Pear Cactus Makes Mexican Meals Good for People with Diabetes

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Eating nopales along with a traditional Mexican
breakfast can help people with diabetes keep their blood sugar under
control, a new study shows.

Nopales are prickly pear cactus pads, and are common fare among people
living in southern and central Mexico, available at any food market, Dr.
Montserrat Bacardi-Gascon and colleagues from the Universidad Autonoma de
Baja California in Tijuana, Mexico write in the May issue of Diabetes Care.

They sought to determine whether eating nopales, which have a very low
glycemic index and are high in fiber, would reduce the post-meal rise in
blood sugar among people with diabetes eating typical Mexican breakfasts.

The glycemic index is a measure of how quickly blood sugar (glucose) rises
after meals. In general, low-fiber foods containing simple starches, for
example candy, have a higher glycemic index than foods rich in fiber and
more complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains and vegetables.

After a 12-hour fast, 36 individuals with type 2 diabetes ate chilaquiles (a
casserole of corn tortillas with cheese, beans and tomato sauce), scrambled
egg and tomato burritos, or quesadillas with pinto beans and avocados, with
or without 85 grams (about 3 ounces) of nopales.

For each of the breakfasts, the researchers found, adding nopales to the
meal resulted in a significantly lower rise in blood sugar than when the
meal was eaten without nopales.

The blood sugar response was 48 percent lower when nopales were eaten with
quesadillas, while nopales cut the increase by 30 percent with chilaquiles
and 20 percent with burritos.

"The promising results shown with these typical Mexican breakfasts provide
Mexican patients with a broader and more culturally based choice for the
management of diabetes," the researchers conclude.

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, May 2007.