Medicinal plants for the treatment of diabetes: Is it good to consume them?

Abstract

The undesirable effects and high cost of pharmacological treatments for diabetes have led to increased interest in the use of medicinal plants to treat this disease. A variety of plants around the world have been used empirically for the treatment of diabetes. In some cases, the composition of these plants, their effects on diabetes, and their mechanisms of action have been systematically studied.The best­known example is french lilac , the plant that contains metformin, the most widely used antidiabetic drug in the world. However, in most cases, the chemical composition, the active ingredient responsible for the effects, effective doses, and toxicology are not well­known. This is alarming because some molecules present in various plants can have harmful effects on health. In this article, we highlight the need for studies to establish whether a plant extract can be safely ingested. We use the example of french lilac, which took more than 500 years from its empirical use to the isolation and approval of metformin as a safe drug for diabetes.