Insulin Plant - When Plants Mimic Human Biology

Plants - The Great Mimickers

Do plants ever mimic human biology? You bet they do. There are examples of this all over the place. For instance, the poppy, creates opioids that act on the opioid receptors of our bodies. Tobacco plants create nicotine, which act on nicotinic acid receptors. And Cannabis, creates cannabinoids, which act on the endocannabinoid receptors of our body. The list of plants that create compounds that manipulate animal biology goes on and on. 

Plants have evolved over millions of years to create chemicals that affect the human body. Sometimes it benefits the animal, and sometimes it causes harm. Today, I want to talk about a situation where a plant creates a chemical that perfectly manipulates a physiological process in the body. This plant is the insulin plant, also known as Costus Igneus

Insulin Plant is originally from South America, but has been widely planted and utilized throughout India, given its significant benefits for patients with type 2 diabetes. And what's amazing about insulin plant is not only does it create an orally absorbable insulin-like protein, but it also acts on almost every level of the diabetes disease process to beneficially improve the disease in human beings. And it does this naturally and with very little side effects. 

Diabetes - An Overview

Before we talk more about this incredible plant.  Let’s first do a brief review of Type II Diabetes.  Type II Diabetes is a form of diabetes where the cells of the body become resistant to insulin.  Insulin is the key that unlocks the door to allow glucose to enter the cells of the body, and glucose is the primary energy source to run the majority of our metabolic functions. Essentially, what happens in diabetes is, the lock is “gunked up” and insulin is not able to unlock the cells to allow for glucose entry.  The pancreas is an organ in your abdomen that, among other things, secretes insulin through its Beta cells.  These Beta cells make more and more insulin, trying to open up the “gunked up” locks.  Eventually, the Beta cells burn-out from being overworked.  The end result is the inability to make insulin and a reduced ability to use insulin. This leads to higher and higher blood glucose levels, which perpetuate the metabolic problems associated with Type II Diabetes.

The Mighty Insulin Plant

Enter the Insulin Plant.  This remarkable plant has a number of compounds that treat and ameliorate the symptoms of Type II Diabetes.  It can be an amazing plant to add to your health and wellness journey and a useful tool for recovery from this disease along with a healthy diet, lifestyle, and weight loss. 

Triterpenoids

The insulin plant has a group of compounds called triterpenoids. Triterpenoids are a type of phytochemical that can have measured and objective effects on the human body. In the realm of diabetes, triterpenoids can reduce both the absorption of glucose from the small intestine and reduce the formation of triglycerides.(1) There are two types of triterpenoids, specifically,

with measured effects. The first is oleanolic acid. Oleanolic acid suppresses the expression of aldose reductase. Aldose reductase is an enzyme in our cells that, when glucose levels are high, starts converting glucose to a molecule called sorbitol. In this setting, sorbitol will accumulate within the cell and cause a significant amount of damage to the cell because it draws in water and blows the cell up like a balloon. This can lead to diabetic neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathy.  By suppressing the expression of aldose reductase, the damaging effects of high glucose levels are mitigated because you have a reduction in sorbitol within the cells.(2) 

Another triterpenoid readily found in Insulin Plant is ursolic acid. Ursolic acid reduces the expression of DGAT, diacylglycerol o acyltransferase. (3) This is an enzyme that plays a crucial role in lipid metabolism. DGAT is involved in the last step of triglyceride synthesis which is a type of lipid in the body. When triglycerides accumulate in your body, they are associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. They essentially clog up the metabolic machinery, leading to insulin resistance in your cells.

Steroids

Another group of compounds found in Insulin Plant, which have beneficial effects on the diabetes disease process, are plant steroids. Now, these are not the same type of steroids you think about when you see bodybuilders. No, these are plant steroids that operate completely differently and often beneficially in our bodies. One type of plant steroid readily found in Insulin Plant, is deosgenin. (4) Deosgenin stimulates the renewal of beta cells and the recovery of damaged beta cells. Beta cells are the cells in our pancreas that sense serum glucose levels and release insulin into the bloodstream. By renewing and repairing damaged beta cells, deosgenin leads to healthier plasma levels of insulin. (5)

Another type of plant steroid readily found in Insulin Plant is stigmasterol. (6) This is also found in Insulin Plant. Stigmasterol promotes the removal of cholesterol from soft tissues, including the arterial walls. (7) This cholesterol is bused out in HDLs and apolipoprotein, transported back to the liver, and excreted into the intestines. (8) From there, stigmasterol increases cholesterol excretion into your intestines so that you can poop it out. There's also some evidence that stigmasterol reduces beta cell injury by reducing the toxicity of lipids in the bloodstream on beta cells themselves. (9) This concept is called glucolipotoxicity and is mitigated by stigmasterol.

