Is adding lemon drops to boiling onion water significantly reduces blood sugar levels ? Fact Check
Claim: Adding lemon drops to boiling onion water releases glucokinin that can significantly reduce blood sugar levels even up to 300 mg/dL.
Conclusion: Misleading. There is no substantial evidence or strong scientific evidence to support this claim.
Rating: Misleading.
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A video shared on various social media platforms claims that adding lemon juice to boiling onion water releases glucokinin which can lower blood sugar levels. It says that glucokinin is similar to insulin, like taking “injectable insulin”, a secret which pharmaceutical companies don’t want people to know.
See below video.
However, there are many unverified claims in this video, beginning with the suggestion that this can lower a blood sugar level of 300 mg/dL which is a medical emergency. Secondly, this is a harmful claim especially for people with diabetes who should rely on proper insulin or medication instead of onion-based remedies.
Glucokinin is a term that was sometimes used to describe a plant-based compound, differentiating the insulin-like compound found in plants and animals. The earliest report dates back to JB Collip in 1923, giving us the earliest reports of a plant-derived compound having an insulin-like effect.
Collip isolated glucokinin from onions, identifying insulin‑like, hypoglycemic effects in rabbits and dogs. Find the link to the report here. Nonetheless, the report does not claim that glucokinin could replace insulin in any manner.
Another research article published by the Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology in 2003 affirms the insulin‑like proteins exist in plants, their exact physiological roles remain unclear and controversial.
While some reports published by Peace Health suggests that onion extracts show modest blood sugar reductions in Type 2 diabetics, nothing is said about isolated glucokinin. It says: “ Onion has further been found to stimulate insulin responsiveness and glucose uptake by cells. Preliminary trials have found eating onions, in amounts of 60 and 100 grams (about 2 and 3.5 ounces) per day, lowered fasting blood glucose levels and the fasting response to glucose ingestion (glucose tolerance) in subjects with type 2 diabetes.”
Thus, while historic research suggests glucokinin can lower blood glucose in non-human models, the same cannot be said for humans.
There has been no thorough or clinical research on isolated glucokinin which the misleading video tried to claim as a secret to lower blood sugar levels. Lastly, there are no studies evaluating glucokinin’s safety or effectiveness in humans during emergencies or blood sugar spikes.
