Green Tea--Beats Avandia for Diabetes, and No Deadly Side Effects

clipped from articles.mercola.com A compound in green tea, EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), works as well in moderately diabetic mice as GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes drug Avandia, according to researchers from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute. In the study, 5-week-old moderately diabetic and severely diabetic mice were fed EGCG or given Avandia. After five and 10 weeks of treatment, the blood sugar and insulin levels of the mice were tested. Moderately diabetic mice did just as well on the green tea extract as they did on Avandia. Severely diabetic mice did not benefit as much from EGCG. Researchers said the EGCG, though less potent than Avandia, “exerted changes that were similarly beneficial.” Dr. Mercola's Comments: However, it’s since come out that Avandia causes a 43 percent higher risk of heart attack, and possibly death. These are hefty risks for a drug designed to treat a disease that is virtually 100 percent curable with SIMPLE lifestyle changes (more on these later).