Organ Specific Guide - Raintree Nutrition, Inc

AMAZON PANCREAS SUPPORT
Description: A synergistic formula of 6 rainforest botanicals traditionally used by herbal practitioners in
South America for diabetes.
Traditional uses by organ or system: Endocrine: To balance and maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
Ingredients: A proprietary blend of pedra hume caá (Myrcia salicifolia), pata de vaca (Bauhinia forficata),
chanca piedra (Phyllanthus niruri), stevia (Stevia rebaudiana), bitter melon (Momordica charantia), and
neem (Azadirachta indica).
Suggested Use: Take 2-3 capsules twice daily.
Contraindications:
• Not to be used during pregnancy or while breast-feeding.
• This formula contains plants which have demonstrated hypoglycemic actions in animals and/or humans.
Diabetics need to be monitored carefully as antidiabetic medications may need adjustments.
• Those with hypoglycemia should not take this formula.
Drug Interactions: May potentiate antidiabetic medications and insulin. May potentiate hypotensive,
diuretic and hypocholesterolemic medications.
Other Practitioner Observations and Possible Precautions:
• Several plants in this formula have been documented to reduce blood pressure in animal studies.
Individuals with low blood pressure should be monitored for this possible effect.
Synopsis of research: (Please the online Tropical Plant Database for all cited research.)
• Pedra hume caá (called “vegetable insulin” in Brazil) has been documented with hypoglycemic activity
since 1929. Two clinical studies published in the 1990s again demonstrated its hypoglycemic activity and
confirmed its traditional use for diabetes. In a 1990 double-blind placebo clinical study with normal and
Type II diabetic patients, pedra hume caá (3 g powdered leaf daily) demonstrated the ability to lower
plasma insulin levels in the diabetic group. In a 1993 study, 250 mg/kg of a leaf extract demonstrated
the ability to reduce appetite and thirst, and to reduce urine volume, urinary excretion of glucose and
urea in diabetic rats. The extract also inhibited the intestinal absorption of glucose. This study concluded
that "aqueous extracts of Myrcia have a beneficial effect on the diabetic state, mainly by improving
metabolic parameters of glucose homeostasis." In a 1998 study pedra huma caá demonstrated potent
inhibitory activities on aldose reductase and alphaglucosidase.
• Pata de vaca has been demonstrating hypoglycemic and antidiabetic actions in various animal and
human studies since the 1930's. In 2004, a research group reported that pata de vaca again lowered
blood sugar in rats and also reduced triglycerides, total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol levels in diabetic
rats stating, “These results suggest the validity of the clinical use of B. forficata in the treatment of
Diabetes mellitus type II.”
• In human studies with chanca piedra, researchers reported that blood sugar levels were reduced
significantly in diabetic subjects studied. Two other studies with rabbits and rats document the
hypoglycemic effect of chanca piedra in diabetic animals. Yet another study documented chanca piedra
with aldose reductase inhibition (ARI) properties.
• Scientists tested the hypoglycemic effects of the individual glycoside chemicals in stevia and attributed
the effect on glucose production to the glycosides steviol, isosteviol, and glucosilsteviol.
• To date, close to 100 in vivo studies have demonstrated the hypoglycemic and antidiabetic effects of
bitter melon. This plant has shown the ability to enhance cells' uptake of glucose, to promote insulin
release, and to potentiate the effect of insulin.
• Four clinical studies from 1996 to 2000 document the antihyperglycemic effect of neem. The data
suggests that neem could be of benefit in Diabetes mellitus by controlling blood sugar or may also be
helpful in preventing or delaying the onset of the disease.