Lower Blood Sugar Levels with This Drink

There are powerful little chemical compounds in tea -- called polysaccharides -- that may do your blood sugar a bit of good.

And one of the best ways to get them? Black tea. Researchers recently discovered that the polysaccharides in black tea may be tops over those in green or oolong teas. Make mine black!

Find out all the health benefits you get from drinking tea -- from green to black.

Power in the Polysaccharides
People in Japan and China have long touted black tea's blood sugar benefits. And now, researchers are taking a look at the components of black tea that may play a role. When researchers extracted the polysaccharides in black tea and examined their effects on a cellular level, something interesting happened. The black tea polysaccharides exhibited blood sugar stabilizing properties -- even more so than the polysaccharides in both green and oolong teas. Researchers suspect there may be something unique about the chemical composition of black tea polysaccharides that boosts their blood sugar benefits. Check your diabetes risk with this quick questionnaire.

Take Charge of Your Sugar
Because the researchers were doing a cell study, it's not clear if drinking brewed tea will have the same benefits. But researchers already know that black tea is bursting with health-promoting antioxidants. So there's no reason to sit on the sidelines tapping your foot. Drink up! And here are some additional strategies for controlling blood sugar:

• Pump some iron. Find out how many weeks of strength training you need to log to get a blood sugar benefit.
• Use the right spices. Here's one that can tasty-up your french toast and help your blood sugar, too.
• Use your TV the right way. Drop your blood sugar with one painless click.

Start your day with three other good-for-you drinks.

Physicochemical properties and antioxidant capacity of 3 polysaccharides from green tea, oolong tea, and black tea. Chen, H. et al., Journal of Food Science 2009;74(6):C469-C474.