Compounds in Black Tea Protective Against Diabetes

Amy Cameron, from the University of Dundee (Scotland), and colleagues have discovered that black tea mimics insulin and may help prevent Type 2 diabetes. Specifically, two compounds present in black tea, theaflavins and thearubigins, were found to affect insulin-like signaling of a transcription factor that regulates aging in response to dietary factors. The team is hopeful that their findings lead to the future identification of dietary interventions to treat or defer Type 2 diabetes.

In Europe, 19 million people -- 4% of the total population -- has Type 2 diabetes. The condition affects more than 20 million people, or 7% of the total population, in the United States. Tea is second only to water as the most popular drink around the world. This study offers a unique research pathway to potentially utilize the ubiquity of tea to beneficially impact the onset of diabetes."