A long period of time during waking hours without eating means the body has no source of fuel (aka glucose) and therefore the levels of sugar (aka glucose) in the blood go down. Eating three meals a day plus snacks, as many of us do, means we’re in a "constantly fed state". In a 2014 study, researchers fed water-based microemulsions of either clove essential oil or its major constituent, eugenol, to rats with fatty liver disease. The extract also inhibited glucose production in liver cells as well as the activities of alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase. Other studies have shown that cloves boost the secretion of insulin, a hormone that signals cells to absorb glucose from the blood. Cloves are rich in antioxidants that can help fight oxidative stress and prevent liver disease. In fact, cloves contain 30 times more antioxidants than blueberries, which are known to have one of the highest antioxidant levels of all fruits. It is a big misconception among people that people with diabetes should not include fruits in their diet. The short-term, small study - with only 11 patients - found that adhering to a severely restricted 600-calorie-per-day diet of liquid meals and non-starchy vegetables lowered patients pre-breakfast blood sugar levels back to normal within seven days.
