Can Lavender Help To Treat Diabetes?

There are 3.9 million people in the UK who are living with diabetes. It is a chronic condition that causes a person’s blood sugar level to rise too high. This happens as a result of a hormone called insulin either not functioning properly, or not being produced at all by the pancreas.

There are 2 types of diabetes; Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 diabetes is much less prevalent than Type 2, only affecting about 10% of the diabetic population.

In Type 1 diabetes, the body’s immune system malfunctions and attacks the cells that produce insulin, this results in blood glucose levels rising too high which can seriously affect the bodies organs. Type 2 diabetes is a much more common condition and results from your body either not producing enough insulin, or the body’s cells not reacting to insulin.

There are a number of treatments for diabetes, many of which centre around providing the body with artificial insulin either via injection (mainly to treat Type 1 diabetes) or via tablets (for more progressive cases of Type 2 diabetes).

However, there are a number of other steps that diabetics can tale to help to control their condition. These include living a healthy lifestyle, eating a healthy diet and taking exercise. It can also help to avoid stress, lose weight if you are obese and take care to monitor yourself for signs of nerve damage (especially in the feet), circulation problems, skin lesions and foot ulcers.

A number of sources have also cited that lavender essential oil can be used to help to control and relieve the symptoms of diabetes. For example, a study was conducted in Tunisia in 2014 during which participants undertook a 15-day experiment where they were subject to the effects of lavender essential oil.

Researchers noted that participants experienced a reduction in or easing of a number of the symptoms of diabetes including; increased blood glucose levels, metabolic disorders and liver and kidney dysfunction. Obviously this is only one small scale study and further research is necessary to prove a definitive effect.

Another way in which lavender essential oil can help people suffering from diabetes is to assist in avoiding stress and/or lowering stress levels, as it is well known for its effect on slowing the central nervous system resulting in a soothing and calming effect.

Also taking footbath’s that contain lavender and rosemary essential oil can help to stimulate circulation in the feet which can help to avoid future problems with the feet which can affect some diabetics.

We would state that lavender oil is in no way a substitute for the prescribed diabetes medication recommended by your physician. If you are interested in exploring the use of lavender oil to help with diabetic symptoms we strongly recommend that you consult a qualified physician.

 

Read related articles:
Jersey Lavender Farm Shop

2 Comments

alun crockford

Are you seriously suggesting that taking lavender oil can cure type one Diabetics
Using a serious medical condition in an attempt to sell more of your products might best be described as unfortunate.
How would you feel if an impressionable teenager stop using insulin and relied only on lavender oil as a way of regulating blood sugars after reading this article

Alastair

Thank you for your comments. I would point out that the article doesn’t say at any point that “lavender oil can cure type one diabetes”. It says that some surveys have been done which suggest that lavender can help with some of the symptoms or help control…….. Clearly we would not wish anyone to stop using their prescribed diabetic medication. There is nothing in the article that suggests that anyone do that. However taking your comments on board we have added a warning to the bottom of the article.

Comments are closed.