A Thai study published in the October 2012 issue of Diabetes Care on people with pre-diabetes showed that the spice curcumin could prevent the progression to outright diabetes. They gave 1.5 grams of curcumin to 119 people with pre-diabetes and 116 without it for 9 months and found 19 cases of type 2 diabetes in the control and none in those treated with curcumin.
Curcumin may improve insulin production from the beta cells of the pancreas. While this is not a cure-all for diabetes, it is something to consider that is safe and does the same thing that a number of pharmaceutical drugs that are used to control blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetes but without the side effects that cause heart attacks and strokes. Curcumin lowers, triglycerides, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and even arthritis according to many clinical studies.
Lifestyle is the best treatment for type 2 diabetes. However, for those who cannot or will not practice a healthy lifestyle, curcumin added to the diet is a good idea just as is it a good idea for anyone with type 2 diabetes.
