Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic degenerative disease that affects more than 450 million people in the world, with type 2 being the most prevalent. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is characterized by resistance to insulin, a hormone that is involved in glucose homeostasis. There are medications that prevent and control hyperglycemia, however, the continuous and long-term intake of some of these medications cause side effects on health. As an adjunct to treatment with synthetic drugs, the use of natural extracts with antidiabetic properties has been proposed as a complement to comprehensive treatment for the control of DM. The objective of this chapter is to show the general panorama of DM, the conditions associated with its development, and present some phytochemicals with the ability to intervene in a beneficial way of glucose metabolism. As a result of the research, natural compounds with antidiabetic action mechanisms such as inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes were listed. In conclusion, the use of natural extracts with hypoglycemic characteristics works as a complementary treatment to control blood glucose levels in T2DM. However, more research is needed on the effect of phytochemicals on health that helps in the treatment of this disease.
