Who is Dr David Morris?

Think he's something to do with a diabetic program that advocates testing. But its a subscription one.

If I were you? I do not bother much about a single Dr and his/her background, experience.
There is a lot of valuable information on this forum. Take your time, study well and try to understand various issues that can influence the type 2 diabetes. Particularly I value the information about diagnostic tests, diet control mechanisms and various well tried and tested practices to keep type 2 diabetes under control.

There are many members on this forum who are type 2 diabetes but living happily and confidently. It is simply because they have mastered the art of managing the type 2 diabetes.

I have respects for medical doctors, however I would follow the majority who have direct experience in battling with the devil.

TimLaws said:

I have seen this name attached to a number of articles to do with Diabetes and promotting (ish) a number of commercial available products.
I have searched but can not seem to find any infomation on him.ie is he real, Pharma sponsored, company sponsored, current position, published papers in peer reviewed journals and so on.
I am recently diagnosed Type 2, so am looking for good sensisble advice, strategies etc, to join in with my GP etc to actively participate in the management of my condition.
Diabetes UK is a great organisation and so far it is providing me with the very best of infomation etc, (in my limited experience)

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He writes about easybetic on the shop. Try a goog search for that?

If it's the cinnamon supplement...I did a search on cinnamon for diabetes yesterday because I couldn't remember which type contains the unwanted toxin. Michael Gregor, M.D. states two years ago...

"Nearly all of the studies showing blood sugar benefits of cinnamon have been done on cassia. We’ve just assumed that the same would apply for the safer cinnamon, Ceylon, but only recently was it put to the test. That nice blunting of blood sugars we saw in response to cassia cinnamon disappeared when the researchers tried Ceylon cinnamon instead. In fact, it may actually be the potentially toxic coumarin that was the active ingredient in the cassia cinnamon all along. Thus, sidestepping the toxin by switching may sidestep the benefit."

"Ultimately cinnamon can no longer be considered a safe and effective treatment for diabetes. Either you’re using cassia cinnamon, and it’s effective, but may not be safe, or you’re using Ceylon cinnamon, which is safe, but does not appear effective. Note that even the cassia cinnamon only brought down blood sugars modestly (in other words, only as good as the leading diabetes drug in the world, metformin, sold as Glucophage)."

http://nutritionfacts.org/2013/10/29/cinnamon-for-diabetes/

Two supplements I'm curious about, specifically for type 2 diabetes are Berberine and Meriva. Just started taking the later. Nothing to report yet.

One supplement that I began taking after I started the LCHF diet was 150 mg magnesium citrate with each meal (and 99 mg potassium with breakfast) because the LCHF diet affects my electrolyte balance - (my husband found multiple reports of this problem online, so it's not just me. It also helps to keep my blood pressure in check).

Here's a quick video on magnesium deficiency from Dr. Gregor... http://nutritionfacts.org/video/mineral-of-the-year-magnesium/

And here's an interesting fact sheet on magnesium role in the diabetic health - (scroll down to the "Diabetes" section)... http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/

"Only a few small, short-term clinical trials have examined the potential effects of supplemental magnesium on control of type 2 diabetes and the results are conflicting [40,44]. For example, 128 patients with poorly controlled diabetes in a Brazilian clinical trial received a placebo or a supplement containing either 500 mg/day or 1,000 mg/day magnesium oxide (providing 300 or 600 mg elemental magnesium, respectively) [45]. After 30 days of supplementation, plasma, cellular, and urine magnesium levels increased in participants receiving the larger dose of the supplement, and their glycemic control improved. In another small trial in Mexico, participants with type 2 diabetes and hypomagnesemia who received a liquid supplement of magnesium chloride (providing 300 mg/day elemental magnesium) for 16 weeks showed significant reductions in fasting glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin concentrations compared with participants receiving a placebo, and their serum magnesium levels became normal [46]. In contrast, neither a supplement of magnesium aspartate (providing 369 mg/day elemental magnesium) nor a placebo taken for 3 months had any effect on glycemic control in 50 patients with type 2 diabetes who were taking insulin [47]."

"The American Diabetes Association states that there is insufficient evidence to support the routine use of magnesium to improve glycemic control in people with diabetes [44]. It further notes that there is no clear scientific evidence that vitamin and mineral supplementation benefits people with diabetes who do not have underlying nutritional deficiencies."

