You cannot live without sugar in your bloodstream. Before you go fill up a bucket with cookies and candy bars, let me qualify that. Sugar is the fuel that feeds our cells. Our body converts some of our food to a type of sugar called glucose that provides energy for every activity in our body. Is your heart beating? That energy comes from sugar being burned in the heart muscle cells. Is your brain thinking? The energy comes from sugar being burned inside your brain cells. Are you producing urine? Your kidneys are burning sugar for energy to filter and process water. The list goes on for every single physiological activity.
Maybe this helps explain why even small changes in blood sugar levels can wreak havoc with our health, and larger swings can be life threatening. Not enough sugar and you will enter a coma because your body cannot function. Too much sugar and you will enter a coma because the sugar has become toxic and your body cannot function. Remember the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears? As with blood sugar, we want it not to high, not too low, but juuuuust right.
Type 2 diabetes is a rampant epidemic that combines blood sugar levels that are too high with cells that are resistant to letting insulin (and sugar) inside for consumption and energy production. Ironically, diabetes is a disease of cellular starvation. Cells become insulin resistant and insulin transports sugar.
By the year 2035, it is projected that almost 600,000,000 people worldwide will suffer from diabetes. The National Diabetes Statistics Report estimated that the number of diagnosed and undiagnosed people with diabetes in the United States is more than 30,000,000—which is almost 10 percent of the population. Even more startling, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 80 million people in the United States living with pre-diabetes.
Some More Alarming Facts:
The rise in childhood and adolescent (less than 20 years old) type 2 diabetes is increasing at a rate of almost 5 percent per year.
Each year, diabetic retinopathy is responsible for 10,000 new cases of blindness.
When it comes to kidney complications, diabetic nephropathy stands as the primary cause of kidney failure.
People with diabetes also have between 150 to 400 percent increased risk of stroke.
Natural Interventions
Any discussion of natural interventions for diabetes needs to include a discussion of diet. Reducing or eliminating simple carbohydrates, and limiting complex carbohydrates, while at the same time increasing non-starchy vegetables, healthy fats and proteins can be very beneficial in the struggle for healthy blood sugar levels. There are also some supplements that can make a real difference in type 2 diabetes. While we don’t have space for every intervention—and there are several good natural products for blood sugar management—there are a few that are interesting and proven beneficial as well.
Hintonia Produces Results
Hintonia latiflora is a Mexican and Central American herb that has been researched and refined by German scientists to create a subset of polyphenols that have excellent and proven anti-diabetic activity. One polyphenol is called coutareagenin, and that is the focus of much of the herb’s unique medicinal activity.
One measurement of blood sugar levels over time, called hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is elevated in cases of diabetes. In a 2014 study, researchers working with an herbal extract of Hintonia latiflora noted that participants were able to decrease their HbA1c levels from an average of 7.2 percent down to 6.4 percent. Other research on disease risk and HbA1c levels have shown that a 1 percent decrease in HbA1c level (from 7.5 percent to 6.5 percent) is associated with a 20 percent decreased risk in coronary heart disease and 16 percent decrease in cardiovascular disease.
Additional research results on Hintonia latiflora include improvements of both fasting and post-meal blood sugar values, an average decrease of 23.3 and 24.9 points, respectively. Almost 50 percent of the patients using diabetic medications were able to reduce or discontinue their medication usage entirely. This was done under the supervision of health care practitioners, measuring blood sugar levels every day, but it gives hope that people working with their doctors may be able to rely less on medications and their associated adverse effects.
In clinical trials, patients with mild to moderate type 2 diabetes saw significant reductions in their daily blood sugar levels. Many of the people in the studies who were using insulin or oral medications to reduce their blood sugar levels were able to reduce the dosage of their prescriptions medications or insulin after adding hintonia, and some were able to go off oral medications entirely. In long-term follow up, after three years of use hintonia was still effective, and no serious side effects occurred. In no case did the hintonia reduce blood sugar to levels that were too low. Hintonia latiflora has been shown also to balance total cholesterol and reduce triglyceride levels.
