Polyphenols-Rich Natural Products for Treatment of Diabetes

Currently, experimental and clinical evidences showed that polyphenols-rich natural products, like nutraceuticals and food supplements, may offer unique treatment modalities in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), due to their biological properties. Natural products modulate the carbohydrate metabolism by various mechanisms, such as restoring beta-cells integrity and physiology, enhancing insulin releasing activity, and the glucose using. Sea buckthorn berries, red grapes, bilberries, chokeberries and popular drinks like cocoa, coffee and green tea are all rich in polyphenols and may decrease the insulin response, offerin g a natural alternative of treatment in diabetes. Therefore, researches are now focused on potential efficacies of different types of polyphenols, including flavonoids, phenolic acids, lignans, anthocyans and stilbenes. Animal and human studies showed that polyphenols modulate carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, decrease glycemia and insulin resistance, increase lipid metabolism and optimize oxidative stress and inflammatory processes. It is important to understand the proper dose and duration of supplementation with polyphenols-rich extracts in order to guide effective therapeutic interventions in diabetic patients.