Winnie53 said:

If it's the cinnamon supplement...I did a search on cinnamon for diabetes yesterday because I couldn't remember which type contains the unwanted toxin. Michael Gregor, M.D. states two years ago...

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As per @mekalu2k4 , I too would not entirely trust the views of any single doctor, MD or otherwise: most high profile US MDs tend to be bought into the money of the corporate world.

TimLaws said:

I am recently diagnosed Type 2, so am looking for good sensisble advice, strategies etc, to join in with my GP etc to actively participate in the management of my condition.
Diabetes UK is a great organisation and so far it is providing me with the very best of infomation etc, (in my limited experience)

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Hello @TimLaws and welcome to the world of (diabetes) sense, nonsense and incensed

You've come to the right place for "good sensible advice".

DUK (Diabetes UK) and ADA (American Diabetes Assoc. - to note @Winnie53 post above) both undertake some sterling work, BUT I would not trust their dietary advice:

Both are (for unspecified reasons) 'chained' to the "Eat Well" plate developed 40 - 50 years ago. That dietary advice has seen an exponential rise in obesity and type 2 diabetes across the world where-ever it has taken route.

My own experience of it was 36+ years of the glyceamic 'roller coaster' (I call it Himalayaic Mountain, because that's what a BG graph looks like when your BG levels are constantly fluctuating between ) - and many others (all types) testify to that.

Since progressing to a lower carbohydrate diet, which includes a higher proportion of vegetables, nuts, fish, and other proteins, I have seen a remarkable reversal with blood glucose control, eating habits, weight and cholesterol.

If you're looking for books, then I can wholeheartedly recommend the following:

"Say no to diabetes" by Patrick Holford
"Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution" by Dr. Richard Bernstein
"Your Diabetes Science Experiment" by Ginger Viera

Amongst other books, some also recommend:
"Think like a pancreas" and "Blood Sugar 101" - unfortunately I can't remember the authors names, though I'm sure someone will come along who can.

Otherwise, check out other areas of the forum and ask away... there's also a whole host of fantastic info about diets, BG ranges and targets, etc., on this site (far better that DUKs arrangement) - just go to the home page and search from there.

Best wishes.

@ConradJ I love cinnamon.

I did find one 2012 study in which researchers administered Ceylon cinnamon to healthy and diabetes-induced rats with encouraging results... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3326760/

The problem is that Cassia cinnamon contains high amounts of coumarin, a toxic substance to the liver. Ceylon cinnamon has significantly less coumarin, so is considered safer. Further complicating matters is that a lot of the research done to date on cinnamon has been with Cassia, not the safer Ceylon cinnamon, so it's going to be a while before this gets sorted out.

Here's a Wall Street Journal article from 2013 that explains all this... http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303376904579135502891970942

All that said, cinnamon has lots of health benefits. Here's a link to Authority Nutrition's review of the research on cinnamon...

http://authoritynutrition.com/10-proven-benefits-of-cinnamon/

And here's lots more information on Ceylon cinnamon from an online retailer that sells only Ceylon cinnamon from Sri Lanka - (so it's biased)...

http://cinnamonvogue.com/blog/coumarin-in-cassia-cinnamon/

They also offer suggestions on how to use their Ceylon cinnamon for diabetes...

http://cinnamonvogue.com/cinnamon_for_diabetes.html

To this I'll add one caution... While purchasing more supplements locally this week, I read the labels on two or three cinnamon supplements, and none stated which cinnamon was used. That's concerning to me. So for now, I'll stick to using Ceylon cinnamon on my food.

Right now, I'm taking Meriva, a "proprietary delivery form of curcumin", to hopefully reduce my highly sensitive c-reactive protein score, an inflammation marker, in three months. Curcumin is found in the spice turmeric. It has a history as a treatment for diabetes too - (scroll down to the sections on atherosclerosis, diabetes, diabetic nephropathy, and diabetic microangiopathy, - (i.e. retinal, renal, neural complications)... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535097/

If that doesn't help, I'll probably try Berberine next, which I believe has been shown to be as effective as Metformin, unfortunately with the similar gastro-intestinal side effects, so it's a good idea to start with a small dose and work up in dose slowly.

Hi @Winnie53

I love cinnamon too; I add about 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to my porridge in the mornings - like you, I've learnt that cinnamon has a good impact on Insulin sensitivity, hence my use of it. ☺

I still 'warn' @TimLaws (and you!) to steer clear of the dietary advice of DUK and ADA for all the above reasons.