Is Astragalus the next anti-diabetic herb to aid weight loss and lower blood sugar levels?

Although more people are at risk of type 2 diabetes than ever before, the disease is not inevitable. Regardless of your current risk profile, you can stabilize your blood sugar level and keep it at a healthy level through a combination of:

• natural remedies such as medicinal herbs
• dietary strategies and
• Changes in lifestyle

And if you already have type 2 diabetes, you too may benefit from including natural medicine in your treatment program. Perhaps this is a herb that will help you!

Astragalus root: Astragalus root, one of more than 5,000 Chinese herbal medicines that have been used for centuries, is a well-known immune modulator, ensuring that the immune system is active enough to fight disease, but not so active that it destroy healthy tissue Scientists now believe that this inexpensive, nontoxic plant could be a treatment for both type 2 diabetes and associated obesity.

Researchers from prestigious institutions in China, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom have discovered that two compounds from the astragalus root: astragaloside II and isoastragaloside I, have a highly selective action on fat cells. These compounds stimulate fat cells to release a hormone called adiponectin.

What does adiponectin do:

• is to send signals to various organs in your body that enough food has been eaten and that there is no need to look for more
• tells your liver not to convert your glycogen stores to glucose. This helps keep blood sugar levels low.
• signals fat cells that it is time to respond to insulin to remove glucose and fatty acids from the bloodstream. This is another blood sugar-lowering effect that also prevents arteries from becoming “clogged” (actually hardened) with fat
• it also tells your brain that enough food has been consumed and reduces your appetite

All these effects are extremely useful for type 2 diabetics, especially type 2 diabetics who have a weight problem. Together they help reverse insulin resistance, which is the underlying problem for both adult-onset diabetes and weight gain. So, do we all need to go out and try to find astragalus so we can make some tasty herbal tea?

At this time, the best way to obtain this herb is to see a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, who will give you the herbal combination that best suits all of your symptoms. If your blood sugar levels are especially high, you may be given a “detox” first, followed by astragalus.

Professionally dispensed herbal medicine complements your medications prescribed by your conventional physician. It does not replace them. However, the boost you get from taking the right herb could be exactly what you need, with your medication, to keep your blood sugar levels in check.