Scientists have found new compounds in coffee that powerfully block sugar absorption. Learn how this discovery could make coffee a key functional food for blood sugar control.
Scientists have found several natural substances in coffee that might help manage blood sugar levels. Some of these substances worked better in lab tests than a commonly used diabetes medication. These results suggest that coffee could play a more significant role as a functional food, especially for people with type 2 diabetes.
These compounds work by stopping an enzyme named alpha-glucosidase. This enzyme helps break down carbohydrates into sugars while you're digesting food. When this enzyme is slowed, sugar moves into the bloodstream more slowly, which can help avoid sudden spikes in blood glucose.
The research was published in the journal Beverage Plant Research.
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Functional Foods
Foods that offer health benefits in addition to basic nutrition are called functional foods. Many of these foods contain natural elements that can help the body in different ways, such as reducing inflammation, protecting brain cells, or supporting blood sugar control. Finding these helpful molecules is not easy, especially in foods like coffee, which contains hundreds of overlapping chemicals created during the roasting process.
In this study, a team from the Kunming Institute of Botany in China looked at roasted Arabica coffee beans. They used a step-by-step process to separate and test various groups of compounds, paying special attention to those that had the strongest effect on blocking the enzyme. This method allowed them to identify both common substances and others that were present in very small amounts.
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New Compounds Found
After thorough analysis, the scientists found three entirely new compounds, which they named caffaldehydes A, B, and C. While their chemical structures were slightly different, all three effectively blocked the target enzyme. In fact, they were more effective in lab tests than acarbose, a drug often used to slow the digestion of carbohydrates.
The team then used another advanced technique to search for rarer compounds that were hard to detect with regular tools. This led to the discovery of three more related molecules, which had not been reported before.
The results open the possibility of creating coffee-based products that can support healthy blood sugar control. They also suggest that the same fast and effective approach could be used to explore other foods for potential health benefits. Future studies will need to examine how these compounds behave in the body and confirm that they are safe and effective for long-term use.
