Fenugreek

My sister spent the summer with me. She has a lot of health problems and one of them is diabetes. The first few weeks she faithfully took her blood sugar test every day. When she was done, I would ask her what her number was that day. She would tell me and we would move on into the day.

One day my sister told me that it was a little high. It is not my place to cure anyone so I asked, "What are You going to do about it?" Her answer was to take a walk and see if that would bring it down. She mentioned that if it didn't come down then I would have to give her a shot of the insulin that she had brought with her. Sorry, but as an herbalist, I don't give shots. I don't take them either.

I went into the kitchen and put an ounce of water in a glass, poured powdered cinnamon into it and gave it to her, telling her that it was just to help until the other stuff was ready.

The other stuff consisted of Fenugreek seeds that I placed into a little water to soak. Fenugreek seeds are hard as rocks when dry but after sitting in water for a short while they soften and taste somewhat like barley or millet. While they were soaking, I went into my files and brought out the documentation that I have on them showing that they have the ability to lower blood sugar by as much as 54% in a short while.

I have since done more research on this plant or rather these seeds and find that they also bring down triglycerides and will help with cholesterol in the body. I was only aware of the blood sugar part, this was an added bonus.

After that day, my sister started to listen to her body. We are so programmed to believe a blood test but are not aware that when the body is stressed or over heats or when ones legs start talking to us, something needs to be handled. Well, these were the symptoms that my sister had when her blood sugar was high. After that day, my sister carried a small vial of seeds in water with her and took them whenever she needed. Every once in a while I would tell her that she should check her blood sugar but it was always within range.

She went home last week to live with her daughter. This daughter is married to a pharmacist so at their house she will have to take the test every day and she wasn't allowed to take any seeds home with her.

Wikipedia has a lot of information about Fenugreek including the fact that it looks like wild clover and was found in King Tutankhamen's tomb. It is used in India, Egypt and cultivated in the near East. It will increase milk in lactating women. They even mention that the plant is used during Rosh Hashanah. Wikipedia mentioned that it has shown to protect against both breast and colon cancer.

So even if you don't have diabetes, this might be a nice herb to check into.