The aim of this study was to investigate the hypoglycemic effects of saengshik in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats and to explore the potential of three commercially available saengshik products (BS, LS, WS) as an alternative diabetic meal. Blood glucose levels were measured at 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 minutes after the ingestion of experimental materials. In experiment 1, the amount of experimental materials remained the same. We measured blood glucose-related biomarkers as the area under the blood glucose response curve (AUC), glycemic index (GI), maximum concentration (Cmax), and time to reach maximum concentration (Tmax). AUC and Cmax of the experimental group showed significant differences compared to the control group, while GI and Tmax did not show significant differences among the groups but were lower in the experimental group compared to the control group. In experiment 2, carbohydrates were adjusted to the same amount. We measured blood glucose-related biomarkers in the same manner as Experiment 1 and obtained similar results. These hypoglycemic effects appear to be attributed to phytochemicals and dietary fiber found in whole, unrefined grains. These results suggest that saengshik exerts hypoglycemic effects by modulation of glucose-related biomarkers.

This study was conducted to investigate if the supplement formula may improve alcohol metabolism in healthy adult men.In a double-blinded, randomized, crossover study, subjects were administrated yeast extract mixtures (YEM, n=15), Hovenia dulcis mixtures (HDM, n=15), placebo (PLA, n=15), and control (CON, n=15) in an oral dose followed by one week washout periods. At each visit (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 week), subjects drank 450 mL, 20.1 percent alcohol after administered mixtures. Blood was drawn periodically (0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 15 hours). Fifteen subjects completed the protocol and were included in the analysis. Plasma ethanol concentration was lower in YEM (10 percent) and the HDM (5 percent) groups. The area under the curves (AUC) and Cmax for plasma ethanol were significantly decreased only in the YEM group, when compared with the CON group. The AUC and Cmax for plasma acetaldehyde concentration were significantly decreased in the YEM (45 and 54 percent) and the HDM (35 and 53 percent) groups respectively, when compared with PLA (p<0.01). Together, these findings validate that YEM or HDM improved alcohol metabolism and hangover syndromes, leading to reduce alcohol concentration and acetaldehyde concentration without adverse effects.