Flavonoids

Yet another group of beneficial compounds in the insulin plant are flavonoids. A very well-known flavonoid and one that is readily available in the insulin plant is quercetin. Quercetin increases glycogen synthesis, which is the storage form of glucose that you keep in your liver and your muscles. (10) It also increases antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase, glutathione, peroxidase, and catalase. (11) These all lead to less free radical damage and increased insulin sensitivity. Additionally, quercetin inhibits Glut-2, which is an enzyme in the small intestine involved in glucose absorption. So you actually absorb less glucose after your meals, leading to lower glucose spikes after meals. (12)

Other groups of flavonoids in the insulin plant are catechin and epicatechin. Both are alpha glucosidase inhibitors, which inhibit the breakdown of more complex sugars in the glucose. By inhibiting alpha glucosidase, you have lower glucose spikes after meals.(13)

Insulin-like Protein

The last significant compound, and probably the most important, is insulin-like protein. This is readily found in the insulin plant and acts like insulin in the body. Studies in mice have shown that it significantly decreases glucose levels after oral administration. And it also protects beta cells from damage by a specific compound called streptozotocin. (14)

When streptozotocin is injected into animals, it causes beta cell injury. But if you give them insulin-like protein from the insulin plant, not only are their glucose levels controlled, but their beta cells are protected. 

So here you have a compound that not only acts like insulin, allowing glucose to enter the cells, but also protects the beta cells in the pancreas from injury and disease progression.

Why Does Insulin Plant Treat Diabetes?

Now that we know all the potential beneficial effects of insulin plant on the diabetes disease process, the next question to answer is, why would insulin plant do this? Why would a plant create all these molecules that are beneficial specifically on one disease process in a human being? Well, the potential answers are multifold. 

One reason could be that insulin plant originally was trying to deter humans or animals from eating it by causing them to become hypoglycemic (low blood sugar). Imagine there is an animal or a human being that comes and grazes on the leaves of the insulin plant. The next thing you know, they've got low blood sugar, they're dizzy, they can't function properly until they increase the glucose levels in their bloodstream and get back to a normal glucose level. Hypoglycemia can be very debilitating. 

So the hypoglycemic effects of insulin plant may be a protective mechanism. But, when we use Insulin Plant to treat someone who has elevated glucose levels, poison becomes medicine! Here the plant designed a whole phytochemical system to manipulate the glucose metabolism system in animals or humans with normal glucose levels. But when that whole system is translated to people with Diabetes a therapeutic potential is discovered. It's a very brilliant use of a plant.

Possible Side Effects of Insulin Plant

So, are there potential dangers of insulin plant? Yes, absolutely. Anytime we take plant medicines or pharmaceutical medicines to alter our physiology, there are potential side effects. With insulin plant, it can be stomach upset and dizziness.  Though in many, there are no side effects. Dizziness can happen if glucose levels go too low. So, in the setting of insulin resistance or diabetes, nsulin plant can play a role in treatment, but it needs to be monitored. If you're taking insulin and other diabetes medications to induce lower glucose levels, then adding insulin plant may overdo that process and take you into hypoglycemia. With strict glucose monitoring, this can be mitigated and the benefits of the plant can be realized.

The goal of adding insulin leaf or insulin plant into your diabetes management regimen would be to reduce the amount of pharmaceuticals you are taking. The pharmaceuticals are very highly targeted with one potential benefit and often many side effects. The Insulin Plant, in comparison, helps protect the Beta cells of the pancreas, reduces your cholesterol levels, increases your antioxidant enzyme levels, and aids in glycemic control on multiple fronts. 

So, if you're taking Insulin Plant, and your diabetes management is under the guidance of a physician, then it can be an extraordinary addition to your health and wellness. Insulin plant can also be used for people who are not diabetic, but may be pre-diabetic or insulin resistant along with a healthy diet and lifestyle.

How to Take Insulin Plant

In Ayurvedic Medicine, diabetic patients are instructed to chew 2 leaves in the morning and 2 leaves in the evenings for 1 week, then chew one leaf in the morning and evening for 30 days. (15) This traditional treatment has been very effective in helping patients control their blood sugars while working on health and lifestyle changes that can reverse the course of the disease. 

