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Latest Supplements Articles
Diabetes Supplements Article Archives
February 2012
Cinnamon, chromium, and alpha-lipoic acid are dietary supplements that have been studied for diabetes management, but are not commonly found in daily multivitamins. Chromium* and cinnamon have the least supportive evidence of efficacy, while some studies have found alpha-lipoic acid to be promising, at least subjectively, in reducing the discomforts of peripheral neuropathy.
0 comments - Posted Feb 12, 2012
August 2011
A Boston-based study has found that vitamin D supplements can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in people with prediabetes by improving their beta cell functioning.
0 comments - Posted Aug 3, 2011
July 2011
Italian researchers have found that increased consumption of omega-3 fatty acids leads to a decrease in insulin resistance, a common precursor to the development of type 2 diabetes. It also improves lipid profiles and adiponectin levels. (Adiponectin is a protein that is involved in metabolizing glucose and fatty acids. Low levels are associated with insulin resistance, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and obesity.)
0 comments - Posted Jul 21, 2011
April 2011
We all know by now that fat isn't necessarily a bad thing. Enough advertisements and recommendations for fish oil and omega-3 supplements have appeared over the past few years to make that clear. But what if "good fat" isn't just about eating fish or a taking a fishy-tasting supplement? What if that good fat can be found in a common cooking oil?
0 comments - Posted Apr 27, 2011
After comparing results from 24 studies, researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong found little evidence that increasing soy intake improves people's blood sugar levels.
0 comments - Posted Apr 11, 2011
December 2010
The Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York City has received a $600,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association to study the effects of resveratrol on lowering impaired glucose tolerance in older adults.
0 comments - Posted Dec 30, 2010
August 2010
NaturEra, (http://www.NaturEra.com) a dietary supplements emerging leader, this month announced the launch of its new Sugar Crush dietary supplements would take place at the American Association of Diabetes Educators meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Sugar Crush research has been accepted for Poster presentation at the AADE meeting. The full clinical research study (http://www.naturera.com/Manuscript.pdf) shows that NaturEra's 'Sugar Crush' and 'Sugar Crush Daily' dietary supplement formulas used in combination lower and maintain healthy blood sugar levels for people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 26, 2010
Two recent research studies on humans indicate that resveratrol, a chemical found in red wine and peanuts, increases insulin sensitivity in older and obese people. A third study, done on mice, shows that resveratrol may someday become a powerful tool in therapies directed at macular degeneration and other retinal maladies.
0 comments - Posted Aug 6, 2010
June 2010
That confused-looking old man in the dietary supplements aisle was more than he seemed. He was actually an undercover government agent.
0 comments - Posted Jun 8, 2010
April 2010
(Reuters Health) - Adding soy supplements to the diet may not improve blood sugar control in older women who are at high risk of or in the early stages of type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests.
0 comments - Posted Apr 7, 2010
April 2009
Well, this is a surprise. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003 contains a little known section, Section 1013, that has actually led to something really useful: Up-to-date information about diabetes culled from real research and presented in language that we all can understand. Section 1013 authorizes the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to compare the effectiveness of different approaches to difficult health problems and to make that information accessible and understandable to "decisionmakers": that is, you, me, and our doctors. And diabetes is one of the difficult health problems to which the AHRQ is directing its attention.
0 comments - Posted Apr 21, 2009
March 2009
New cases of adult type 2 diabetes have increased by more than 90 percent in the past 10 years, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease and Prevention.(1) Equally troubling is the dramatic rise in type 2 diabetes among children. Recent reports reveal a 200 percent increase in hospitalizations for children with type 2 diabetes, a condition that was rarely diagnosed in children decades ago.(2) In the words of the CDC, "Diabetes is common, disabling, and deadly."(3)
0 comments - Posted Mar 18, 2009
February 2009
Doctors often tell people with high blood pressure to decrease their consumption of sodium. Now researchers at the Loyola University Health System in suburban Chicago have found that it is probably wise to increase potassium intake at the same time.
0 comments - Posted Feb 4, 2009
December 2008
About a year ago, Cheryl Tooke found herself in the last place she ever wanted to be. She weighed 268 pounds, and her doctor had just diagnosed her with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
Older men who are worried about insulin resistance can take heart from a Tufts University study which shows that higher than normal doses of vitamin K slow development of the condition. (Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body increasingly cannot use insulin properly and blood glucose levels rise. It is a major precursor to type 2 diabetes.)
0 comments - Posted Dec 8, 2008
Last week we published an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Sheri Colberg's revised, updated, and expanded version of her 2001 book, Diabetic Athlete's Handbook: Your Guide to Peak Performance. Dr. Colberg has a PhD in exercise physiology, is a Diabetes Health board member, and is herself an athlete with diabetes. Her book draws upon the experiences of hundreds of athletes with diabetes to provide the best advice for exercisers with diabetes, either type 1 or type 2.
