Ravi B at Department of Biotechnology, Karunya University in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu , India and colleagues tested an alcoholic extract of an edible mushroom called Pleurotus ostreatus or commonly called oyster mushroom and found this preparation lowered glucose levels in diabetic mice significantly.
For the study, normal mice were treated with normal control, diabetic mice with diabetic control, diabetic mice posttreated with standard drug glibenclamide and diabetic mice treated with osyter mushroom extract for 15 days. Diabetic mice contracted diabetes after exposure to alloxan.
As a result, animals treated with the ethanolic extract of oyster mushroom significantly reduced serum glucose levels. Also posttreatment with the extract reduced serum cholesterol, triglyceride and low density lipoprotein cholesterol while serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol was increased significantly in the posttreated mice.
Oyster mushroom extract also increased serum creatinine and urea levels but reduced body weight.
The researchers concluded "The consumption of P. ostreatus produced a significant hypoglycemic effect in diabetic mice and it is capable of improving hyperlipidemia and the impaired kidney functions in alloxan-induced diabetic mice."
Oyster mushroom has a naturally occurring statin called lovastatin, so it should not be a surprise to see that oyster mushroom extract decreased cholesterol
levels in diabetes animals.
The study suggests that eating oyster mushroom may help people with diabetes mellitus type 2.
A clinical trial proves the efficacy of oyster mushroom
Actually, it has been proved in a clinical trial that
