Study Of Medicinal Plant-Based Anti-Stress Herbal Tea On Prediabetic Women: Randomized Controlled Trial
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Abstract
The focus of this study is on the effects of herbal tea made with Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Ginger (Zingiber officinale), Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), Tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum), Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana), Thankuni (Centella asiatica), and Bay leaves (Laurus nobilis) on prediabetic women. In a "single centre randomised controlled trial," participants' blood pressure, serum cortisol, blood sugar levels, and scores on common stress-assessment questionnaires were measured in order to determine the impact of this herbal tea on stress reduction. A total of 62 female participants between age of 18-60 years were considered to be prediabetes out of 100 female participants. The intervention group (Group A) received the herbal tea (150 ml twice a day) daily for 8 weeks, whereas the control group (group B) received similar amount of normal tea on a daily basis. At baseline and 8 weeks later, measurements of “serum cortisol level,” “blood sugar level, ”blood pressure,” and “stress-assessment questionnaires” were made. After adjusting for confounding factors, it was observed that group of participants receiving the herbal tea, experienced a larger decrease in blood sugar level from the baseline. After 8 weeks, a reduction of 26.2% from baseline was observed in the intervention group. In contrast, a reduction of 7.8% was observed in the control group. In Group A, after 8 weeks there was a significant reduction in scores corresponding to all of the item-subsets: 51.5% for the “Depression” item-subset, 73.5% for the “Anxiety” item-subset, 60.7% for the “Stress” item-subset. In contrast, in group B, the corresponding reductions in scores were much smaller: 6.8%, 13.01% and 8.2%, respectively. In case of blood pressure, a reduction of 10.4 % for Group A from baseline compared to Group B which is 2.0% for systolic pressure has been noticed. For diastolic pressure also Group A has larger reduction rate (8.48%) than Group B (0.67%).
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References
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