Mar 17, 2014 11:16 AM EDT By Jaleesa Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

A sweetener found in tequila could lower blood glucose levels for those with type 2 diabetes and help them and the obese lose weight, according to a recent study Fox News reported.

Researchers from Mexico found that a sweetener created from the Agave plant, a plant used to make tequila, can act as a dietary fiber and is non-digestible, meaning that it would not raise blood glucose, according to a press release.

The new research was presented at the American Chemical Society annual meeting in Dallas.

"We have found that since agavins reduce glucose levels and increase GLP-1, they also increase the amount of insulin," researcher Mercedes G. López said in a statement. "Agavins are not expensive and they have no known side effects, except for those few people who cannot tolerate them."

For the study, researchers distributed mice into seven groups. One group received a diet of plain water, while other groups received water supplemented with agavins, aspartame, glucose, fructose, sucrose, or agave syrup, Fox News reported. They weighed the mice daily and checked their blood glucose levels weekly.

Nased on their results, most mice that drank agavins ate less, lost weight and their blood glucose levels decreased when compared to other sweeteners such as glucose, fructose, sucrose agave syrup and aspartame.

"We believe agavins have a great potential as a light sweetener," López wrote in the ACS abstract, according to Fox News. "They are sugars, highly soluble, with a low glycemic index and a neutral taste...This puts agavins in a tremendous position for their consumption by obese and diabetic people."

Researchers said agavins are better than artificial sweeteners which are absorbed by the body and can cause side effects, like headaches.

Lopez said the study represents the first attempt to evaluate agavins as sweeteners in spite of their lowered sweetness compared to sugar.

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