Diabetes Update - Green tea extract and zinc help manage lipids in type 2 diabetes

Green tea extract

Earlier studies revealed green tea extract improved glucose levels in type 2 diabetes, but results in diabetes lipid studies have been mixed. In this review of seven placebo-controlled trials, lasting four to 16 weeks, doctors evaluated the results among 512 participants aged 50 to 65, with type 2 diabetes and body mass index scores from 24 to 30.4. Doses of green tea extract ranged from 400 mg to 10,000 mg per day.

In studies lasting at least eight weeks, with green tea extract doses of at least 800 mg per day, triglyceride and total cholesterol levels declined significantly. In studies lasting longer than eight weeks, green tea extract effectively reduced triglycerides and total cholesterol at doses lower than 800 mg of green tea extract per day.

Reference: Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome; Jul-Aug 2020; Vol. 14, No. 4, 293-301

Zinc

Zinc has many functions in the body, including efficiently metabolizing carbohydrates and fatty acids. In this review of nine placebo-controlled trials covering 424 participants with type 2 diabetes, zinc lowered triglycerides, total and LDL cholesterol, and increased HDL—the good cholesterol.

Overall, in studies of all lengths, zinc lowered triglycerides by an average of 3.58 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL), and 2.62 mg/dL for total cholesterol.

In studies lasting less than 12 weeks, zinc at doses less than 100 mg per day lowered total and LDL—the “bad” cholesterol, and in most study groups, increased levels of HDL, the “good” cholesterol.

Reference: Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases; 2020, Vol. 30, No. 8, 1260-71