Considering the harsh effects of some drugs used for type 2 diabetes, it is very useful to find proven herbal medicines that can address blood sugar health effectively and predictably. Minerals That Matter
It has been found that people with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes lose magnesium, which is well known as a crucial mineral for bone strength, but also critical for electrical regulation in the body (heart rhythms) and proper nerve function. Scientists wanted to know that if they increased magnesium in people with diabetes, would it help their blood sugar control? In the study, they administered the magnesium intravenously. However, there are oral forms of magnesium, including magnesium glycinate and magnesium bound to amino acid chelates that are well absorbed and beneficial.
In the study, they found that by increasing magnesium levels they were able to greatly decrease insulin resistance and improve metabolic control.
One issue with magnesium supplementation is that it is a wonderful water magnet in your intestines. If it is not well absorbed, it draws water into the bowels and can cause loose stools. That is why some popular products for constipation contain magnesium oxide or hydroxide. Therefore, if you are using magnesium to increase bowel movements, use a very inexpensive, poorly absorbed form. However, if you are using magnesium to improve your body’s total magnesium status, it is important to use the best and most absorbable magnesium you can find, divided into at least two doses a day, to make sure there are no subsequent unintended gastrointestinal effects.
Chromium and vanadium are two minerals that are often mentioned together when looking at blood sugar research, and there are studies on both. Chromium picolinate has been shown to slow down weight gain and abdominal (visceral) fat accumulation somewhat and improve insulin sensitivity in clinical studies. While the results are not profound, even a little bit of improvement is useful when trying to address blood sugar metabolism. It is important to consider the form on chromium, with picolinate, chloride and nicotinate being clinically studied forms.
Vanadium research has mixed results, but some human clinical trials have shown it can improve glucose utilization, but more research is needed to better understand its mechanism of action for improving diabetes.
Blood Sugar is Important
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, excessive sugar in the blood stream is bad for you. Some doctors wave off higher than normal blood sugars at annual physicals, saying, “Your blood sugar is 119, so it’s a little high but nothing to worry about. Cut back on your desserts and see me next year.” I beg to disagree—any fasting blood sugar above 100 should be taken seriously and addressed effectively. Blood sugar levels will not stay static and will not improve on their own. You need to take action steps to get the levels back to normal and improve your blood sugar metabolism. It will make a real difference in your life. VR
Sources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2017. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services; 2017.
Eeg-Olofsson K, et al. New aspects of HbA1c as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in type 2 diabetes: an observational study from the Swedish National Diabetes Register (NDR). J Intern Med. 2010 Nov;268(5):471-482.
Fowler MJ. Microvascular and Macrovascular Complications of Diabetes. Clinical Diabetes. 2008 Apr;26(2):77-82.
Guariguata L, et al. Global estimates of diabetes prevalence for 2013 and projections for 2035. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2014 Feb;103(2):137-149.
Schmidt M, Hladikova M. Hintonia concentrate – for the dietary treatment of increased blood sugar values: Results of a multicentric, prospective, non-interventional study with a defined dry concentrate of hintonia latifloa. Naturheilpraxis mit Naturmedizin. February 2014.
Rodríguez-Morán M, Guerrero-Romero F. Oral Magnesium Supplementation Improves Insulin Sensitivity and Metabolic Control in Type 2 Diabetic Subjects: A randomized double-blind controlled trial. Diabetes Care. 2003 Apr; 26(4): 1147-1152. https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.26.4.1147.
Martin J, Wang ZQ, Zhang XH, et al. Chromium Picolinate Supplementation Attenuates Body Weight Gain and Increases Insulin Sensitivity in Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2006 Aug; 29(8): 1826-1832.
Goldfine AB, Patti ME, Zuberi L, et al. Metabolic effects of vanadyl sulfate in humans with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: in-vivo and in-vitro studies. Metabolism. 2000 Mar;49(3):400-10.
Bio-box:
Cheryl Myers is an integrative health nurse, author, and an expert on natural medicine. She is a nationally recognized speaker who has been interviewed by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Prevention magazine. Her many articles have been published in such diverse journals as Aesthetic Surgery Journal and Nutrition in Complementary Care, and her research on botanicals has been presented at the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the North American Menopause Society. Myers is the head of Scientific Affairs and Education for EuroPharma, Inc.
