Health foods against diabetes

Currently, over 385 million people worldwide suffer from type 2 diabetes, a disease that is now considered the modern epidemic. It comes as a consequence of metabolic dysfunction due to unhealthy lifestyle choices, poor nutrition and obesity. As a result, interventions are urgently required to alter the way our bodies control satiety, body weight and composition.

With EU funding, the LUPIN-CHALLENGE project proposes to develop dietary recommendations based on the NLL grain. NLL has a high protein and dietary fibre content and is thus considered a health food, helping to reduce blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Foods enriched in lupin grain should also help to control satiety while providing significant energy intake. Since it is low in fat and starch, NLL has a low glycaemic index and could be used as a natural anti-diabetic drug.

The scope of the project is to identify which NLL proteins are responsible for these effects. For this purpose, they plan to obtain lupin plants mutant for certain proteins, and identify which promote increasing insulin sensitivity and reduced appetite in mice. In parallel with establishing RNA interference technology to reduce expression of specific lupin proteins, scientists have developed techniques for obtaining their recombinant form. Crystallisation studies are also underway to obtain structural and functional information.

These recombinant proteins have been fed into mice and the glucose levels compared with animals that have been administered insulin. However, as with many legumes, their seed proteins are associated with strong allergic reactions. This necessitates further optimisation for these products to be suitable for human use.

An interesting part of the project entails the elucidation of lupin protein interaction with human insulin. Researchers have identified which proteins interact in vitro with insulin, a phenomenon that could be responsible for the observed physiological effects and possible increase of insulin sensitivity.

Overall, the LUPIN-CHALLENGE study provides fundamental knowledge on the medical benefits of NLL ingredients against type 2 diabetes. Health foods containing NLL constituents are an easy way to initiate people into a healthier lifestyle.