The Truth About Herbal Supplements
Each morning I go through the articles that have been submitted to Great2Cook.com and almost every morning brings someone marketing some “miracle cure” for diabetes.
Whether you are a diabetic or you cook for one, it is important to know there’s no “miracle cure” — nothing has been shown scientifically to work better than the treatments recommended by Western medicine. Dropping a physician recommended regimen for some “magic potion” is hazardous to your health. However, there is some (slim) evidence that a few of the hyped herbal supplements might be somewhat supportive, particularly for type II diabetes. Let’s take an honest look at what the real, published research shows.
One of the most promising is the bitter gourd or bitter melon.
You can find bitter gourd at most Asian markets in the produce section. Where I live, it is more often tagged as “bitter melon”, but if you can’t find it you may need to ask for “foo gwa.” The melon has been shown to have some promise in reducing or moderating blood sugar, but don’t expect a culinary treat; it didn’t get its name by accident! Let’s call it an acquired taste while noting that in the hands of a masterful Chinese chef it can be rendered quite appealing. Most recipes call for parboiling or degorging the melon and then combining it with other strong flavors. You can get bitter gourd in its powdered form if the bitter taste of the juice is too strong for you. You can use the powder in your food to help mask its bitterness. However do note, so far as I could find no one has studied what parboiling, degorging or powdering the melon does to its effectiveness medicinally.
Another herb used for type II diabetes in Indian ayurvedic medicine is butea leaves. The leaves supposedly work by reducing and moderating your blood sugar level. Ayurvedic physicians recommend you use the leaves by boiling them and taking the infusion either hot or cold. A research study found an extract of the leaves produced “significant hypoglycemic and anti-oxidant activity” in diabetic adult male mice.
Mango leaves, that are either dried or in powder form, are often sold by herbalists for diabetes, but I could find no study of mango leaves — what was studied and did show some interesting possibilities was an extract from the peel of the fruit! It seems the peel of the mango is very high in ascorbic acid (good ol’ Vitamin C) and polyphenols, and researchers hypothesized those might be behind the effects seen. (So don’t peel your mangoes … just like Mom told you, “the peel is the best part.”)
Curry leaves are another herbal “cure” sold (sometimes at remarkable prices for something that is, after all, available at a lot of Asian markets as produce!) for all sorts of purposes. “Just take ten fresh leaves and chew every day”, they say — well, while you’re chewing your leaves, you can read an abstract (at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16552838?ordinalpos=7&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum”>abstract) that shows there just might be some value to them for lowering cholesterol and blood sugar.
Curry isn’t the only traditional Indian spice that has some medicinal properties. An extract from fenugreek seeds seems to support the body in utilizing insulin — in rats.
Every real, grown-up scientific study I could find was what I’d definitely call “preliminary” in terms of applying the findings to humans. If the history of medical research teaches us anything absolutely certain, it is that “what works in rats doesn’t necessarily work in human beings” and almost all of the research out there is on rats and mice!
On the other hand, so far as I know, no one was ever killed by leaving the peel on their mango or adding a few fresh curry leaves to their salad. Of course, always keep your physician up to date on ANY supplementary treatment you are exploring, and do your homework. It isn’t hard to look up the original research on any of these alternative treatments. The American Diabetes Association keeps a database of current research, and the National Center for Biotechnology Information has thousands and thousands of abstracts indexed and available with a few keystrokes and a mouse click. There’s absolutely no need for you to bet your health on the reliability of some internet salesperson.
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