Tea for the treatment of type-2 diabetes

May 5, 2009

The researchers have harvested the ingredients for the tea in Africa, totalling approximately fifty kilos of leaves and three hundred kilos of fruit from the wild nature of Nigeria. Afterwards the tea has been produced exactly as local healers would do so. The recipe is quite simple: boil the leaves, young stalks and fruit and filter the liquid.

First mice, then humans

Associate professor Per Mølgaard and postdoc Joan Campbell-Tofte from the Department of Medicinal Chemistry have previously tested the tea on genetically diabetic mice. The results of the tests showed that after six weeks of daily treatment with the African tea, combined with a low-fat diet, resulted in changes in the combination and amount of fat in the animals' eyes and protection of the fragile pancreas of the mice.

The researchers have recently completed a four month long clinical test on 23 patients with type-2 diabetes and are more than satisfied with the result.

'The research subjects drank 750ml of tea each day. The cure appears to differentiate itself from other current type-2 diabetes treatments because the tea does not initially affect the sugar content of the blood. But after four months of treatment with tea we can, however, see a significant increase in glucose tolerance,' said postdoc Joan Campbell-Tofte from the University of Copenhagen.

Changes in fatty acid composition

The clinical tests show another pattern in the changes in fatty acid composition with the patients treated in comparison with 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 Joan Campbell-Tofte.

The researchers hope that new clinical tests and scientific experiments in the future will result in a new treatment for type-2 diabetics.

Source: University of Copenhagen

• searcher - May 06, 2009
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  It's not clear from an article how strong such a tea should be. Is it important that leaves are fresh or dryed? And what's about Chinese or Indian tea?
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• mvg - May 06, 2009
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  Great humanitarians,
  
  They will not give the details because they want to turn it into a drug that the doctors and drug companies can make a fortune out of.
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• Agrippa - May 06, 2009
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  I agree with mvg, its all about the almighty dollar. But, it is a plant we do not have here as yet. Oh and you will obviously have to have a prescription to get it, therefore the pharmaceutical companies will be getting richer. Our drug companies sell drugs all over the world, they cost the most in the good old USA.
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• THEY - May 06, 2009
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  While I completely agree with mvg and Agrippa, it is also NOT a good idea to let this plant be destroyed in its natural environment. Natural definitely is better than the created chemical compound, but at least it doesn't wipe out the species. Its kindof a catch 22....
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• dbob - May 06, 2009
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  Which plant is the source of the tea?
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• Choice - May 08, 2009
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  I'm sorry but I disagree with mvg and Agrippa. After seeing all the blues musicians whose songs were lifted by well educated rockers, I believe that the creators of intellectual property should benefit from their work. Credit, and income, where it is due.
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• mvg - May 12, 2009
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  Ok,
  How much are they paying the witch doctors who gave them the recipe? Since the article says: "the tea has been produced exactly as local healers would do so"
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• NeilFarbstein - Aug 22, 2009
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  I'm sorry but I disagree with mvg and Agrippa. After seeing all the blues musicians whose songs were lifted by well educated rockers, I believe that the creators of intellectual property should benefit from their work. Credit, and income, where it is due.

  
  
  Yeah, you dont have to be sorry. If the creators dont benefit somebody else will. A lot of exploiters want to take away patent rights and give themselves big fat salaries and perks
  
  
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