A new study has shown that the main ingredient in tequila might help fight off obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
According to research results unveiled at last week's national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Dallas, agavins - a natural fructan in the agave plant - functions as a dietary fiber that doesn't cause a spike in blood glucose levels, LA Weekly reported.
In fact, the natural sweetener, which is effectively non-digestible, also can lower blood glucose levels - a boon for the nearly 26 million Americans and others around the world who live with Type 2 diabetes.
"We have found that since agavins reduce glucose levels and increase GLP-1, they also increase the amount of insulin," Dr. Mercedes G. Lopez wrote in the findings, in reference to a hormone that stirs up insulin creation. "Agavins are not expensive and they have no known side effects, except for those few people who cannot tolerate them."
For the study, researchers in Mexico administered normal food to test mice, with an additional dose of agavins to their water every day, then weighed the mice and monitored their glucose blood levels. The mice that drank agavins lost weight and watched their blood glucose levels steadily decrease.
Lopez, a researcher with the Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados, Biotechnology and Biochemistry Irapuato in Guanajuato, Mexico, also wrote in the report that agavins can make people feel fuller, which might aid in weight loss.
An added bonus: agavins bolster the production of healthy microbes in the intestines and mouth, LA Weekly reported.
But agavins - the only carbs used to make tequila- aren't exactly in line with agave or syrup, which are more closely related to high-fructose corn syrup.
"This study represents the first attempt to evaluate agavins as sweeteners, in spite of their lower sweetness compared to sugar," Lopez said. "We believe that agavins have a great potential as light sweeteners since they are sugars, highly soluble, have a low glycemic index, and a neutral taste, but most important, they are not metabolized by humans. This puts agavins in a tremendous position for their consumption by obsess and diabetic people."
