Fenugreek - An Anti-diabetes Medicinal Herb

People with diabetes can benefit from Fenugreek as one of nature's marvelous medicinal herbs.

It's use as a medicinal plant dates back to the fifteenth century B.C. and it was widely grown in the Mediterranean, especially Greece.

Fenugreek seeds are known for helping to improve digestion and to promote good metabolism. Literature also notes the following about the seeds of this plant:

• are rich in protein and mucilage
• help make the digestive processes more active because of the mild laxative effect
• have 27% of its weight as protein
• have proteins that are very easily assimilated by the body
• the flour made from the seeds could help people who have lost their appetite, or are anemic, and
• can help those who need to gain weight

Maybe it is the regulating effect of this natural supplement on the digestive process that allows it to be associated with diabetes.

Citations in medicinal plant literature

Fenugreek is cited in Dr. James Chappell's book on diabetes as "an adjuvant  therapy in diabetes and for hypercholesterolemia." That is how the European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy characterizes the medicinal herb.

I have found Dr. Chappell's book an eye-opener. The book is called A Promise Made, A Promise Kept: One Son's Quest for the Cause and Cure of Diabetes,". It can be obtained from Amazon.com.

Use of this natural product [fenugreek] has also been cited in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition for significantly reducing blood sugar.

The India Journal of Physicians was quoted by Chappell as saying that the seeds were used to improve glycemic control and decrease insulin resistance.

Use of Fenugreek for other conditions

A paste made from the decoction of Fenugreek seeds is rich in mucilage. That is, if you extract the flavor and medicinal contents by boiling, you get a substance that has been used in the treatment of

• hemorrhoids - it reduces inflammation
• skin conditions such as wounds, ulcers, and infected sores when used as a poultice
• inflamed joints, e.g. arthritis

So this is a medicinal plant whose properties have been used both externally and internally with success.

This medicinal herb is yet another piece of anti-diabetes "weapon" that anyone can use. Tried and true, used for centuries, and we have yet to find anyone complaining of a side effect from its use.

You can find Fenugreek supplements at whole foods or health food stores.

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