Plants have been in use for their medicinal properties for a very long time. The Indian scriptures contain the names of several thousands of such plants which have benefited man for curing a wide range of ailments. In fact, there are over 45000 plant species which have been so far identified in India which have been used for their medicinal properties.  

During the past few decades, trials performed with plants which were allegedly known to have anti-diabetic properties have shown that they actually contain such properties. Few of the most used plants which have been studied and found to have profound anti-diabetic properties include: Allium cepa, Allium sativum, Aloe vera, Cajanus cajan, Coccinia indica, Caesalpinia bonducella, Ficus bengalenesis, Gymnema sylvestre, Momordica charantia, Ocimum sanctum, Pterocarpus marsupium, Swertia chirayita, Syzigium cumini, Tinospora cordifolia and Trigonella foenum graecum. The hypoglycemic and anti-hyperglycemic properties of these plants vary but nevertheless are present in all of these plants.

The dried sap of the aloe plant has been known in the Arabian Peninsula as a traditional method of treating diabetes. In a preliminary clinical study, 5 patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes and in Swiss albino mice were studied.  It was seen that after taking one half teaspoon of aloe daily for duration of 4 to 14 weeks, the fasting sugar level dropped from 273 to 151 with no gain or loss in weight. It was also seen that a dose of 10 mg of glibenclamide twice a day and 500 mg twice daily of aloes induce hypo-glycemia after 5 days. 71 from 91, versus 130 in the control animals’ only glibenclamide was effective after 3 days. Glibenclamide and aloe significantly reduced the fasting sugar levels in plasma in the diabetic mice after 3 days. After this only aloe was useful and on the 7^th day onwards, the plasma sugar was 394 versus 64 in the controls and 726 in the group treated with glibenclamide. The conclusion from this study was that aloe contains distinct anti-diabetic properties but its mode of action is unknown. 

The aim of this study was to confirm the efficacy of herbal supplements, vitamins and minerals as published in various types of literature and the safety of its use as an anti-diabetic agent.

Then there was an electronic and manual search in the Medline, Oldmedline, Cochrane Library Database to locate any available clinical studies which involved human subjects in glycemic control. After the data was extracted successfully two independent investigators assessed the quality of such controlled trials using the Jadad scale. 

 The quality search revealed that there was a total of 1087 trials with 35 herbs used either single or in combination and 9 vitamin or mineral supplements involving 4565 patients with either diabetes or weak glucose tolerance. In these trials the criteria was met and further analyzed. There were a total of 58 trials out of which 42 were randomized and 16 non-randomized which used patients suffering from type 2 diabetes. Of the 58 trials 44 trials revealed an improved glucose control which is about 76% of the total cases. There were very limited adverse effects noticed.

Though the conclusions are still insufficient to arrive at definite judgments, but it has proved that the individual herbs are safe. It is evident that several herbs need further experimentation and trials as the preliminary studies are definitely showing positive results. The noteworthy herbs include Aloe vera, vanadium, nopal and a few others.
 

Aloeride containing pure aloe has been proved to be a safe way to treat diabetes type2, with significant lowering of sugar levels. The other beneficial qualities of Aloeride with pure aloe are also equally impressive.