Herbs for Blood Sugar and Diabetes
18 Sri Lankan medicinal plants traditionally used for this purpose. Open a herb to see its Sinhala, English and botanical names, the parts used, how it is prepared, the research behind it and safety notes.
Karawila (Momordica charantia): Bitter Gourd and the Diabetes Trials That Disagree
(Momordica charantia)
Karawila (Momordica charantia) is the vegetable Sri Lankan children are bribed to eat and Sri Lankan
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Kaluduru (Nigella sativa): Black Seed and the 82-Trial Verdict
(Nigella sativa)
Kaluduru (Nigella sativa) arrived in Sri Lanka along the spice routes and settled into two places at
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Ceylon Cinnamon (Kurundu): True Cinnamon, Coumarin and the Evidence
(Cinnamomum verum)
Kurundu (Cinnamomum verum) is Sri Lanka's most famous export and the reason European fleets once fou
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Thebu (Costus speciosus): The "Insulin Plant" and What the Evidence Really Says
(Costus speciosus (syn. Hellenia speciosa))
Ask any Sri Lankan gardener about thebu and you will hear the same instruction: "one leaf a day for
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Suduru (Cuminum cyminum): Cumin, the Digestive Seed With Metabolic Trials
(Cuminum cyminum)
Suduru (Cuminum cyminum) is the warm, earthy backbone of Sri Lankan curry powder and of the digestiv
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Karapincha (Murraya koenigii): Curry Leaves Are Not Just Flavour
(Murraya koenigii)
Karapincha (Murraya koenigii) suffers a peculiar fate: it is put into almost every Sri Lankan dish a
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Murunga (Moringa oleifera): What the Drumstick Tree Really Delivers
(Moringa oleifera)
Murunga (Moringa oleifera) grows in the corner of countless Sri Lankan gardens, dropping long ribbed
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Uluhal (Trigonella foenum-graecum): Fenugreek for Blood Sugar — and the Breast Milk Question
(Trigonella foenum-graecum)
Uluhal (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is the small, amber, maple-scented seed that goes into the temper
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Pera Kola (Psidium guajava): The Garden Guava Leaf for Diarrhoea and Toothache
(Psidium guajava)
A pera tree grows in almost every Sri Lankan home garden, and when someone has loose motions, a gran
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Masbedda (Gymnema sylvestre): The Vine That Makes Sugar Taste Like Sand
(Gymnema sylvestre)
Chew a fresh leaf of masbedda (Gymnema sylvestre) for a minute, then put a pinch of sugar on your to
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Kowakka (Coccinia grandis): The Fence-Line Vine Studied for Blood Sugar
(Coccinia grandis)
Kowakka (Coccinia grandis) is the slender, ivy-leaved creeper that scrambles over garden fences all
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Madan (Syzygium cumini): Jambul, the Fruit With 125 Years of Diabetes Research
(Syzygium cumini)
Madan (Syzygium cumini) stains your tongue purple and your fingers with history. Before insulin exis
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Kothala Himbutu (Salacia reticulata): The Diabetes Vine Science Took Seriously
(Salacia reticulata)
Kothala himbutu (Salacia reticulata) is that rare thing in herbal medicine: a Sri Lankan folk remedy
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Dummella (Trichosanthes cucumerina): Snake Gourd, the Cooling Vegetable
(Trichosanthes cucumerina)
Dummella (Trichosanthes cucumerina) hangs from village trellises like a bundle of pale green snakes,
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Kohila (Lasia spinosa): The Spiny Marsh Vegetable That Fights Inflammation
(Lasia spinosa)
Kohila (Lasia spinosa) is the vegetable that bites back: a marsh plant whose leaf stalks and rhizome
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Walkoththamalli (Scoparia dulcis): Sweet Broomweed and Blood Sugar
(Scoparia dulcis)
Walkoththamalli (Scoparia dulcis) is a weed with a sweet name and a sweet taste — dulcis means sweet
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Ranawara (Senna auriculata): The Golden Flower Tea of Sri Lanka
(Senna auriculata)
Few sights are more distinctly Sri Lankan than a ranawara bush in flower — a mass of bright yellow a
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Weniwelgeta (Coscinium fenestratum): The Yellow Vine of Sri Lankan Medicine
(Coscinium fenestratum)
Cut a stem of weniwelgeta (Coscinium fenestratum) and the inside is an astonishing sulphur yellow. T
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