The Herb that’s Too Tough for Diabetes

The Herb that’s Too Tough for Diabetes

The evidence continues to mount that this powerful and versatile herb helps fight diabetes.

In this new study, 90 people with diabetes continued to take their drugs, but half of them started taking turmeric also.

At the end of the 120 day study, HbA1c went down significantly in the turmeric group compared to the drug only group. This is very important if you have diabetes because HbA1c is the most important marker of long term blood sugar and diabetes control.

The turmeric group also had significant improvement in neuropathic sensation. Diabetic neuropathy is a frequent complication of diabetes in which there can be loss of nerve function, tingling, numbness, pain and muscle weakness.

This study shows that adding turmeric to your diabetes medications can help “manage the symptoms and complications of type II diabetes.”

And it is not the first to show that. The active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin. A literature review on curcumin found that it lowers glucose and improves beta-cell function in diabetics and prediabetics (Int J Endocrinol Metab 2014; 12: e18081). It is the beta-cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.

In a striking study, while 16.4% of prediabetics on a placebo went on to develop diabetes, 0% of those given curcumin did. The ones who got the curcumin had significantly better beta-cell function and significantly less insulin resistance (Diabetes Care 2012;35:2121-7).

This growing body of research gives hope that curcumin may be a safe, powerful and important herb for diabetics.


Pak J Pharm Sci. 2022 May;35(3(Special)):873-878