0 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2008
November 2008
Diabetes Health board member Sheri Colberg, PhD, has published a completely revised, updated, and expanded version of her 2001 book, Diabetic Athlete's Handbook: Your Guide to Peak Performance. Dr. Colberg, a diabetic athlete herself, has a PhD in exercise physiology. Her book draws upon the experiences of hundreds of athletes with diabetes to provide the best advice for exercisers with diabetes, either type 1 or type 2.
0 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2008
April 2008
Does anyone living in our well-nourished country, eating a reasonable diet, really need to take vitamins, minerals, or herbs? Should a person with diabetes take them? If so, which ones and how much? When it comes to supplements, the answers are often unclear.
0 comments - Posted Apr 23, 2008
December 2007
Diabetes Essentials is a group of four nutritional supplements recently released by Nutrition 21. They include Diachrome Blood Sugar Health capsules; the same product in a drink powder called Nutrition to Go; Multivitamin Nutrition to Go powder; and Heart Health tablets.
0 comments - Posted Dec 10, 2007
October 2007
Our diet has changed a great deal since our days as hunter-gatherers on the African plains. Not only do we eat more carbs and fats, but we may also be getting far fewer of the micronutrients that were abundant in the primitive diet.
0 comments - Posted Oct 9, 2007
June 2007
In a recent Dutch study, researchers gave either a placebo or a daily dose of 400 micrograms of chromium in the form of chromium yeast to 57 obese, insulin-requiring type 2 patients with A1c’s above eight percent.
0 comments - Posted Jun 25, 2007
September 2006
August 2006
Blaine Pharmaceuticals of Fort Wright, Kentucky, has announced the availability of its DiaSense family of nutritional supplements specifically for those living with or at risk for type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
July 2006
Living Protein is a non-soy plant-based protein supplement manufactured by Living Fuel, Inc., in Tampa, Fla.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
March 2006
Insulow is an all-natural oral supplement that, according to its manufacturer, “addresses the root of the problem for diabetics and pre-diabetics: the correct balance between insulin production and glucose uptake.”
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
May 2005
Herbs, supplements and other nontraditional treatments have become increasingly popular. According to a study published in the February 2002 issue of Diabetes Care, people with diabetes are more likely to use complementary and alternative medicines than other healthy individuals. Are you tempted to try any? Here is a list of tips for you to consider before you do.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
October 2004
Always inform your healthcare professional about any and all herbals or supplements that you may be taking.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Here are some facts you should be aware of before you decide to take a dietary supplement for diabetes:
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Here are some facts you should be aware of before you decide to take a dietary supplement for diabetes:
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
September 2004
As part of our Food for Thought section, we will begin profiling a nutritional supplement every month.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2004
August 2004
Diachrome, a patented combination of chromium picolinate and biotin, significantly lowers coronary risk factors in type 2s. According to a small study presented at an American Heart Association meeting, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB), held in May in San Francisco.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2004
January 2003
A recent study conducted as part of the Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation (HOPE) trial found that vitamin E supplementation had no effect on cardiovascular disease, other coronary risk factors, or kidney disease in middle-aged and elderly people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
Prepackaged one-day supplies of vitamins, minerals and alpha-lipoic acid in a mix that is said to benefit people with diabetes are available from Nature Made.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
March 2002
Q: My husband is on insulin and he takes Lipitor (a statin). To help with his diabetes, he has taken vitamin E (400 I.U. daily) for several years and vitamin C (500 mg daily). A recent news report said that taking vitamin E and vitamin C with statins could do more harm than good to the heart when taken in high doses. Are these doses that my husband is taking considered high? I also read that vitamin E is very beneficial to people with diabetes. Should he stop taking vitamins E and C?
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
August 2001
Everyone, including your neighbor, manicurist and racquetball partner, seems to be jumping enthusiastically onto the "supplement bandwagon." Should you and your diabetes climb aboard?
