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Teas That Lower Blood Sugar

Jul 21, 2011 | By Don Amerman
Teas That Lower Blood Sugar
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A deeply ingrained element of Eastern culture for nearly five millennia, tea drinking is a relative newcomer to the Western world, having first gained popularity with Europeans in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Tea lovers prize the beverage for its ability to soothe and calm, but science is gradually discovering that teas -- in their infinite variety -- have a wide array of medicinal properties, including the ability to lower blood sugar levels.

Green Tea

Green tea, brewed from the dried, unfermented leaves and buds of the Camellia sinensis bush, improves glucose metabolism, based on testing by a team of Japanese and Taiwanese researchers. Researchers found that green tea promoted glucose metabolism in healthy humans and lowered blood glucose levels in diabetic mice. In a report on their findings, published in a 2004 issue of "BMC Pharmacology," researchers reported that their tests offered further evidence of green tea's anti-diabetic effects and provided a basis for further study into the precise mechanisms of green tea's hypoglycemic properties. They also claim that their study provided the first evidence of the anti-diabetic role played by a specific serum protein and urged further study into this relationship.

Black Tea

A close relative of green tea, black tea is made from dried Camellia sinensis leaves and buds that have first been fermented. In findings published in the March 1995 issue of the "Journal of Ethnopharmacology," a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology in Calcutta reported an animal study that demonstrated black tea's hypoglycemic effects. Using streptozotocin, researchers induced diabetes in a group of laboratory rats. They then treated the animals with a hot water extract of black tea. This extract significantly reduced blood sugar levels and demonstrated "preventive and curative" effects on animals in which diabetes had been induced. Researchers called for further studies to accurately pinpoint the compounds involved and their mechanisms.

Bilberry and Sage Teas

Herbal teas made from the dried leaves of the bilberry -- also known as huckleberry -- and sage plant also are used in the control of diabetes, according to an article at BattleDiabetes.com. The article credits bilberry's hypoglycemic properties to a substance called glucoquinine, a compound recognized for its ability to lower blood sugar levels. Bilberry also appears to have curative properties in cases of diabetic neuropathy affecting vision in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

Sage tea seems to promote insulin activity in diabetics, according to BattleDiabetes.com, and has been particularly useful in glucose control among Type 2 diabetes patients. Another plus for sage tea is its ability to support liver function. Diabetics and others with underperforming livers commonly experience reduced immune response, fatigue and headaches.

Puer Tea

Another product of the Camellia sinensis plant, puer tea -- also rendered as pu'er -- originates in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan. Brewed from the fermented leaves and buds of a large-leaf variety of Camellia sinensis native to Yunnan, the tea appears as effective as a popular anti-diabetic drug in lowering blood sugar levels and preventing diabetes, according to a May 2009 article in "China Daily." The newspaper reported the results of a two-year animal study conducted by researchers at Jilin University and Changchun Science and Technology University. Scientists treated one group of genetically obese laboratory rats with puer tea, while a control group of identical size received Rosiglitazone, a blood glucose-lowering drug. At the end of two weeks, the rats treated with puer tea showed a reduction in blood sugar levels of 42 percent, compared with 36.5 percent in animals receiving the drug.

References

Article reviewed by Ellen Parson Last updated on: Jul 21, 2011

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