used on high fat hamburger meat be before being cooked can help protect against heart disease in type 2 diabetics.
Z. Li at the Center for Human Nutrition, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California in Los Angeles, CA, USA and colleagues conducted the study and found a spice mix added to high fat hamburger meat before being cooked reduced high fat induced endothelial dysfunction, which is linked to heart disease.
The authors reported "Consumption of a high-fat diet has been demonstrated to promote endothelial dysfunction, possibly through an increase in lipid peroxidation and decrease in serum nitric oxide."
In the study, 22 subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus were asked to eat burgers cooked with salt only or with salt and a polyphenol rich spice mix in a random order.
The spice mix was expected to reduce postprandial lipid oxidation and endothelial dysfunction in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Eighteen subjects completed the study.
The researchers found "Postprandial serum glucose, insulin and triglyceride concentrations were similar in all subjects after control burger or spice burger consumption."
However, malondialdehyde in urine was reduced by 31% after eating the spice treated burger, compared with the control burger. Malondialdehyde is a very harmful aldehyde that is commonly found in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
In addition, control burger consumption and spice burger consumption resulted in significantly different postprandial peripheral arterial tonometry scores. And more urinary nitrate/nitrite concentrations were found when spice burgers were consumed.
The researchers concluded "Adding a spice mix to hamburger meat prior to cooking resulted in a reduction in urinary malondialdehyde, an increase in urinary nitrate/nitrite and improvement of postprandial endothelial dysfunction in men with T ype 2 diabetes. T herefore, cooking a hamburger with a polyphenol-rich spice mixture may lead to potential cardiovascular benefits in patients with T ype 2 diabetes mellitus."