Insulin Plant (Costus Igneus)

[Girishkhandekar]

Do anybody have any experience of Insulin Plant ? Does it's consumption really reduce the blood sugar?

[ramana42 Volunteer]

To my knowledge,insulin has to be injected to be effective.If consumed orally,it will be digested like any other food item.So,eating insulin plant is not an option,I believe.

[Hidden in reply to ramana42]

It is a small herb. It is given the name because of its hypoglycemic properties.

[Haldin21 in reply to Hidden]

Unfortunately, it has no effect on my BS. This includes all the other related species of this ornamental ginger: Costus woodsonii, Costus speciosus, Costus spectabilis, Costus barbatus. Still they are very pretty ornamentals to have in your garden.

google.com.my/search?hl=en&...

[Haldin21 in reply to ramana42]

The insulin from camel milk can survive camel milk, in case you didn't know and there's a lot of natural insulin in camel milk - around 30 units per liter. Unfortunately, it's still very expensive outside of India. In Australia, one has to queue up to get it - many months of advanced booking. Also, the insulin pill is on the horizon and you can google that up - Israeli invention (I think it's called 'Oramed'). It's already gone to phase III clinical trials and should be on the market soon. It performs better, it seems, than injected insulin.

[Hidden in reply to Haldin21]

Yes it's too costly in powdered form also. Something 6000-8000rs/kg.

[Haldin21 in reply to Hidden]

If it's available I'll go for it. The cost of Injectable insulin + supplies of related stuff + finger prick pain + dangerous episodes of hypoglymia could be a trade off for camel milk, so the transition/replacement of the former for the latter may balance each other out. Plus I've read of people who went off insulin completely after consuming camel milk. One possible advantage of the insulin pill is that it doesn't appear to cause hypoglycemia in clinical trials.

[ramana42 Volunteer in reply to Haldin21]

The link below explains the complexities of delivering insulin orally.I believe that without going through that complex process(which is still in development stage),eating or drinking plant material or camel milk will do the job.Oral insulin therapy has been researched since pretty long time and as and when it is available in the market,it's cost factor will be an important consideration..

economictimes.indiatimes.co...

[Haldin21 in reply to ramana42]

@cure

The problem lies largely in how much funds are available for the clinical trials and the start up capital for the new biz/industry ... which is why it takes so long for the actual product to hit the market.

I'd rather have a glucagon inhibitor instead as it would then reduce or even eliminate the need for insulin. Glucagon holds the key, not insulin. This has been borne out in research carried out at one US university. This thesis was largely corroborated by an Australian university just recently. The cruel joke is that the insulin industry also created a concurrent 'need' for glucagon as it antagonizes insulin when its overdosing causes hypoglycemia. Jolly good biz both ways, as they say.

Cure/Admin astutely pointed out one of the myths of insulin in an earlier post** titled "Myth: Insulin is needed for glucose uptake" though it was addressing an issue relating to glucose transporters, not glucagon. In particular, GLUT1 doesn't even need insulin for glucose uptake and that GLUT1 is just as powerful as GLUT4, the darling and cash cow of those marketing insulin because GLUT4, in contrast, does need insulin for glucose uptake.

** healthunlocked.com/diabetes...

[gangadharan_nair]

Dried leaves of insulin plant have anti-diabetic properties. But I have not tried to consume the leaves of this plant.

Plant-based therapies that have been shown in some studies to have anti-diabetic properties include:

Aloe vera.

Bilberry extract.

Bitter melon.

Cinnamon.

Fenugreek.

Ginger.

Okra.

Sources:--

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chama...

[Luckysugar]

It's own name sounds promising to reduce blood sugar in which it may actually work. However, what are the consequences of long-term use or over-use to our body in particular some important organs eg. Liver or kidneys. Interaction with other medications, food and supplements you are taking is also concerned. It's advisable to carry on with whatever interventions that are really work to keep your BS in control.

[Hidden]

Some experiments claim that it is as beneficial as Glibenclamide when using in powdered form:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[DANNRO]

Dear Girish, all 4 Brother and sisters of mine are diabetic. We all have Insulin plant in our house. The fresh Ihsulin leaves works. We chew 2 to 3 fresh washed Insulin leaves in case we decide to have any Desserts with Sugar and we have checked our sugar levels which increase very marginally after sweets compared to when we do not takr the leaves. But we have not done any research for regular use and all that. We had also tried dried powdered Insulin Leaves, but the results were not convincing.

[Hidden]

Hi, insulin plant has benefitted me a great deal. I was detected with hyperglycaemia in jan2017 and my fasting sugar was 424. I started eating one fresh leaf of this plant on advice twice day for a week. Then tapered the dose and finally stopped after a month; my fasting sugar was 129-135. I always have this plant with me though I didn't need to take it for a long time now. I know of many people who got their sugar levels controlled by consuming this plant leaf, within just a few days.

So yes, it helps.

[arshid2560 in reply to Hidden]

where do u live and where is this insulin plant available. I do need one.

[Hidden in reply to arshid2560]

Its freely available in nurseries. One can order online too. I got it from NBRI Lucknow.

[Sivaramr in reply to Hidden]

Hi Vinn1,

Can you please clarify my below queries,

After taking insulin leaf does the condition is under table all time or do you take the leave regularly.

Does it have any side effect after taking long time of this leave.

Thanks in advance.

[sandybrown in reply to Sivaramr]

If this plant leaf help to reduce blood glucose Why is it we have not seen as an important medication?

Not enough research?

[Hidden in reply to sandybrown]

There's another herb called Gymnema sylvestre that I'm still taking off n on... it can be taken for prolonged period. There's enough research on this herb but I too have not seen much research on "insulin plant leaf"..

[Hidden in reply to Sivaramr]

Hi, I took it for about a month, started twice a day and tapered it to once every alternate day before stopping it totally. This herb should be discontinued once blood sugar is under control. I didn't experience any side effects. Although I was exercising diet control, and akso increased physical activity apart from taking insulin plant leaf,I reduced my fasting blood sugar from 424 to 116 in a month... don't know if that was possible just by diet modification etc in such short span..

[Girishkhandekar in reply to Hidden]

That is nice. Whether the drop in FF is due to exercise or insulin plant is immaterial. But nice control is seen.

Can you elaborate on how did you take insulin plant? Leaves? roots ? How much and with what? at what time of the day?

Regarding exercise? What type of exercise? How much and when?

This detailed information will help others to follow if at all they wish.

Thanks.

[Hidden in reply to Girishkhandekar]

I took one small or half large leaf with water. On empty stomach in the morning I would chew it a bit and then swallow with water and didn't eat for half an hour. Initially I took it twice a day then after a week once a day. Then every alternate day for a week then stopped.

As for exercise I did brisk walk×30minutes twice a day.

However I've come to realise:

1. Its better to be active throughout the day than being active in spurts.

2. No amount of exercise or eating any plant leaf or other herbs will undo harmful effects of wrong food choices.

3. Stress seems to most important factor in diabetes cause and hence control.

4. Boosting immunity helps with diabetes too.

[Palak72843]

Insulin injection is the best treatment for diabetic patients.Dr.Joseph.

[Sunnybhai]

youtube.com/watch?v=Uo8XHKY...(Not working as expected?) Some good vids are there on utube regarding costus igneus (insulin plant). It is quite effective in some, and not so in others.