Confused about choosing right Dietary Supplements ? Read this to get rid of Confusion.

Ryan Holms
5 min readDec 11, 2021

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Is it true that dietary supplements can help you manage your diabetes? If you’re like many diabetics, you’re probably wondering if the commercials you’ve seen or heard are accurate. Take a few moments to explore whether diabetes and dietary supplements are a suitable match or a recipe for disaster.

What Are Dietary Supplements and How Do They Work?

Vitamins, minerals, and other nutritional components such as herbs are examples of dietary supplements. You eat them with your mouth. Dietary supplements can occasionally help patients with specific health issues, such as diabetes, get more nourishment. However, most diabetics will still need to take regular prescription medications to keep their blood sugar levels under control.

Type 2 diabetes has been called adult onset diabetes but is now more common in children. This form of diabetes occurs when your body does not tolerate enough insulin or does not produce enough. This makes the blood sugar level unbalanced.

Before taking any supplements, there are some things you should take care of,

  • It’s ideal to get your vitamins and minerals from the foods you eat. Alternative medicines and supplements, on the other hand, are becoming increasingly popular. Diabetics, in fact, are more prone than non-diabetics to utilise supplements, according to the American Diabetes Association.
  • Supplements should not be used as a substitute for normal diabetes care. This can damage your health.
  • Before using any supplements, you should consult your doctor. Other treatments and drugs may be affected by some of these products. The fact that a product is natural does not guarantee that it is safe to use.

Many different supplements are being studied by scientists to see whether they can assist lower blood sugar levels.

People with prediabetes or diabetes, particularly type 2, may benefit from such supplements.

Taking a supplement with your diabetic medication may allow your doctor to reduce your prescription dose over time, while supplements are unlikely to completely replace medication.

Here are some substances that may aid in blood sugar control.

Cinnamon 1

Whole cinnamon powder or an extract are used to make cinnamon supplements. It has been shown in numerous trials to help reduce blood sugar and improve diabetic control.

When patients with prediabetes (fasting blood sugar of 100–125 mg/dl) ingested 250 mg of cinnamon extract before breakfast and supper for three months, their fasting blood sugar dropped by 8.4% compared to those who took a placebo.

A three-month study found that persons with type 2 diabetes who took 120 or 360 mg of cinnamon extract before breakfast had an 11 percent or 14 percent lower fasting blood sugar than those who took a placebo.

In addition, their haemoglobin A1C levels (a three-month average of blood sugar levels) fell by 0.67 percent or 0.92 percent, respectively. During the trial, all of the individuals took the same diabetes medication.

Cinnamon may help your body’s cells respond to insulin more effectively. As a result, sugar can enter your cells, reducing blood sugar levels.

Chromium

Chromium is a trace element that is required for life. It plays a role in carbohydrate metabolism. However, the evidence regarding chromium’s utility in diabetic management is inconsistent. For the most part, modest dosages of chromium are safe, although there is a danger that it will cause blood sugar to drop too low. High doses have the potential to harm the kidneys.

Chromium may boost the effects of insulin or support the activity of insulin-producing pancreatic cells.

Vitamin B-1

Thiamine is another name for vitamin B-1. Thiamine deficiency is common in diabetics. Some diabetic issues may be exacerbated as a result of this. Heart disease and blood vessel damage have been linked to low thiamine levels.

Thiamine is a water soluble vitamin. It has trouble entering the cells where it is required. Benfotiamine, a supplementary version of thiamine, on the other hand, is lipid-soluble. It penetrates cell membranes more easily. Benfotiamine may help to reduce diabetes complications, according to certain studies. Other research, on the other hand, have found no favourable results.

Magnesium

Magnesium is a nutrient that is required for good health. It aids in the control of blood pressure. Insulin sensitivity is also controlled by it. Magnesium supplementation may help diabetics increase their insulin sensitivity.

Bitter Melon

Bitter melon is used to treat diabetes in Asia, South America, and other parts of the world. There is a lot of evidence that it works as a diabetic medication in animal and lab tests.

There is, however, a scarcity of human data on bitter melon. There aren’t enough human clinical trials. Human studies that are currently available are of poor quality.

A diet strong in magnesium may also lower the risk of diabetes. A relationship has been discovered between higher magnesium intake and reduced rates of insulin resistance and diabetes, according to researchers.

Gymnema Sylvestre

Gymnema sylvestre is a plant used in India’s Ayurvedic tradition to cure diabetes. The plant’s Hindu name, gurmar, means “sugar destroyer.”

In one study, persons with type 2 diabetes who took 400 mg of gymnema leaf extract daily for 18–20 months saw their fasting blood sugar drop by 29%. A1C dropped from 11.9 percent to 8.48 percent over the course of the trial.

Further research reveals that by reducing the sweet-taste sensation in your tongue, this herb may help lower fasting blood sugar and A1C in type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes, as well as diminish sweet cravings.

How it works: Gymnema sylvestre may help your cells absorb sugar from your blood and reduce sugar absorption in your gut. Gymnema sylvestre is thought to help insulin-producing cells in your pancreas because of its effect on type 1 diabetes.

Alpha-Lipoic Acid

Alpha-Lipoic Acid (ALA) is a type of fatty acid that is found in

Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is an antioxidant with a lot of power.

According to certain studies, it could:

  • oxidative stress should be reduced
  • decreased blood sugar levels after a fast
  • insulin resistance is reduced
  • More research, however, is required. Furthermore, ALA should be used with caution because it has the potential to cause dangerously low blood sugar levels.

Final Thought

Cinnamon, ginseng, various herbs, vitamin D, magnesium, probiotics, and plant chemicals like berberine are among the nutrients that may help decrease blood sugar.

Keep in mind that your findings may differ from what studies have shown, depending on factors like time, supplement quality, and your diabetes condition.

Consult your doctor about supplements, especially if you’re on diabetic medication or insulin, as some of the following supplements may interfere with drugs and increase the risk of blood sugar dropping too low.

Your doctor may need to reduce the dose of your diabetes medication at some point.

Only try one new supplement at a time, and monitor your blood sugar levels on a regular basis to track any changes over time. This will assist you and your doctor in determining the effect.

Keep in mind that you will encounter tonnes of supplements in the market. But not all of them are authorized. To make it easier I have curated some commonly found diabetic supplements and analyzed them on the basis of their effectiveness, safety, and honest customer reviews.

To know more, You can take a quick look at,

DietarySupplementsanalysis.com

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