Tea for Diabetes and Obesity: Herbal Formulas for Metabolic Conditions

Unhealthy diets, poor exercise habits, and environmental factors have led to a rise in metabolic conditions in the younger generations–a trend that is only increasing. Some of the food we eat contains high amounts of sugars with low nutrition, and when consumed over a long period of time, can be very harmful to your health, resulting in diabetes or metabolic syndrome. Incorporating certain herbs into your diet can help prevent negative health consequences and create a better balance in your body.

The following is an excerpt from Herbal Formularies Volume 3 by Jill Stansbury. It has been adapted for the web.

Diabetes and metabolic syndrome have been increasing worldwide in incidence for decades and are predicted to continue escalating with the coming generation. This epidemic is associated with a decreased life-span due to pervasive tissue inflammation created by elevated blood sugar and lipids. The epidemic prevalence of diabetes mellitus is thought to be largely due to poor quality diets, lack of exercise, and high levels of oxidative stress due to obesity, environmental toxins, and lack of antioxidant nutrients. Although hereditary predispositions, viral and bacterial afflictions of the pancreas, and pancreatic islet autoantibodies do contribute to the development of this disease, diet, lifestyle, and obesity are by far the most significant risk factors. High sugar and simple carbohydrate fare, especially when associated with “bad” fats and low amounts of nutrients and fiber, contributes to the development of diabetes. Soda pop and other foods containing high-fructose corn syrup are particularly harmful, and I believe that allowing children—or anyone—to drink these beverages is tantamount to condoning a slow form of poisoning. Numerous studies have shown that rats fed a high-fructose diet will develop insulin resistance and high triglycerides. A high intake of concentrated fructose and sweetened fruit juices impair glucose tolerance in genetically susceptible individuals, whereas eating fresh fruit appears free of such consequences. Heart and blood vessel damage occurs when a 10 percent fructose solution replaces plain water.

Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which the pancreas makes too little insulin, limiting the uptake of glucose by the body’s cells. This type of diabetes may result from destruction of pancreatic β cells due to drug toxicity, an autoimmune disease, or an acute viral infection. Also referred to as juvenile onset diabetes, type 1 diabetes is less common than type 2 diabetes, accounting for only about 10 percent of all diabetes mellitus cases. Because type 1 individuals are unable to receive basic metabolic fuel, they may be underweight and chronically thirsty. Type 2 diabetes, in contrast, is not due to a lack of insulin, but rather occurs due to the cell’s lack of response to insulin. Cells become resistant to insulin and hence, this type of diabetes is referred to as insulin resistance or noninsulin-dependent diabetes.

Metabolic syndrome is a particularly pronounced type of insulin resistance, where blood glucose, insulin, and lipids are all elevated, leading to hypertension and an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Metabolic syndrome may emerge as early as prepuberty and can overlap with hypothyroidism or polycystic ovarian syndrome, and the faulty metabolism also leaves those affected predisposed to gout, fatty liver, blood clots, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and other forms of dementia. There is a great deal of overlap between metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease, and additional herbal therapies for treating elevated lipids, hypertension, and heart disease are covered in Volume 2, chapter 2, of this set of formularies.

The central goals in treating diabetes and metabolic syndrome are to improve metabolism of sugar and fat while protecting the tissues from the ravages of elevated levels of these substances. Another way to state the goal is this: Protect the vasculature, neurons, liver, pancreas, kidneys, and, if possible, the entire rest of the body as well while aiming to reduce the oxidative stress itself by controlling elevated glucose, insulin, and lipids as best as possible. Innumerable studies describe elevated cytokines, inflammatory mediators, and enzyme systems involved with diabetic and the dysmetabolic damage they cause to organs, nerves, blood vessels, and general tissue. There are also countless studies on foods, herbs, fatty acids, antioxidants, and a long list of nutrients shown to help restore balance to all such inflammatory molecules. The data is so vast that it would be impossible for a diabetes patient to consume all of the substances that are shown to have a potentially beneficial effect. Fortunately, attempting to do so is not necessary. Instead, it is much simpler, not to mention more cost effective, to work on optimizing one’s diet, aiming to consume as many of the “foodlike” medicines as feasible.

Berries, green leafy vegetables, foods containing essential fatty acids such as fish and seeds, and culinary spices such as onions, garlic, turmeric, and ginger can all be powerful medicines when eaten in plentiful quantities, while eschewing problem foods such as sugar and starch-based food from breads, pastas, and rice to desserts, candy, and all sweetened products. Add in some of the best-indicated herbal teas and nutraceuticals as well as fiber and exercise. Making such changes can often greatly improve lab and physical indices of metabolic syndrome for those with prediabetes or other worrisome health trends. Those with advanced disease and those who are insulin dependent can still benefit from the same formulas and practices, perhaps being more aggressive with dosage and the number of therapies implemented. And those with advanced metabolic impairment can still aim to slow the progression of the disease and improve longevity through lifestyle changes.

