Complementary and Alternative Medicine: A Review on the Effects of Ginger, Cinnamon and Camellia Sinensis Leaf Tea in Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease with a multitude of effects on different organ-systems. Its chronic nature makes it a challenging disease for patients to manage. Today, patients have access to many different types of conventional therapies for diabetes, each with a different mode of action and side effects. Despite the wide range of therapeutic agents available today, patients seek help from complementary and alternative medicine. The decision to use complementary and alternative medicine by patients stems from some of the harmful side effects of current conventional therapies, as well as their desire to find measures that will help them to manage their disease. Complementary and alternative medicine includes several modalities ranging from dietary components such as vitamins and herbal supplements to mind-body interventions such as yoga, meditation, and massage therapy. Here we review the use of complementary and alternative medicine including Ginger, Cinnamon, and Camellia sinensis leaf tea, and their effects on glycemic indices in diabetes.