Recent research from the University of Illinois (U of I) shows the effects of Type 2 diabetes can potentially be reduced through the consumption of a blueberry-blackberry "wine". 

We use inverted commas of course because the drink is alcohol-free.

In a release, the U of I highlighted the American Association of Diabetes listed blueberries as "diabetes superfoods", and its research found fermenting the fruit could improve their antidiabetic potential even more.

Elvira de Mejia, a food chemist in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at U of I, put together a beverage with her team that included a ratio of 70% fermented blackberries and 30% fermented blueberries.

Alcohol was removed from the beverage by rotoevaporation and was replaced with water, while some of the sugars left over after fermentation were also removed in the process.

“We optimized the best ratio between blueberries and blackberries. Blackberries are very unique and I think that’s one of the reasons why we selected a high concentration of them in this study," she said.

"Blackberries have a very specific profile of anthocyanins, and that was amazing at lowering the absorption of glucose in this case."

The test demonstrated a reduction in the development of obesity and blood glucose levels in mice on a high-fat diet.

"Unfortunately the number of people with diabetes is increasing astronomically around the world," de Mejia said.

"There are 100 million people around the world who have diabetes and that is increasing, without counting the ones who may be pre-diabetic and not know it."

Anthocyanins have been shown to promote insulin sensitivity, decrease blood glucose levels in the blood and enhance insulin secretion.

“We know that fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, and berries are good, but here we explain that after fermentation we improve and increase the concentration of these pigments [anthocyanins] and they are very high antioxidant components that benefit the body,” de Mejia said.

De Mejia says producing this berry wine, complete with the benefits of fermentation but without the alcohol, provides an opportunity for wine makers.

"There are some bigger wineries/companies that are producing dealcoholized wine for diabetics, but from grapes. It is available in California, for example," she says.

"I think the novelty of this work is mainly the combination of the blackberries and blueberries and the concentration of anthocyanins as part of the pigment. But it is perfectly doable and I hope that companies can see that there is a market. And it’s delicious," she adds.

While the berry wine may not be able to replace medications for diabetics, de Mejia says it could help reduce the amount of medication needed; always under the doctor’s supervision and approval.

"There needs to be more studies to see how the anthocyanins work in the presence of medication, to see if they work synergistically, for example.

"Then, maybe, you could decrease the amount of the drug. All of these drugs for diabetes have adverse effects after so many years of use, even the safest ones."

Previous studies

The study builds on previous research that showed dietary blueberries could play a role in reducing hyperglycemia in obese mice.

Additionally, a previous cell culture study with the alcohol-free blueberry-blackberry wine, showed good results toward inhibiting enzymes related to glucose absorption.

“In this in vivo study, as we increased the concentration of these anthocyanin-enriched extractions from blueberries and blackberries we saw an improvement in the uptake of glucose, meaning that the animals with the increased concentration were not as much in a state of hyperglycemia as the other animals,” de Mejia said.

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