fight diabetes

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A student from the University of the Valley of Mexico ( UVM ) created a powdered food to cook several foods such as tortillas , soup , or green plantain milkshakes with neem leaves , which can help to control glucose levels in diabetic patients .

This low-cost food could also be used to treat health issues related to glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, and obesity, according to UVM .

Ángel Esteban Torres Zapata

, who is working on his masters on Clinical Nutrition , was the one who created this product. He began his research six years ago, aiming to find a food that would help in the treatment of diabetes .

The nutritionist explains that when resistant starch is ingested, it can not be hydrolyzed by the digestive enzymes , it is almost intact once it reaches the intestine. Therefore, when it comes in contact with proteins and lipids , it “traps” them and doesn't allow the organism to metabolize them, that is, the glucose levels in blood won't increase and therefore, we can not secrete enough insulin to metabolize sugar .

Moreover, green plantain contains up to 78% of starch and neem leaves have glucose-lowering properties . Therefore, Torres Zapata decided to create a product using plantain , soy milk, neem leaves, and powdered vanilla.

The product was developed in three stages: first, he obtained the starch from the green plantain, then transform neem leaves into powder, and then the expert carried out a b romatological analysis , that is, a chemical evaluation of the matter that forms the ingredients.

The product obtained was a powder that can be used to cook different foods or as a medicine . The research revealed that this product contains 17% of protein, 14% of polyunsaturated fats , as well as minerals , which makes it a heterogeneous and energetic food.

Later, it was tested by healthy people and diabetics , and the expert obtained positive results in regards to glucose levels in blood and insulin production in both groups.

Nevertheless, the academic said that this product will be used to treat diabetes and other health issues such as glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, and obesity.