While it has long been proven that consuming whole seeds regularly is good for the body, we did not know why. According to a recent Finnish study, this would be due to chemical compounds, called betaines.
As the Vegan lifestyle begins to take hold in Western countries, it’s no longer a secret that eating seeds is better for you than burgers. And this would be because of their high content of “betaine”, a family of chemical compounds very beneficial for the body, according to a Finnish study published on September 25 in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Twelve weeks of complete seeds
For twelve weeks, researchers at the University of Eastern Finland put mice on a complete seed diet and asked human volunteers to do the same. At the end of the study, they discovered a significant increase in betaines, a group of compounds with a very wide range of biological functions, both in humans and rodents.
They also established a correlation between the increase in this betaine level and an improvement in the metabolism of sugar in the blood (glycemia). In detail, “the increase in the levels of pipecolic acid betaine after the consumption of whole grains was, among other things, associated with a drop in blood sugar after meals”, explains Dr. Kati Hanhineva, who conducted the study. .
Against cardiovascular risk and diabetes
“Whole grains are one of the healthiest foods around. We know, for example, that a strong consumption of whole seeds protects against type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, “says Dr Kati Hanhineva, adding that” however, until now, we did not know how the cellular mechanism of whole seeds impacts our bodies. “
Since some betaine compounds, such as 5-AVAB, are also known to accumulate in particular in heart tissue, the researchers want to push the research further. “In the future, we will try to analyze in more detail the multitude of effects that these new compounds can have on the human body”, explains Dr. Hanhineva.
And to conclude: “we will also study how intestinal microbes can possibly contribute to their formation”.
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