African Tea: Hope for Type-2 Diabetics

Symptoms of diabetes

Patients may feel extreme thirst and hunger, with frequent urination and unexplained weight loss. They may also develop dry, itchy skin and sores or bruises that heal slowly. Some may also feel tiredness or drowsiness. A tingling numbness in the hands or feet is also observed by some patients.

One encouraging thing is that, along with increased prevalence of diabetes, research and development activities have gone up too.

In a recent study carried out by scientists from the Pharmaceutical Science Department of the Copenhagen University, it was concluded that African tea may help in developing a prospective treatment for Type 2 diabetes.

What is African tea?
A traditional Nigerian medicine for common ailments, African tea is assembled from the leaf extracts of Rauvolfia Vomitoria, a shrub native to Africa, and the fruit of Citrus aurantium. It is very easy to make: Just boil the young stalks, leaves and the fruit; filter the liquid and your special African tea is ready.

Study details
The scientists conducted the study to observe the tea’s effect on type-2 diabetes patients and came up with some promising results. The tea was first tested on genetically diabetic mice with good results. Later on, around 23 type-2 diabetes patients underwent a four month long clinical test.

The patients drank 750ml of tea each day. “After four months of treatment with tea we can, however, see a significant increase in glucose tolerance,” said Dr Joan Campbell-Tofte from the University of Copenhagen. There were changes in fatty acid composition in the patients who drank the African tea, as compared to the placebo group.

“In the patient group who drank the tea, the number of polyunsaturated fatty acids increased. That is good for the body’s cells because the polyunsaturated fat causes the cell membranes to be more permeable, which results in the cells absorbing glucose better from the blood,” said Campbell-Tofte.

Researchers noted that the treatment by African tea is different from other forms of type 2 diabetes therapies. It does not have any effect on the blood sugar level initially, but after 4 months of treatment, there was an increase in glucose tolerance in the subjects.