The hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of aloe vera in Thai diabetic patients

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is an important medical and public health problem. It leads to a number of debilitating short-term and long-term complications. Many patients with diabetes mellitus need hypoglycemic agents to control the disease. A few studies have shown that Aloe vera, a medicinal plant, contains substances which have hypoglycemic effect. The hypoglycemic effect of Aloe vera have not been studied in a well-designed clinical trial. This study is a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, cross-over clinical trial. The result showed that Aloe vera juice has the same hypoglycemic effect as Placebo juice. The Aloe vera juice did not have hypolipidemic effect when compared with Placebo juice. The Aloe vera juice was well- tolerated .