Herbs to Be Avoided

Diabetes mellitus is a disorder which involves metabolism. It ends up causing a high amount of blood glucose that ends up circulating in the blood stream; and this will cause some irreparable damage to the organs and tissues of the patient.

Diabetic patients will generally end up taking prescription drugs that will help regulate the levels of blood glucose. Certain herbal supplements which a person might be on, might actually end up interfering with the effect of the medications.

Medicines for Diabetes –

Type 1
Patients suffering from Type 1 diabetes cannot produce insulin of their own, from the pancreatic cells. It is for this reason that they have to depend on insulin injections which are generally extracted from a bovine source.

Type 2
These diabetics will produce a good amount of insulin and for this the patients must take the kind of medication which will boost the production of insulin. Some of them might even suffer from insulin resistance. This would mean that the insulin transport system will be ineffective in delivering the glucose which will help in delivering the glucose out of the person’s blood stream and into the cells of his/her body. These diabetics will end up taking medications which help in increasing the body’s ability to increase transportation of the glucose into the blood. The drugs end up inhibiting digestive processes such as slowing gastric emptying which helps in reducing carbohydrate load which goes into the patient’s body, which will thereby help in lowering blood sugar.

Herbs Related to Hyperglycemia –

The goal of most diabetes medications will be to cause a reduction in the amounts of glucose which circulates in the person’s blood. It is for this exact reason that taking an herb which will raise the blood sugar levels is not recommended. They will work in a contradictory manner. Herbs like gotu kola, rosemary, celery seed and bupleurum fall under this category. They end up inhibiting the ability of the pancreatic cells to release insulin. This will end up resulting in higher levels of blood sugar.

Herbs Related to Hypoglycemia –

Certain drugs have been recommended to diabetics, because they work as natural methods of lowering their blood sugar levels. They end up working using a variety of methods; and these will include increasing the levels of insulin secretion; and these enhance the body’s ability to uptake glucose. This will further inhibit the glucose from being absorbed into the intestine. For patients using prescribed medications, it wouldn’t be a great idea to use herbal supplements without them being monitored by a registered doctor. This is because they’re at a risk of hypoglycemia (which would refer to dangerously low levels of sugar). Herbs that fall into this category would include bitter melon, aloe vera, ginger, ginseng and prickly pear.

Herbs That Are Anti-Coagulant –

Herbs that contribute to blood thinning are not a good choice for patients who are on diabetic patients. Chestnut seed, sweet woodruff, sweet clover, red clover, visnaga and bedstraw are all examples of herbs that thin blood. The compounds present in this herb will end up increasing the metabolism of certain medications in the patient’s liver. This will end up making these medicines lesser effective when it comes to lowering blood sugar levels.

Salicylate Herbs –

Salicylate is actually a compound which is used in medicines with anti-inflammatory properties. Certain herbal products end up acting like salicylates which end up interfering with the action of diabetic medicines. They do so by disrupting the chemical structure of the drugs that the person might be on. Herbs that contain salicylate would include the likes of balsam poplar, balm of Gilead, black haw, white willow, wintergreen, white birch and sweet birch.