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Can the botanical intestinal peristalsis stimulants be effective in improving peristalsis even among diabetics? Is the effect equivalent for both [types 1 and 2] diabetes?

Tracey O’Shea: That’s a good question. I don’t know 100 percent if there have been, like, studies actually done on this, of using botanical motility enhancers in diabetics. I would imagine that it would probably be helpful in improving peristalsis. With diabetics, the limitation in peristalsis can be rather debilitating and can often, as we know, create a lot more issues downstream, so I think it’s worth a try. I’ll just say, honestly, I don’t have a lot of experience 100 percent with it or haven’t done any, like, internal studies to see the effectiveness of improving peristalsis, but I definitely think it’s probably a pretty low-risk intervention compared to some of the more pharmaceutical options, and I don’t know the equivalent for both [types 1 and 2] diabetes. I think that [type] 1 is a little bit more of an autoimmune condition while the other is more acquired on current theory, and I would think that they would probably be effective for both, since the peristalsis issue would be similar. Although the mechanisms may be a little bit different, I say give it a try. I know it’s not a perfect answer because I just don’t have a lot of experience with using it, particularly only in diabetics. I will say that I have used it in diabetics more from a perspective, like, if they have ongoing or persistent SIBO or constipation and I have found it to be effective. [I’m] just [not] 100 percent sure [of] the mechanism that that’s targeting and whether it’s effective [in] type 1 versus type 2, so I don’t have a very great answer or perfect answer for that, but I would definitely say give it a try. The good thing with this is that, usually, you can track symptoms when it comes to motility enhancement.

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