Mulberries are called 'Ppong' trees in Korean. The name 'Ppong' is derived from the sound of a shy fart. In fact, eating mulberries is said to cause many farts. In recent years, mulberry and its related products have been used to treat diabetes and obesity in acupuncture and herbal medicine. These include Sang Ye (mulberry leaves), Bai Gang Can (silkworm), and Shang Bai Pi (mulberry bark).
A clinical trial using silkworms was conducted on patients diagnosed with insulin-independent diabetes among outpatients at Kyunghee Medical Center. The patients were fed silkworms three times a day for four weeks at a dose of approximately 500 mg per dose. Diabetes patients showed a 10.1% reduction in fasting blood sugar and a 25.4% reduction in 2-hour postprandial blood sugar in 4 weeks of intervention. The reduction was greater in diabetic patients than in normal people.
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| Y-axis: blood glucose level, X-axis: time minutes, red; control, blue; silkworm group |
The peak of postprandial blood glucose levels at 45 to 60 minutes shows that silkworm suppresses postprandial hyperglycemia well, with a slight rise after 90 minutes and a gentle downward curve pattern, indicating that it can prevent postprandial hyperglycemia and fasting hypoglycemia.
Mechanisms
The pharmacological mechanism of action of silkworm is that when it reaches the small intestine with food, the enzymes that break down disaccharides into monosaccharides are inhibited. By inhibiting the activity of alpha-glucosidase, one of the enzymes that breaks down disaccharides into monosaccharides, it inhibits the immediate breakdown of disaccharides into monosaccharides, leading to delayed absorption into the blood, which is thought to control postprandial hyperglycemia. The best time to take silkworm is immediately after a meal or before a meal because of its inhibitory effect on glycosidase.
Acarbose
However, there is a bio-medicine that uses the same mechanism. It's called acarbose, and it reduces the rate at which carbohydrates are digested by inhibiting the enzymes alpha-glucosidase and pancreatic alpha-amylase, which are needed to digest carbohydrates. Because carbohydrates are not broken down into glucose molecules, the absorption of glucose is reduced, resulting in lower postprandial blood sugar. This drug is also used to treat diabetes and obesity because it interferes with carbohydrate absorption. The most common Acarbose side effects are flatulence(Abdominal pain (19%), diarrhea (31%), and flatulence (74%)). These kinds of drugs trap complex carbohydrates in the intestine, preventing their rapid breakdown. This makes food stay longer in the digestive system, letting them ferment to produce gas as a byproduct. This leads to flatulence and bloating.
Carb Reducers
The latest craze in Korea of Carb Reducers works on a similar principle. When taken with food, they can lower postprandial blood sugar spikes by interfering with the digestion and absorption of hard-to-digest complex carbohydrates. Ovulatory maltodextrin, guava leaf, banana leaf, oat, soy, wheat, and corn bran fiber, arabinose, and inulin are used as carb reducers.
Fart, flatulence
In this way, silkworms, mulberries, acarbose, and carbohydrate reducers all inhibit carbohydrate absorption in the small intestine, leaving undigested carbohydrates to create flatulence. It is interesting that people in the past named mulberry because they knew this effect empirically. There's even a song my parents used to sing to me as a child.
The mulberry tree farts
The bamboo scolds the bastard
The oak says to take it easy
his is a fun children's song that incorporates onomatopoeic tree names. My kids enjoy it just as much as I did when I was a kid. After all, Who doesn't love poops and farts?