Patent ID: 8377877

Claim:
A method for reducing post-prandial blood glucose levels in a human in need thereof, comprising the steps of: (a) preparing an alcohol-free extraction solution by adding to water an organic acid in a concentration between 0.5 weight percent and 2.5 weight percent and a salt in an amount to provide between 0.3 and 2.0 normality with regard to the salt; (b) adding the plant material to the extraction solution in a weight ratio of between about 1:1 and about 1:10 extraction solution to plant material; (c) comminuting the plant material in the extraction solution to reduce the mean particle size of the plant material to between 100 microns and 1500 microns; (d) heating the solution to a temperature sufficient to denature at least Kunitz inhibitor proteins but below a temperature to denature proteinase inhibitor II; (e) filtering the heated solution of part (d) to remove the denatured proteins thereby obtaining a nutritional composition; and (f) administering to said human, prior to a meal, an effective amount of the nutritional composition of part (e) wherein said nutritional composition comprises between 1.0 mg and 1000 mg of proteinase inhibitor II and is substantially free of Kunitz inhibitors.