中医在治疗糖尿病及其并发症方面有着悠久而成功的历史。

早在公元前一世纪的医学著作《黄帝内经》中就可以找到有关消渴的记载，这是一种以持续口渴、饥饿、尿多和体重减轻为特征的疾病，字面意思是“浪费消除口渴”，人们认为这是食用过多脂肪、甜食或油腻食物的结果。

如今，中医从业者将不良饮食视为糖尿病根源的四大因素之一，认为是阴气（一种凉、暗、土的能量）的耗竭，加上体内虚火过多。

除了油腻、甜辣、饮酒等耗脾而产生湿热外，还有以下三个因素容易导致体内阴虚火旺：
①情志不稳，扰乱体内气血运行，导致气滞，导致内火旺盛；
②出生时存在的能量不平衡和中断；
③房事过多，会耗损肾精，损害肾阴输送全身的能力。

2013 年进行的一项研究中，800 名患者接受了“消渴丸”（一种中药复方与格列本脲的组合）或单独使用格列本脲的治疗。格列本脲是一种常用于治疗 2 型糖尿病的抗糖尿病药物，与药物引起的低血糖有关。 48 周结束时，与服用格列本脲的患者相比，服用消渴丸的患者低血糖风险显着降低，血糖控制也有类似的改善。这项对照双盲试验在中国进行，该试验结果也充分佐证了药食同源的理念在糖尿病管理中的有效作用。

迄今为止的研究对于单味方的描述中，人参[1-12]、苦瓜[19-26]、金线[13-18]等都可能对2型糖尿病患者具有抗糖尿病作用，而国家食品药品监督管理总局批准的30种抗糖尿病配方中，最常用的前几名药材为黄芪、熟地、冬瓜、人参等，主要以中医和药食同源理论为指导。其作用机制与提高胰岛素敏感性、刺激胰岛素分泌、保护胰岛、甚至抑制肠道碳水化合物的摄入有关。

结合中医药食同源理论，将以中药或其活性提取物、发酵物等为原料制成的成分加入到日常食物或饮食当中，或者，可以帮助糖尿病人更好地管理糖尿病。

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