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Supplements

J

JohnS

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Recently diagnosed with diabetes type 2. Fasting BG of 8.2 and 8.4 With 2 months to go for HA1c.

With no information from GP other than a faded photocopy of a diet sheet taken from a dusty cardboard box under the desk I have bought the following books.

Diabetes for Dummies and Diabetes Solution by Bernstein.

I have started a exercise and diet regime but would like to ask the forum for views on supplements.

Diabetes for Dummies mentions cinnamon. Diabetes Solution mentions alpha lipoic acid and evening primrose.

My questions are as follows. What is the best supplement to lower blood glucose levels? What is the best supplement to help with nerve damage? Is there a readable summary of good double blind trials on these supplements available?

Thanking you in advance

John
 
I have looked in to the cinnamon situation, though not the other supplements you mention.

There is some theory to suggest that cinnamon might help (it contains a number of substances that have been shown to increase insulin action - both in test tubes and in mice). As far as I know there haven't been any really large clinical trials of this, but there have been several small to medium sized ones. If you want to read up on this then have a look at this paper: A. Khan et al (2003) Cinnamon improves glucose and lipids of people with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 26 3215-3218. This is a double blind trial with 60 patients that suggests it is useful.

It isn't a magic bullet, but it might be worth trying. I really like the taste of cinnamon, so I have taken to putting a spoonful of it in coffee! If you do that, then I suggest that you be careful not to drink the sludge at the bottom of your cup. The potentially useful components of cinnamon are all water soluble, so they will be dissolved in the coffee. However, there is some evidence that there are carcinogens in cinnamon solids - and so eating large quantities of those might be a bad idea. If you don't want to taste the cinnamon, then you can get it in various pills and extracts from health food shops.
 
Hi John,
There is some evidence to suggest that supplements may have a small effect in reducing blood sugar levels, but the reductions are minimal by comparison to what can be achieved by prescribed medicines. As well as cinnamon, you might like to have a look at gymnema sylvestre which has been used as an anti-diabetes treatment in Indian ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years.

There was a study in 2005 into alpha lipoic adic by the University of Arizona Medical Dept which proved that ALA can be beneficial in reducing insulin resistance, but only when used in conjunction with endurance exercise training. I have strong doubts about the effectiveness of evening primrose as a diabetes aid. The Arizona study showed that ALA is a powerful antioxidant which can remove the barriers that prevent insulin from transporting sugar into the body's cells. One of the main barriers is phenylalanine, which is present in concentrated form in evening primrose!! Hmmmm!!
 
Sue / Dennis After reading this thread can there be any doubt ? Even the Lo Sugar diet drinks are effectively no go in a lot of cases.
It is true a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Dave P
 
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