Dietary Considerations

Dietary approaches are always an essential part of therapy for diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Eliminating grains is ideal for diabetics, but not always easy for people to accomplish. Although foods are not strictly herbal medicines, I’ve included numerous medicinal food recipes in this chapter in addition to herbal teas and tinctures. For example, Flax Crax, Yacon Cookies, Chia Chocolate Pudding, and grain-free Peanut Butter Blondies can serve as inspirations for creating grain-free and sugar-free bread, cracker, and dessert alternatives. Ironically, it is much better to eat vegetables, salads, and steamed greens than even these grain- and sugar-free but carbohydrate-rich foods. However, I offer the recipes due to my decades of working with patients and observing how difficult it is for people to stick to what one patient called a “strictly twigs and berries” diet. People often become diabetic because they would much rather eat toast, chips, and cookies than salads and stir-fries. It becomes a quality of life issue for them to abstain from their favorite foods month after month. Therefore, I have offered these recipes as examples of more innocent, if not downright healthy, alternatives to the problematic foods that so many of us crave. If we can help keep our patients sated with creative recipes such as these, adhering to the larger dietary scheme of a vegetable-based diet may be easier to comply with. Give patients the tools they need to succeed by including recipes such as these in patient handouts or even by offering classes to show and tell how to make these more innocent sweets.

Intermittent fasting is also highly recommended. For example, a person can eat three healthy meals per day at roughly 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 6 to 7 p.m., and then abstain from food for the rest of the evening. Holding off on breakfast until midmorning is important because insulin resistance results from constantly elevated glucose and insulin levels. Abstaining from all food for a 12-hour period gives the body a break from the continued presence of glucose and insulin in the blood and may help to improve insulin response. Intermittent fasting is also associated with lower levels of oxidative stress in the body and longevity in general. Stretching the fasting period to 14 or even 16 hours may be even more effective, and yet it still allows people to eat three meals per day. Drinking herbal tea upon waking is permitted and encouraged, and going for a rigorous walk, practicing yoga, or engaging in some other physical activity in the morning before eating can help distract a person from hunger for an hour or two. Exercise is always essential for diabetics and for all of us working to stave off diabetes and heart disease and to support longevity.

The Role of Environmental Toxins

Many physicians will also address exposure to environmental toxins known to impair the liver’s highly important metabolic role. Physicians must rule out obvious exposures to toxic substances through smoking, workplace exposure, household and lawn chemicals, chemical-laden drinking water, eating food stored in plastic packaging, polluted air, heavy metals, or any other stressor. When extensive and long-term exposures are suspected, or when there are toxicity symptoms in the body or compromised liver function, 3 to 6 months of a detoxification protocol may be warranted as the initial therapy. Precise and extensive protocols are outside the scope of this text but some general approaches involve fasting, sweating, chelating heavy metals where necessary, and using agents such as glutathione, Silybum marianum, and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) to support liver detoxification of fat-soluble toxins. NAC, a sulfur-containing compound, is supportive to liver-detoxification pathways, and it may also improve insulin resistance according to human trials using 1.8 to 3 grams per day depending on body weight. Alkali minerals such as silica, zinc, calcium, and magnesium may help naturally chelate some toxic compounds, plus assist the kidney in excreting water-soluble toxins through the urinary system. Equisetum arvense and Centella asiatica are two nourishing herbs high in minerals and also known to bind heavy metals in soil. Research is lacking, but Equisetum and Centella are folkloric detoxification and tissue-restoration tonics.

There are some clinicians who specialize in environmental toxicity and a number of in-patient facilities that assist people with fasts and modified fasts. Several nutraceuticals are particularly well studied and shown to have broad anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects on a wide array of inflammatory compounds in a wide assortment of tissue types and situations. Among these are resveratrol and alpha-lipoic acid as well as well-known antioxidant nutrients such as vitamins C and E. These are so widely applicable that one can’t go wrong including these supplements in a protocol for diabetes, especially when attempting more aggressive protocols to treat uncomfortable paresthesias due to advancing neuropathy or to treat rising blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine levels to attempt to protect remaining glomeruli.

Tea for Diabetes and Obesity

Obesity has negative health consequences related to fat distribution, particularly the central or visceral accumulation of fat. Obesity is found in more than 90 percent of noninsulin-dependent diabetics, and weight loss achieves excellent results in improving carbohydrate tolerance in many cases. Dietary improvements and weight loss are the prime therapies in correcting this type of diabetes. Botanical agents may be of value in conjunction with dietary and exercise/weight-loss programs. This formula is not a weight loss tea, per se, but it improves the liver’s ability to process fats and carbohydrates in a manner that may support exercise and calorie restriction. Licorice can improve insulin sensitivity, reduce fat deposition in tissues, and suppress the accumulation of abdominal fat. Licorice helps blend the flavors in this tea, and glycyrrhizic acid, a saponin in Glycyrrhiza, is credited with an ability to improve insulin resistance and fat metabolism in animal models of metabolic syndrome. Glycyrrhiza has also been found to reduce inflammation and support function in animal models of diabetic kidney damage. Pueraria tuberosa improves insulin sensitivity. Cinnamomum (cinnamon) potentiates the action of insulin, and proanthocyanidins from cinnamon prevent the formation of advanced glycation end products. Some human clinical studies have shown cinnamon to reduce fasting insulin, glucose, total cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol and enhance insulin sensitivity in subject with elevated blood glucose.

Pueraria species

Cinnamomum verum or other species

Astragalus membranaceus

Berberis aquifolium

Glycyrrhiza glabra

Citrus paradisi, C. aurantium peel

Zingiber officinale

• Combine the herbs in equal parts, or to taste.
• Decoct 1 teaspoon of the mixture per cup of water, simmer gently for 10 minutes, let stand in a covered pan for 15 minutes more, and strain.
• Drink 3 or more cups (720 ml) per day, long term.

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