Juniper Berry and diabetes

What is juniper berry?

Juniper berries are part of the genus Juniperus, native to Northern Europe, Asia, and North America. These plants have blue or reddish fruit which are commonly known as berries.

I love to say that Junipers are extensively used as ornamental trees.

I do not want to make my narration botanical, but I admit that you can find these berries with other different names such as Genévrier, Ginepro, Enebro, Gemeiner Wachholde (which indeed sounds strange to me:).

Role of Juniper Berry controlling blood sugar level and symptoms

This is the part that most of you are really interested and that's why you are here. I'd like to thank you for that.

Now, as you may probably know, diabetes is a serious chronic disease that affects the blood sugar level of the body due to some troubles caused in insulin production and secretion or proper functioning.

Insulin is a hormone secreted by beta cells of the pancreas. Insulin maintains the blood glucose level by increasing the metabolism of the glucose in the body and increase the absorption of glucose in the cells from the blood stream.

So, when there is some disturbance in the insulin function, patient suffer with this disease. Diabetes can be divided into two types, one is known as the type 1 diabetes mellitus, in which insufficient amount of insulin is produced and is mostly occurred in children.

Second one is known as the type 2 diabetes mellitus in which the receptors on which insulin acts become non responsive or insufficient, and is mostly occurred in adults.

So these berries and their extract can be used in this disease, because they have certain components which increase the insulin production, sensitization of receptors and make the blood flow efficient. These all things result in the decrease of blood glucose level.

Given in details, I was going through the research identifying the components inside these berries that can reduce blood sugar levels.

The main active ingredient is Joso berry extract; while other active components include shikimic acid (SA); ferulic acid, oleuropeic acid-8-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside, etc. They are all found beneficial in reducing blood glucose levels.

Clinical Uses of Juniper Berry

I found that these berries can be also used in other medical conditions including:

1. Heart burn

2. General loss of appetite

3. GIT infections

4. Bloating

5. Flatulence (intestinal gases)

6. Stomach ulcers

7. Kidney and bladder stones

8. Urinary tract infections

9. Pain in muscles and joints

10. Skin wounds

11. Bronchitis

12. Cancer

13. Rheumatoid arthritis

14. Gout

15. Chest congestion

16. Cystitis

17. Urethritis

18. Toxins in blood

19. Acne

Other uses of Juniper Berry

1. Fragrance for cosmetics and soaps

2. Oil extract is used in shampoos, hair conditioners and lipsticks

3. Essential oil is used in aromatherapy

Dosage

1. 1-5 drops of concentrated oil

2. 20-100 mg of pure extract

3. 2-10 g of berries seeped in water

REMEMBER:

Juniper berries alone cannot help you lower blood sugar levels. You should continue with other lifestyle and diet changes.

If you want to take Juniper berries extract together with other herbs beneficial for lowering sugar purposes, you can follow the link.

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