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2001
June 2001
Nutrition 21 has announced the introduction of a dietary supplement that has been shown to help improve the absorption of glucose in the body.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
March 2001
Studies are increasingly proving the benefits of keeping your after-meal BG levels down. Along with these results comes an interest among many with diabetes to help lower their glucose levels using natural substances.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2001
December 2000
Chai-Na-Ta Corporation of Langley, British Columbia, announced on September 12 that a research study using its North American Ginseng significantly reduced the blood glucose level of patients with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2000
"Taking a quarter to a full teaspoon a day of cinnamon, perhaps in orange juice, coffee or on oatmeal, may prevent or at least delay type 2 diabetes," say researchers at the U.S. Agricultural Research Service's nutrition labs in Beltsville, Maryland.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2000
October 2000
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are saying a popular dietary supplement has been proven to reduce the amount of fat many dieters regain after losing weight.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2000
August 2000
Chromium's effects on diabetes have garnered attention in the past, but a recent study shows its benefits can be felt before type 2 diabetes develops—and may even prevent it from ever occurring.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2000
June 2000
Approximately 21 percent of Americans who suffer from arthritis use glucosamine sulfate supplements to help ease their pain. U.S sales of glucosamine are $230 million per year, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2000
Taking American ginseng before a meal can reduce blood sugar in people with and without diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2000
May 2000
Two more herbal preparations containing a blood sugar-lowering prescription drug were recalled by two California firms. The recall action came just two months after the FDA issued a warning about five other herbal products that contained blood-sugar lowering drugs.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2000
April 2000
On February 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned people with diabetes not to use five brands of Chinese herbal products. The FDA says that the herbs illegally contain the prescription diabetes drugs glyburide and phenformin which can cause dangerous drops in blood sugar.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2000
February 2000
Robert C. Atkins, the author of Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, has not been a stranger to controversy ever since his first book was published 20 years ago. He continues to be controversial in his advocacy of dietary supplements and minerals in his diet plan. Many doctors are leery of supplements because they have not undergone the rigorous approval process that the Food and Drug Administration puts prescription drugs through. Yet, Atkins puts as much weight on supplements as he does on prescription drugs.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2000
November 1999
If you've studied the facts, discussed them with your health care team, and concluded that one or more of these supplements will benefit you, here are some suggested daily amounts, arranged as follows:
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
Researchers from MCP Hahnemann University in Philadelphia discovered that a magnesium-poor diet increases insulin resistance in black Americans.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
Researchers suggest that getting less chromium than what you need may contribute to the onset of type 2 diabetes over the long term. Rats given a diet low in chromium had insulin levels twice as high as a group of rats fed a diet high in chromium. The results of the study were published in the August issue of Metabolism.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
September 1999
According to the July issue of Diabetes Care, high doses of supplementary vitamin C may cause an unexpected elevation of blood sugar levels and false diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1999
The D-Care line of products now offers several herbal combination tablets specifically designed for diabetes care. All contain gymnema sylvestre, an herb often linked to improved glucose control, plus other herbs to aid in specific areas of wellness.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1999
August 1999
Fish oil helps lower triglycerides, but does not interfere with diabetes control. High levels of triglycerides might be harmful to people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
Lester Packer and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, presented research that demonstrates for the first time that free alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is detectable in nerves, and that its level does not depend on the route of administration, but rather on the treatment dose. The study also shows that blood levels of ALA do not reflect its concentrations in nerve or other tissues. The research was presented at the American Diabetes Association's scientific sessions in June.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
April 1999
How did one type 2 go from 20 units of insulin per day to none, and no blood sugar level above 185? He took Cogent DB, an Indian type 2 medication made from several herbs, which the Mayo Clinic is reported to be interested in testing.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1999
April 1998
Are you looking for an effective way to fight low blood sugars but unsure which product to take - candy, cake frosting, honey? These are all good choices. However, they contain sucrose, or white sugar, which takes a while to digest in the stomach - minutes which you might not want to waste when suffering from a low blood sugar.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1998
May 1997
Antioxidants, a main selling point for countless nutritional supplements and multi-vitamins these days, are drawing the attention of health experts.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1997
February 1996
August 1995
Vanadium is a trace metal found in our food and in our bodies, which is known to improve insulin sensitivity. A study conducted at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine is the first to document the benefits of vanadium in humans.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1995
May 1995
Researchers in India have shown that psyllium husk, which is the outer layer of the plantain seed, can significantly reduce cholesterol when administered to patients with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1995
January 1995
A drop of 17.4 percent in triglyceride levels was obtained in a study conducted at the Medical Center Hospital and the Audie Murphy Veterans Hospital in San Antonio, TX.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1995
March 1994
Introduction: It was a long, difficult, and confusing road that lead me to the conclusion that as a person with diabetes (type I for 45 years), I should take vitamin, mineral, and trace element (micronutrient) supplements daily. My educational background, like that of most other health care providers, did not include much clinical information about the need for micronutrients. Most of the information presented concerned biochemical effects (the effects of vitamins on the chemical reactions of cells) or deficiency states due to an unbalanced diet. I can remember my professor summarizing vitamin use by saying "the vast majority of people in the United States don't need to take daily vitamin supplements, as long as they consume well-balanced and nutritious meals each day." He also emphasized the lack of long-term clinical studies about micronutrient supplementation. My professor categorized the people who probably needed supplements as: children during growth stages, pregnant and lactating women, elderly patients, individuals with specific vitamin deficiencies, patients with chronic conditions, alcoholics, individuals under stress, and those who did not follow a well-balanced diet. I added up all the people in these categories and realized that a relatively high percentage of the total US population might need daily supplements.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1994
Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is associated with altered electrolyte metabolism and a derangement of the parathyroid hormone (PTH)-vitamin D endocrine system. Twenty three children with diabetes were found to have lower serum values for calcium, magnesium, PTH, calcitriol, and osteocalcin than age- and sex-matched control subjects without diabetes. After patients were given magnesium orally (6mg/kg daily) for up to 60 days, concentrations significantly increased, reaching control values.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1994
January 1994
A study of 15 Type 2 diabetic patients who controlled their diabetes through diet, were given 15 grams of guar gum per day over a 48 week period. The results of the study indicate that guar gum improved long-term glycemic control, postprandial (after meals) glucose tolerance, and lipid concentrations (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, October, 1993).
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1994