While many of your patients come to you for reasons related directly to physical health conditions—pulled muscles, slipped disks, hips out of alignment—if any of them have high blood sugar or diabetes, it shouldn’t be surprising.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that about 86 million Americans have pre-diabetes (high blood sugar but not quite full-blown diabetes) and 90 percent of them don’t even realize it. That’s in addition to the almost 30 million Americans who have diabetes, 25 percent of whom don’t know it yet.1
The rise in type 2 diabetes alarming, as you surely know. And you might think it has happened quickly, sweeping through the country like a virus. But that’s not the case. All we have to do is look at our diets to see we’ve been building up to a diabetes epidemic for some time.
In the space of about 70 years, Americans have dramatically increased their consumption of sugar, high- fructose corn syrup, refined carbohydrates (such as white flour and white rice), and overly processed foods.
We’ve been setting ourselves up for a perfect storm of diabetes. And now it has arrived.
Herbal intervention
But there is a way to stop this epidemic. Along with the right diet and a sensible exercise regimen, Hintonia latiflora is one of the best botanicals for anyone with elevated blood sugar or diabetes.
Hintonia latiflora grows in the Sonoran desert in Mexico in a harsh climate, which actually helps create the powerful defensive compounds in the plant that can help reduce high blood sugar. It is so well regarded that Hintonia has been clinically studied in Europe for over 60 years, and approved for use in people with type 2 diabetes.
Almost from the beginning, early research showed Hintonia latiflora could help people avoid the need to go on medication, or reduce medication in individuals unable to control their blood sugar by diet alone.2
In a 2014 study published in the German journal Naturheilpraxis mit Naturalmedizin (Naturopathic Practice with Natural Medicine), the same dry concentrated bark extract of Hintonia latiflora—combined with additional nutrients—significantly lowered A1C values, fasting glucose levels, and postprandial blood sugar levels.
Factoring all of the diabetic symptoms, the scores improved from 4.8 points to 1.3 points at the end of the study.
Participants also saw improvements in blood pressure, lipids, and liver values.3
Even a small change in A1C—as little as a one point decrease—can mean huge improvements in health. By dropping it that tiny amount, your patients can help reduce their risk of cataracts by almost 20 percent, heart failure by about 15 percent, and risk of amputation or death from peripheral vascular disease by nearly 45 percent.
In this study, after eight months, A1C levels improved by an average of 10.4 percent—a potentially life-saving difference. Fasting glucose was lowered by an average of 23.3 percent, and postprandial glucose by an average of 25 percent.3
Best of all, the herbal intervention was well tolerated—no one saw their blood sugar levels drop too low. And, interestingly, individuals who were taking anti-diabetic prescription drugs stayed on their medication throughout the duration of the study. The Hintonia and nutrient combination was simply added on to their treatment. By the end of the study, of those still using medication, 40 percent could reduce their medication levels and some were able to stop their medication entirely.
In another clinical study, adult participants with type 2 diabetes were provided with the same extract of Hintonia latiflora also combined with trace nutrients (vitamins B1, B6, B12, folic acid, chromium, zinc, and vitamins C and E) for six months.4
Once again, for fasting and postprandial blood glucose numbers and A1C levels, Hintonia latiflora significantly and clinically reduced these numbers. The study also showed that the botanical helped normalize cholesterol and triglycerides.
The reason that Hintonia works is related to a compound in the bark, coutareagenin, which helps stabilize blood sugar levels. According to research, this compound appears to inhibit alpha-glucosidase, an enzyme that releases sugar from carbohydrates.5
Because Hintonia delays the release of sugar in the bloodstream, it keeps glucose balanced, rather than allowing it to spike as you see in cases of type 2 diabetes, or even in cases of hyper- and hypoglycemia.
Hintonia is ideal for many reasons
Aside from diabetes, there are those who feel that the next major health crisis is Alzheimer’s disease. As it happens, the two are quite possibly linked.
High blood sugar can be a significant risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease; elevated glucose creates intensive inflammation in the brain. In fact, in one study, 25 percent of those with high blood sugar and diagnosed diabetes developed Alzheimer’s. Even just having high blood sugar in the “normal” range still led to almost a 20 percent increased risk of dementia.6
It’s understandable that there would be a connection. Elevated blood sugar causes inflammation in both the blood vessels and soft tissue of the brain.
There is already a well-documented connection between untreated elevated blood sugar and heart disease, kidney failure, and nerve and foot damage, so a possibility of it influencing Alzheimer’s risk is not surprising.1
Hintonia can normalize blood pressure levels that often rise due to the inflammatory effects of high blood sugar.7
Aside from this, other Hintonia research shows that compounds from its leaves may help stop gastrointestinal damage and gastric ulcers. Considering the harshness of some drugs used for type 2 diabetes on the digestive system, this is yet another reason to consider adding Hintonia latiflora to a diabetes-fighting regimen.8
Help your patients
Hintonia latiflora is a natural, tested, and effective botanical you can recommend with confidence. It can be used in addition to a patient’s existing regimen. And it has over six decades of study to back it up. It may be exactly the extra push your patients need to normalize their blood sugar levels and have a vital, happy life.
Terry Lemerond is a natural health expert with more than 40 years of experience. he has owned health food stores, founded dietary supplement companies, and formulated more than 400 products. a published author, he appears on radio, television, and is a frequent guest speaker. He can be contacted through europharmausa.com.
References
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “At a Glance 2016: Diabetes.” http://www.cdc.gov/ chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/pdf/2 016/diabetes-aag.pdf. Accessed Nov. 2016.
2 Kuhr, R. Oral Diabetes Therapy with an Euphorbiacean Extract. Der Landarzt. 1953;29(23):1-8.
3 Schmidt M, Hladikova M. Hintonia concentrate—for the dietary treatment of increased blood sugar values: Results of a multicentric, prospective, non-interventional study with a defined dry concentrate of hintonia latiflora. Naturheilpraxis. Feb. 2014. (Translated article).
4 Korecova M, Hladikova M. Treatment of mild and moderate type-2 diabetes: open prospective trial with Hintonia latiflora extract. Eur J Med Res. 2014 Mar 28;19:16.
5 Mata R, Cristians S, Escandón-Rivera S, Juárez- Reyes K, Rivero-Cruz I. Mexican antidiabetic herbs: valuable sources of inhibitors of α- glucosidases. J Nat Prod. 2013;76(3):468-83.
6 Crane P, et al. Glucose levels and risk of dementia. New Engl J Med. 2013;369:540-548.
7 Vierling C, Baumgartner CM, Bollerhey M, et al. The vasodilating effect of a Hintonia latiflora extract with antidiabetic action. Phytomedicine. 2014;21(12):1582-6.
8 Cristians S, Bye R, Navarrete A, Mata R. Gastroprotective effect of Hintonia latiflora and Hintonia standleyana aqueous extracts and compounds. J Ethnopharmacol. 2013;145(2):530-5.
