Monday, August 31, 2009

Aloe and Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus, a condition in which the body’s cells are unable to use the glucose in the bloodstream because of a lack of insulin activity, is one of the most common diseases among the Thai. Recently, Thai researchers have been studying Aloe vera juice, long used in Thailand as a folk remedy for diabetes, as a possible alternative to expensive imported drugs.

A 1995 clinical study of aloe juice showed promising results in new cases of diabetes. When thirty-nine diabetic patients took 1 tablespoon of the juice twice a day for at least two weeks, their blood glucose levels fell significantly by the end of the period.

When the same participants later took the same dosage of aloe vera juice together with 10 mg of glibenclamide, a drug often given at the onset of diabetes, the treatment signifi­cantly reduced blood glucose levels within two weeks. By itself, glibenclamide did not reduce blood glucose. No effect on cholesterol levels was observed in either study.

Sources:
Yongchaiyudha, S., et al. “Antidiabetic Activity of Aloe vera L. Juice I. Clinical Trial in New Cases of Diabetes Mellitus”. Phytomedicine 1996,

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