A kind of ‘super pea’ Wrinkled can help control blood sugar levels and could reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, according to new research from scientists at Imperial College London, the John Innes Centre, the Quadram Institute Bioscience and the University of Glasgow published in the journal ‘Nature Food’.
In fact, the study suggests that incorporating these peas into your diet, either as whole seeds or in flour, may help address the global epidemic of type 2 diabetes.
The work focused on a type of natural pea that, unlike smooth-skinned peas, contain higher amounts of “resistant starch”, which takes longer for the body to decompose. Thus, the study reveals that, compared to eating smooth peas, wrinkled ones prevent “sugar spikes”, where blood sugar levels rise sharply after a meal. The same effect was seen when consuming flour made from wrinkled peas incorporated into a mixed meal.
According to the researchers, this could be important, since large and frequent sugar spikes are thought to increase the risk of diabetes. They add that the flour from their ‘super peas’ could potentially be used in commonly consumed processed foods which, if eaten long term, could prevent these sugar spikes.
The doctor Katerina Petropouloufirst author of the research, from the Center for Translational Food and Nutrition Research at Imperial College London, explains: “Type 2 diabetes diagnosis rates continue to rise. An alternative dietary strategy to maintain normal blood glucose rates among the population aim to improve the composition of commonly consumed foods There is much evidence that diets rich in a type of carbohydrate called resistant starch have a positive impact on the control of blood glucose levels and therefore , reduce susceptibility to type 2 diabetes.”
Similar to frozen
The peas used in the research are similar to the frozen peas you can buy at the supermarket. They are also the same as those used by the famous scientist Gregory Mendel in the 19th century, to show how dominant and recessive genetic traits can be passed on through selective breeding.
However, in these latter experiments, the researchers used larger, more mature versions of those typically found in the supermarket freezer. This is because larger ripe peas contain more so-called “resistant starches”. The large amount of resistant starch is due to the way starch is produced in the cell and the fact that the cells themselves are more resistant to digestion.
These wrinkled super peas have a naturally occurring genetic mutation, or variant, that produces a higher amount of resistant starch, but a lower overall carbohydrate content.
During a series of experiments, the team gave healthy volunteers a mixed meal that included 50 grams of wrinkled peas while a in a series of control experiments was fed normal smooth peas. Working with the University of Glasgow, the researchers also added a tracer molecule to the peas, so they could track how they were absorbed and digested by the human gastrointestinal tract.
They repeated the experiments using flour made from wrinkled peas or control peas. To further investigate the impact of long-term consumption, they recruited 25 volunteers and asked them to consume pea hummus and mushy peas (made from control or wrinkled peas) over a 4-week period.
Fatty acids
Previous research by the same group has suggested that as these bacteria ferment starch, they produce compounds called short-chain fatty acids. These compounds, in turn, help stimulate the function of cells that produce insulin, which helps control blood sugar.
Other tests using an imitation of the human intestine, conducted by researchers at the Quadram Institute Bioscience, showed that the way peas were prepared and cooked affected how quickly they were digested. The researchers also showed that there were significant benefits to our gut microbiota due to the fermentation process that took place there.
Professor Pete Wilde, from the Quadram Institute, said: “This study has shown us that by preparing these peas in certain ways we can further reduce spikes in blood sugar, opening up new possibilities to make healthier foods using controlled processing techniques. food”.
The researchers are now planning additional trials with volunteers with early-stage type 2 diabetes.. This will also involve a major pea breeding program with the help of industry partners to develop more ‘super peas’ with the resistant starch. They will also explore the genetic background of commonly eaten legumes (beans) to see if similar genetic variation in other crops shows the same positive health effects.
The study authors note that it’s not just peas that have the resistant starch mutation. Other research focuses on the reproduction of the mutation in staple crops, such as rice and wheat. With modern genomic tools, the potential exists to discover or generate the mutation in a variety of seed and cereal crops, which make up many of the carbohydrate-rich foods we eat.
Professor Claire Domoney, from the John Innes Center in Norfolk, adds: “In the long term, it could become policy to include resistant starch in food. We have precedents for this type of intervention, such as adding iron to bread to combat anemia. It could be a policy that foods should contain a certain amount of resistant starch to combat type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases.”