Type 2 diabetes sends a signal that your pancreas is not releasing and processing insulin properly. Insulin is a hormone that lowers blood sugar, the main type of sugar found in the blood. Your body needs blood sugar because it supplies cells with energy, but having too much of it flowing through the bloodstream poses serious health risks, hence the need for insulin to regulate it.
One explanation for how resveratrol works is that it can prevent a certain enzyme from converting glucose to sorbitol, a sugar alcohol.
When too much sorbitol builds up in people with diabetes, it can create oxidative stress that damages cells.
Oxidative stress is an imbalance between unstable molecules called free radicals and compounds called antioxidants in your body.
The antioxidant action of resveratrol is believed to help protect against oxidative stress, which causes some of the complications of diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes: what to look for
Type 2 diabetes often goes undetected because the condition rarely produces symptoms in the early stages.
In fact, the condition is usually detected during a routine test for other complaints.
However, if you experience symptoms, the most common are:
- Urinating more than normal, especially at night.
- Be thirsty all the time
- Feeling very tired
- Losing weight without trying
- Itching around your penis or vagina, or having canker sores repeatedly
- Cuts or wounds that take longer to heal
- Blurry vision
