A new study is exploring whether extract of Scottish wild fruits – the blaeberry or bilberry - could be used to treat diabetes.

      The lead researcher Dr.Nigel Hoggard, and his colleagues from the University of Aberdeen's Rowett Institute for Nutrition and Health, are looking forward to select 60 local overweight men, aged between 40 and 70 and with type 2 diabetes, for this three weeks study. The study subjects would take the concentrated capsule form of the fruit, three times a day.

      Dr Hoggard said "The exact link between type 2 diabetes and obesity has never been pinpointed. We think the answer to their connection lies in fat tissue. When fat increases, this is associated with a low-grade inflammation, and the release of a number of hormones into the blood . It is these hormones, and how they act on the glucose in our body, which we believe causes type 2 diabetes to occur.".

      "Dr Hoggard added that blaeberries are naturally very high in a chemical substance called polyphenols. We believe this substance could reduce the inflammation which occurs when fat increases."

      The researchers hope that this study will provide scientific evidence of the way in which potentially a local product could help in controlling one of Scotland's most prevalent diseases.