About 425 million people around the world have diabetes. For around 75 million of them, taking insulin every day is necessary.
Usually, this means getting injections or using a pump. But a new discovery could change that—and it might even make taking insulin as simple as eating a piece of chocolate.
Scientists from the University of Sydney and UiT The Arctic University of Norway have created a new kind of insulin that people can take by mouth. Instead of using a needle, this insulin can be swallowed, and it still works properly in the body.
The insulin is packed inside tiny particles called nano-carriers. These particles are extremely small—about 1/10,000th the width of a human hair—so small that you can’t even see them with a regular microscope.
These tiny carriers are designed to protect the insulin and carry it safely through the body until it reaches the liver, which is where insulin is supposed to go to do its job.
Normally, if someone swallows insulin, it gets destroyed by the strong acids in the stomach before it can help lower blood sugar. That’s why this new discovery is so important. The scientists made a special coating that protects the insulin while it’s in the stomach. This coating only breaks down when it reaches the liver, so the insulin stays safe and effective.
Even better, this smart insulin only releases when blood sugar is too high and stops when it goes back to normal. This helps prevent a dangerous drop in blood sugar, called hypoglycemia. This feature makes the new insulin safer and more effective.
Professor Peter McCourt, a liver expert at UiT, says that because this insulin goes straight to the liver, it works better and causes fewer side effects. Nicholas J. Hunt from the University of Sydney says this new method is safer and easier to use for people with diabetes.
In people without diabetes, the body makes insulin in the pancreas, and it travels straight to the liver. But when insulin is given by injection, it spreads through the whole body. That can cause fat to build up and other problems. The new oral insulin works more like the natural process in the body, so it avoids those issues.
One of the best things about this new insulin is that it doesn’t need to be injected or stored in a fridge. That makes it much easier for people to use, especially if they live in warm places or need to take medicine on the go.
The new insulin has already been tested on animals. In tests with mice and rats that had diabetes, the insulin helped control blood sugar without causing weight gain or low blood sugar.
Later, 20 healthy baboons in Australia were given the insulin mixed into sugar-free chocolate—and they enjoyed it. Their blood sugar levels went down, and they had no bad side effects.
The next step is to test the insulin in humans. These trials will start in 2025. First, scientists will check if the insulin is safe and doesn’t cause low blood sugar in people. Later, they will compare how well it works against regular insulin shots.
If everything goes well, this new form of insulin—possibly delivered in chocolate—could be ready for people to use in the next two or three years.
If you’re interested in diabetes care, there are other helpful studies to explore. Some research shows that how you cook potatoes might affect diabetes, and that very low-calorie diets might even reverse type 2 diabetes.
Other studies show that protein could be a powerful tool for diabetes management, and that pineapple might have some surprising benefits for people with diabetes.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about Vitamin D and type 2 diabetes, and to people with diabetes, some fruits are better than others.
For more health information, please see recent studies that low calorie diets may help reverse diabetes, and 5 vitamins that may prevent complication in diabetes.
These new insulin findings were published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
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