Food science: Indian herbs found to have profound protective effects against diabetes and Alzheimer’s

Daily OM: Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes have been linked to each other. When a person has diabetes, Alzheimer’s is more likely to occur too – most likely because of the insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and inflammation diabetes causes. Because of this, researchers at Yogi Vemana University in India aimed to develop natural powerful agents for dual therapy of both Alzheimer’s disease and Type 2 disease.

For the study, the researchers examined the phytochemical profiles and the effects of three Indian herbal plants Buchanania axillaris, Hemidesmus indicus, and Rhus mysorensis (locally known in India as Sara pappu, Suganda pala, and Sitha Sundari, respectively) on Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes.

Based on their analyses, the researchers found that the methanolic extracts of the three Indian herbal plants demonstrated strong inhibitory activities against acetylcholinesterase (a regulatory enzyme), butyrylcholinesterase (a co-regulator enzyme), alpha-glucosidase, and beta-glucosidase enzymes. These indicated that Buchanania axillaris, Hemidesmus indicus, and Rhus mysorensis have strong antidiabetic properties...read more>>>...