Diet Therapy for Diabetes: Part 2 of 5

NOTE: Following is the second of five excerpts on diabetes from one of Dr. Leung's earlier writings. This originally appeared in 1997 in Dr. Leung's newsletter, Leung's Chinese Herb News, Issue 11, page 3. -ed

In a recent issue of the Shizhen Journal of TCM Research [Shizhen Guoyao Yanjiu,8(6): 553 (1997)], numerous simple treatments of diabetes using common Chinese foods or herbs are summarized by three doctors from the Caiyuan Municipal People's Hospital of Shandong Province. The following recipes are based on herbs/foods that should be available in Chinese or other ethnic stores in North America.

Green Tea

The original study was made by a Japanese professor, who showed that drinking green tea can reduce excess sugar in the blood. However, the tea must be made with cooled boiled water and not with hot water. It is claimed that hot water will destroy the hypoglycemic components. For sanitary reasons, I suggest you select your green tea with care, since any harmful bacteria in the tea would not be killed when steeped in cold water. Japanese green teas are usually good. If you don't mind drinking cold tea, this remedy is certainly simple and convenient. It won't hurt to try it for a couple months. You never know.

Asian ginseng and egg white soup

Mix 3 g of ginseng powder with one egg white and add boiling water to make a tea/soup. Take this no more than once a day, or better, every other day.

These and more herbal remedies are available from the volumes of Dr. Leung’s newsletter, of the same name as this blog (Leung’s Chinese Herb News). This newsletter was published and sent to subscribers (most were industry-insiders) from 1996 to 2004. The collected works now serve as an excellent reference work, created with Dr. Leung’s frank, honest opinions and down-to-earth communication style.For more information about Dr. Leung and his writings, visit http://www.earthpower.com/. To order the newsletter containing the remedies mentioned above, visit the bookstore, click “Buy Now” on the newsletter, and select Issue # 11 from the drop down list.