Traditional herbal medicines as a preventive strategy for prediabetes and metabolic syndrome – A comprehensive review

Abstract

Prediabetes and metabolic syndrome are turning out to be two of the biggest threats to global health, mainly due to bad lifestyle choices and poor diet. Prediabetes is a stage with respect to an individual when blood glucose levels are high and it tends to progress in a silent fashion to more serious health conditions. However, metabolic syndrome represents a cluster of risk factors shown to elevate the risks of diseases associated with diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. Herbal remedies, often used with lifestyle changes, have been relatively successful in controlling blood glucose levels, with improvements in metabolic health and reduction in inflammation. Relevant literatures have been retrieved from scientific databases like Scopus, Science Direct, Springer Link, Wiley, Google Scholar, Elsevier and Web of Science. The data collection was carried out using specific keywords like Herbal remedies, Impaired glucose tolerance, Insulin resistance, Metabolic disorders, Signaling pathways, Alternative medicine. This review will discuss the promise of herbal medicine in the prevention and management of prediabetes and metabolic syndrome, engage on the pathophysiology of the disorders, highlight the best herbs that have produced beneficial effects in studies and mention the challenges limiting the pervasive adoption of herbal interventions. Finally, this paper will outline future directions to push for further research, standardization and integration of herbal remedies into mainstream healthcare practices.