Unless, you are in a tropical climate and have access to insulin plant, you’ll need to buy the leaf dried and powdered.  This can then be mixed with hot water plus or minus a non-glycemic natural sweetener and consumed twice a day. About 1 teaspoon of dried leaf powder will euqual one leaf.

When taking Insulin Plant, you should monitor your blood glucose levels closely and titrate your medications and Insulin Plant with your doctor to maintain normoglycemic levels.  This is a very important step as Insulin Plant is very effective at bringing down glucose levels.

Where to Buy Insulin Plant

Buying Insulin Plant may be one of the most important steps. This amazing plant is quite delicate.  As soon as it is picked, it begins oxidizing, leading to possible destruction of the plant compounds that make it so powerful.  Here at Better Vedic, we contract with small farmers growing Insulin Plant in the beautiful mountains of Southern India.  Only naturally grown and healthy plants are harvested.  Once the leaves are harvested, they are rushed to our local solar driers where they are washed and dried at low temperature before they can oxidize. Once dried, the product is ground and packed into sealed airtight bags for shipping.  This whole process ensures that you get a product that is pure and effective. To buy the purest insulin leaf on the market click this link! Pure Insulin Plant Supplement 

Cheers,

References:

1. Chacko N, Shastry CS, Shetty P, Shyamma P, D’souza U and Maulika P: Anti hyperlipidemic activity of Costus igneus in Triton X-100 induced hyperlipidemic rats. Inter Journal of Pharmaceutical and Chem Sci 2012; 1: 813-8.
2. Wang, Zhi-hong, et al. "Anti-glycative effects of oleanolic acid and ursolic acid in kidney of diabetic mice." European journal of pharmacology 628.1-3 (2010): 255-260.
3. Li, Songtao, et al. "Therapeutic role of ursolic acid on ameliorating hepatic steatosis and improving metabolic disorders in high-fat diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease rats." PLoS One 9.1 (2014): e86724.
4. Pazhanichamy, Kalailingam, et al. "Isolation, characterization and quantification of diosgenin from Costus igneus." JPC-Journal of Planar Chromatography-Modern TLC 25.6 (2012): 566-570.
5. Kalailingam, Pazhanichamy, et al. "Efficacy of natural diosgenin on cardiovascular risk, insulin secretion, and beta cells in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats." Phytomedicine 21.10 (2014): 1154-1161.
6. Manjula, K., et al. "Quantitative estimation of lupeol and stigmasterol in Costus igneus by high-performance thin-layer chromatography." Journal of Liquid Chromatography & Related Technologies 36.2 (2013): 197-212.
7. Sabeva, Nadezhda S., et al. "Phytosterols differentially influence ABC transporter expression, cholesterol efflux and inflammatory cytokine secretion in macrophage foam cells." The Journal of nutritional biochemistry 22.8 (2011): 777-783.
8. Lifsey, Hannah C., et al. "Stigmasterol stimulates transintestinal cholesterol excretion independent of liver X receptor activation in the small intestine." The Journal of nutritional biochemistry 76 (2020): 108263.
9. Ward, Meliza G., et al. "Stigmasterol prevents glucolipotoxicity induced defects in glucose-stimulated insulin secretion." Scientific reports 7.1 (2017): 9536.
10. Peng, Jing, et al. "Quercetin improves glucose and lipid metabolism of diabetic rats: involvement of Akt signaling and SIRT1." Journal of diabetes research 2017 (2017).
11. Erden Inal, M., A. Kahraman, and T. Köken. "Beneficial effects of quercetin on oxidative stress induced by ultraviolet A." Clinical and experimental dermatology 26.6 (2001): 536-539.
12. Kwon, Oran, et al. "Inhibition of the intestinal glucose transporter GLUT2 by flavonoids." The FASEB Journal 21.2 (2007): 366-377.
13. Matsui, Toshiro, et al. "α-Glucosidase inhibitory profile of catechins and theaflavins." Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 55.1 (2007): 99-105.
14. Joshi, Bimba N., et al. "Orally active hypoglycemic protein from Costus igneus NE Br.: an in vitro and in vivo study." Biochemical and biophysical research communications 436.2 (2013): 278-282.
15. Meti, Renuka. "Standardization, value addition and sensory evaluation of products prepared from insulin plant leaves (Costus igneus)." International Journal of Advanced Educational Research 3 (2018): 374-376.