Nutrition tips

Diabetes and Herbs

Diabetes and Herbs

A recent published paper looked at a number of studies around the effects of 6 different herbs - cinnamon, fenugreek, garlic, saffron, curcumin, and apple cider vinegar - on various aspect of glucose control.

To start, this is an interesting study. But the studies included were small, not always randomized (which can help reduce bias), and occurred in a select number of countries which may not be generalizable to everyone.

Nonetheless, these herbs are all great to cook with and if you like them would be something to consider adding in when you can. Also note that it is unclear how much or how often you need to take these to see benefit (if any). Given that, I wouldn’t take supplements, but rather incorporate the whole food when you can if you enjoy them…and maybe you could get some added benefit in terms of glucose control.

The take aways:

  • Apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, curcumin, and fenugreek lowered fasting blood glucose

You can read the abstract of the study here