’Purple Corn’ New Treatment for Diabetes and Kidney Disease?

Sep 19, 2012

Diabetic Diet Might Include ‘Purple Corn’ In the Future

Purple corn has been discovered as a potential new treatment option for those who have type 2 diabetes and kidney disease. Scientists from Korea’s Hallym University Department of Food and Nutrition and Department of Biochemistry investigated the cellular and molecular activity of purple corn anthocyanins (PCA) to determine how it affects the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN).

Nephropathy is a scientific term meaning damage or disease of the kidney and anthocyanin’s are pigments that are responsible for the colour of a plant or vegetables. These pigments also tend to have health benefits or are used as dietary antioxidants and in this case purple corn. The findings from the study suggest that PCA inhibits pathways of the development of DN, which may lead to new discoveries in the development of therapies for treating type 2 diabetes and kidney disease. The study was published in the American Journal of Physiology.

Purple corn is typically grown in Peru and Chile and is similar to blue corn. The kernels of purple corn has been used in regions where they are locally grown to colour foods and beverages and have been more recently utilized for research purposes to link health benefits.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.