Goat’s Rue Can Help Lower Blood Sugar Levels In Diabetics

Diabetes has now reached epidemic proportions in Britain. There are 1.4 million known diabetics in the UK, while an estimated one million people are unaware they even have the disease  – despite the potentially life-threatening complications it can cause, such as blindness and vascular disease.

Worse still, some experts are now predicting that these figures are set to double over the next eight years, because of our sugar-rich diets.

Type 1 diabetics (which affects mainly young people) are dependent on daily insulin injections. Type 2 diabetics (which typically strikes between the ages of 40 and 70) need to pay careful attention to their diets and exercise regularly.

However, lifestyle changes are not always enough for Type 2 diabetics and they may also require medication. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, then, if there was a safe, natural alternative to conventional drugs with all their attendant side-effects?

Fortunately, there is. Following intensive studies involving a plant called Goat’s Rue (also known as French Lilac), we are pleased to bring you this special report telling you all about it.

And, not only does this remarkable plant possess effective anti-diabetic properties, but it can also promote weight-loss, prevent the formation of dangerous blood clots and act as a powerful anti-bacterial agent too.

Similar clinical benefits to conventional drugs but without unpleasant side-effects Goat’s Rue contains the chemical galegin, which is key to its extraordinary anti-diabetic effects. Galegin is chemically very similar to another agent called guanidine, the standard compound from which many conventional diabetic drugs are manufactured, such as Metformin.1

However, because Goat’s Rue is a plant, it has fewer side-effects than synthetic drugs such as Metformin, which can cause loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, stomach pains and diarrhoea.

Dr Ward Dean, a member of the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Anti-ageing Medicine, is responsible for much of the original research on Goat’s Rue and diabetes. Following extensive studies, he believes that Goat’s Rue has the same clinical benefits as Metformin.2

Goat’s Rue reduces the threat of diabetes-related complications developing

Diabetes is characterised by too much glucose in the blood, due to an irregularity in insulin production. (Insulin is a hormone that promotes the uptake of glucose from the blood to the cells, for conversion to energy or fat storage.) Type 1 diabetics do not produce any insulin; whereas Type 2 diabetics produce some insulin but not enough.

Over time, high levels of blood glucose can cause irreparable damage to body tissue, particularly your eyes, peripheral nerves, kidneys and veins, as well as suppressing your immune system.

Scientists have discovered that Goat’s Rue initiates a reduction in blood glucose levels (without triggering the symptoms of hypoglycaemia), a reduced risk of cataract and retinopathy (degeneration of your retina) and kidney damage, which is common among diabetics. It also slows down the advance of atherosclerosis.2, 3

Exactly how Goat’s Rue works is still unknown, but some scientists believe it is able to influence diabetes through its ‘receptor sensitising’ activities. The production of major hormones such as insulin is dependent upon the communication between cells and other stimulatory hormones and chemicals. The point of contact between the hormone or chemical and the cell is called the membrane receptor.

As you age, the responsiveness of these receptors declines. This means that your cells are not stimulated enough and become inactive, which results in inadequate amounts of insulin (and other hormones) being produced.

Receptor sensitisers, such as Goat’s Rue, are nutrients and chemicals that have the ability to rejuvenate your membrane receptors, making your cells more responsive to hormonal and chemical stimulation. Goat’s Rue restores insulin sensitivity in your cells, and boosts their ability to take up glucose from your blood and use it more efficiently.4

Goat’s Rue helps fight off infection and prevents fatal blood clots from forming

Now our researchers have discovered that the healthful benefits of Goat’s Rue extend beyond its anti-diabetic role. Researchers at the College of Pharmacological Education and Research in Gujurat, India, have studied the effect of Goat’s Rue on a variety of common bacteria. They found that it can successfully inhibit microbial growth and speed up skin healing after injury.5

The bacteria studied belonged to two important categories, called Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria that include the great majority of agents responsible for causing skin, lung, stomach, bladder and bowel infections.

The plant’s extracts are proving to be effective anti-coagulants too, preventing the small, cellular constituents of blood, known as platelets, from sticking together. In the event of a serious wound or haemorrhage, platelets become very sticky and clump together to form a blood clot, which acts as a kind of ‘cork’ to stop the bleeding.

However, when the walls of your arteries become thickened by ageing and high cholesterol deposits (as in the case of atherosclerosis), the platelets can clump together when they shouldn’t to form a clot that risks blocking an artery.

Researchers at the Faculty of Medicine of the Thracian University, Bulgaria, have shown that Goat’s Rue extract not only prevents the platelets from abnormally clumping together, but also actually dissolves already formed clots.6

Finally, animal studies carried out by scientists, at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, found that Goat’s Rue can cause a significant reduction in body weight.7

More astonishing still was that this weight loss was maintained even after treatment with Goat’s Rue had stopped and a normal diet resumed.

The recommended dosage of Goat’s Rue varies between 20mg and 200mg three times a day (depending on the purity of the active ingredients in Goat’s Rue). Please consult your doctor before trying Goat’s Rue, especially if you are already taking medication.

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Disclaimer: This article is part of the Daily Health's extensive research archive. The research and information contained in this article was accurate at the the time of publication but may have been updated since the date of publication. Consult our most recent articles for the latest research on alternative health and natural breakthroughs.

Bear in mind the material provided in this content is for information purposes only. We are not addressing anyone’s personal situation. Please consult with your own physician before acting on any recommendations contained herein.

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Sources:

1. Phytother Res 1999, 13(2): 91-94
2. Vitamin Research News 2001, 15(3): 4-5
3. Experimental Eye Rearch 1996, 62; 505-510
4. Vitamin Research News 2001, 15 (10); 1-16
5. J Ethnopharmacol 2001, 77(1): 111-112
6. J Ethnopharmacol 2000,69(3): 235-240
7. J Pharm Pharmacol 1999, 51(11):1313-1319