Oyster mushrooms may be beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes, according to researchers in Asia.
Medical experts from the Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation for Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders(BIRDEM), in Dhaka, found that the plant helps lower blood sugar levels and cholesterol in type 2 diabetes patients.
For their clinical study, the researchers put 89 middle-aged men and women on a special diet plan that involved eating oyster mushrooms for one week followed by a seven day break and then a further week of mushroom dietary intervention.
During the first seven days, they noted significant drops in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, serum glucose, total cholesterol and triglycerides .
Levels increased over the following week before falling again in the second week of oyster mushroom consumption.
The researchers concluded that oyster mushrooms “significantly reduced blood glucose, blood pressure, triglycerides and cholesterol of diabetic subjects without any deleterious effect on liver and kidney function”.
Found in most supermarkets, oyster mushrooms have a naturally occurring statin called lovastati, which explains its cholesterol-lowering effect. However, the mechanisms behind the plant’s hypoglycemic effect are not fully understood.
The study was published in the peer-reviewed Mymensingh Medical Journal.