Cherries may offer sweet success in the fight against diabetes

• Perhaps George Washington wouldn't have chopped down his father's cherry tree if he knew what chemists now know.
• They have identified a group of naturally occurring chemicals abundant in cherries that could help lower blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
• In early laboratory studies using animal pancreatic cells, the chemicals, called anthocyanins, increased insulin production by 50 percent, according to a peer-reviewed study scheduled to appear in the Jan. 5 issue of the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
• Anthocyanins are a class of plant pigments responsible for the color of many fruits, including cherries.
• They also are potent antioxidants, highly active chemicals that have been increasingly associated with a variety of health benefits, including protection against heart disease and cancer.
• "It is possible that consumption of cherries and other fruits containing these compounds [anthocyanins] could have a significant impact on insulin levels in humans," says study leader Muralee Nair, Ph.D., a natural products chemist at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
• Until human studies are done on cherry anthocyanins, those with diabetes should continue following their doctor's treatment recommendations, including any medicine prescribed, and monitor their insulin carefully, the researcher says.
• The compounds show promise for both the prevention of type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes, the most common type, and for helping control glucose levels in those who already have diabetes, he adds.
• While fresh cherries and fruits containing these anthocyanins are readily available, medicinal products may be the most efficient way to provide the beneficial compounds, according to Nair.
• Scientists in Nair's laboratory have even developed a unique process, patented by the university, for removing sugar from fruit extracts that contain anthocyanins.
• The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization, chartered by the U.S. Congress, with a multidisciplinary membership of more than 159,000 chemists and chemical engineers.