written by Michael O’Leary
A supplement containing one of the ingredients in curry spice has been reported to prevent new development of type 2 diabetes among people at high risk for the disease.
The study, appearing July 29, 2012 in the journal Diabetes Care was widely reported by a number of major news outlets, including Reuters, USA Today, and MSNBC, among others.
(published site)

The study was actually, fairly small and short, conducted by researchers at the Srinakharinwirot University in Nakomnayok, Thailand. It involved 240 Thai adults with prediabetes, who were randomly assigned to take capsules containing curcumin, or an inactive placebo six times a day for nine months. Prediabetes refers to elevated blood sugar levels that are not high enough to be defined as diabetes. People with prediabetes are at a greater risk for type 2 diabetes.
At the end of the nine months 19 of 116 of those in the placebo group had gone on to develop type 2 diabetes compared to none of 119 participants in the curcumin group.’
The researchers theorized that the supplement stimulated beta-cell function, the cells in the pancreas that produce the blood sugar-regulating hormone insulin.
While the results are promising, the study was much too small and spanned too short a time to drive anyone to their nearest health food store in search of curcumin.
For one thing, the study begs the obvious question, do people in India, where the spice is consumed daily have a lower rate of diabetes? A bit of internet searching suggests that the answer might be yes.
It turns out, not surprisingly that India and China have the world’s top two largest diabetes populations. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimates that as many as 61. 3 million people in India are affected, when they add in those suspected to have undiagnosed prediabetes.
That works out to 8.3 percent of the Indian population estimated to have diabetes or prediabetes. By contrast, the IDF estimates10.94 percent of the U.S. population has been diagnosed with diabetes or prediabetes. Whether curcumin plays a role in that lower rate will take a lot more research.
Until more studies of curcumin are done, however, lead author of this study, Dr. Somiak Chuengsamam, an endocrinologist at the Srinakharinwirot University in Thailand, says that people at risk of type 2 diabetes should consider lifestyle changes.
“Prediabetes patients should be focused on diet and exercise as the first step,” Chuengsamarn said. “These practices have an obvious benefit in preventing type 2 diabetes in this group.”