ABSTRACT
Here is a case-study, of sorts—the case of Morus alba—a case study in evidence based assessment of efficacy. Traditional health care providers are rarely required to research the scientific basis of any conventional treatment. Treatments are accepted on the basis of the recommendations of an authority, typically, a medical authority.
In this chapter, a long-standing reputation of white mulberry leaf tea, or extract, as beneficial in lowering blood glucose, is based on the authority of traditional medicine and is commonly taken as fact, as noted in Traditional Chinese Pharmacopoeia, just as would be the efficacy of a prescription medication, based on medical authority such a the Merck Manual.
In this chapter, the reader is taken meticulously through the process of identifying and validating the merits of flavonoids and other constituents of white mulberry leaf tea, or extract, in lowering blood glucose, and as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. The main active agent in glycemia control is identified, 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ), an alpha- glucosidase inhibitor. that lowers postprandial blood glucose.
It should be noted that the scientific care taken in studying this functional food is not unique to M. alba, but that it is typical of all “evidence based” functional foods, botanicals/herbals, and other supplements cited in this book.
