Diabetes Alternatives

[Guest guest]

Diabetes Alternatives

http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/41/41.cfm

 

In 1989, a physician from Florida wrote to Walter Mertz, M.D., then director

of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Human Nutrition Research Center in

Beltsville, Maryland: " Enclosed is a sample of a 'weed.' A diabetic patient of

mine brought it back from the island of Trinidad. She has adult-onset diabetes

and was taking insulin until she began using this plant. Now she reports that

she adds the weed to vermouth and takes small sips of the mixture twice a day.

This has resulted in normalization of her blood sugars over the past six months.

I am hoping you will be able to identify the plant and to determine its

effective ingredient. "

 

Knowing of my interest in herbal medicine, Dr. Mertz sent me the letter and

the specimen, which I identified as jackass bitters (Neurolaena lobata), a tall

perennial weed vaguely resembling American ragweed. Its tincture is a

time-honored Creole-Caribbean treatment for diabetes and several other ailments,

among them colds, fever, malaria and menstrual cramps.

 

I'm not sure whether this herb really helps with all those other complaints,

but there is good research to show that jackass bitters helps regulate blood

sugar (glucose) levels. So it really does help manage diabetes. In several

studies using experimental animals, a tincture of the plant has been shown to be

anti-hyperglycemic, which is the medical term for anything, including insulin,

that lowers blood sugar. It is high blood sugar that is responsible for the

serious complications in people who have diabetes.

 

If the animal dose can be applied to humans, a 150-pound person would have to

consume about an ounce of the herb to gain significant anti-hyperglycemic

benefits. But based on the letter to Dr. Mertz, apparently some people gain real

benefits from taking considerably less. While the herb is difficult to find in

the United States, some health food stores and mail-order companies do carry it.

 

Problems with Fuel Supply

 

More than 2,000 years ago, the ancients noticed that some people produced

copious amounts of strangely sweet-tasting urine that attracted ants. (Tasting

urine was a diagnostic tool in many cultures.) They named the condition diabetes

mellitus, from the Greek for " fountain " and the Latin for " honey. "

 

Diabetes occurs either when the pancreas stops producing the hormone insulin

or the body becomes unable to use the insulin it produces. Glucose, the body's

major fuel, cannot enter our cells unless insulin is present and working.

Without insulin, glucose builds up in the bloodstream and eventually turns up in

the urine, causing the sweet taste that the ancients noticed. The sugar

imbalance also leads to increased urination and thirst.

 

Diabetes also causes narrowing of the small blood vessels throughout the body.

It seems that the higher the blood sugar level, the more the small blood vessels

narrow. As this happens, the blood vessels carry less blood, and circulation is

impaired.. Poor circulation in turn leads to the complications of poorly

controlled diabetes: kidney disease, poor wound healing and foot and eye

problems.

 

Diabetic limb problems are the cause of about half of all U.S. amputations not

caused by injury. Diabetes also alters fat metabolism, increasing the risk that

cholesterol-laden plaque will build up in the large blood vessels. This means

that people who have diabetes are at considerable risk for heart disease.