Supplements that may be helpful in people with diabetes"
Alpha-Lipoic-R-50 is one if the most important nutrients to consider for diabetes. Alpha Lipoic acid has been evaluated for blood sugar control, and it may also be considered in diabetic neuropathy and kidney disease. A dose of 20 to 50 mg daily appears to be appropriate. Alpha lipoic acid may also help in eyesight improvement.
Stevia-Clear-Liquid is a no calorie natural sweetener and a wonderful alternative to artificial sweeteners. all diabetics should learn about stevia.
Banaba has been used in the Philippines for the treatment of diabetes.
Fish-Oil-Wild  maintain healthy blood flow, especially in the microcirculation.
Fenugreek is an herb that helps support healthy blood sugar levels.
Acetyl-l-Carnitine is a promising treatment for diabetic neuropathy, usually at a dose of 100 to 300 mg daily.
CoQ10 improves the function of endothelial cells lining blood vessels and may slightly help with blood sugar control.  A dose of 20 to 60 mg a day with breakfast
Psyllium half or one teaspoon in a glass of water twice daily with food. Or one capsule twice daily.
Cinnamon -- 1 to 5 grams daily improves sugar levels and reduces blood lipids (one small study)
Multivitamins and Minerals
Chromium-Picolinate increases insulin sensitivity and binding, also increases number of insulin receptors.
Aloe-Vera has been found to be helpful in rodents with diabetes.
Vanadium Vanadyl sulfate is a mineral that helps with blood sugar metabolism.
Luo han guo sweetener as an alternative to sugar.

Diet and Blood Sugar
Blood sugar (glucose) levels vary throughout the day, rising after a meal and returning to normal within 2 hours. Blood sugar levels are normally between 70 and 110 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) of blood in the morning after an overnight fast. They are usually lower than 120 to 140 mg/dL 2 hours after eating foods or drinking liquids containing sugar or other carbohydrates. Normal levels tend to increase slightly but progressively after age 50, especially in people who are sedentary. Chugging more than one sugar-sweetened soft drink a day appears to significantly increase one's chances of developing diabetes. For healthy diet info.

Treatment of Diabetes
Major lifestyle changes are needed to prevent and treat diabetes. It is quite possible and likely to reduce blood sugar levels through proper diet and exercise.

Eliminate or reduce sugar, fructose, glucose, corn syrup, white bread, honey, molasses, maple syrup, fruit juice or concentrate. Avoid or reduce foods cooked at high temperatures.
Increase intake of high fiber foods, substitute whole grains for simple carbohydrates, see diet
Try to lose some weight
Exercise-- sedentary adults who get a few hours of exercise each week and don't lose weight may still cut their risk of developing a pre-diabetic condition called insulin resistance syndrome. High-intensity weight training coupled with a moderate weight-loss program can help older men and women with type 2 diabetes to improve their blood sugar control and also boost their muscle strength and lean body mass. The added muscle is particularly beneficial to people with diabetes because muscles are "major clearance sites" for circulating blood sugar, or glucose.
Stop smoking
Deep sleep (people who do not get enough sleep on a regular basis may become less sensitive to insulin which, over time, can raise the risk of obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes)
Caffeine ingestion contributes to insulin resistance, try to reduce your caffeine intake.

Other supplements in common use include Nopal (prickly pear cactus), karela (bitter melon), and tronadora. The popularity of these products varies among people of different ethnicities. Nopal is the most commonly used herbal hypoglycemic among persons of Mexican descent. Karela is more commonly used by persons from Asian countries.

Multivitamins reduce infections in those with diabetes
Daily use of multivitamins and mineral supplements reduced infections and related work absenteeism "dramatically" in patients with type 2 diabetes. "Our trial, which was performed on a sample of middle-aged persons, demonstrated a benefit in incidence of infections," Dr. Thomas Barringer, lead investigator director of clinical research in the department of family medicine at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, told United Press International. "However, this benefit was almost entirely observed in the participants with diabetes, for whom the magnitude was dramatic. Correction of micro-nutritional deficiencies would be the most plausible biological explanation for our results."

Diabetes and erectile dysfunction
Among men with type 2 diabetes, depression represents one of the most important factors contributing to the risk of erectile dysfunction. There appears to be a vicious cycle, in which depression may instigate the development of erectile dysfunction, while the erectile dysfunction symptoms perpetuate the symptoms of depression. Thus, erectile dysfunction in patients with diabetes is not related entirely to organic factors.

Diabetes and neuropathy
Diabetes can lead to nerve damage or "diabetic neuropathy" -- a painful condition that causes a range of symptoms from a tingling sensation or numbness in the toes and fingers to paralysis.

Acetyl-L-carnitine in the treatment of diabetic neuropathy. A long-term, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
De Grandis D, Minardi C. Department of Neuroscience, Ospedale Civile, Rovigo, Italy.
Drugs R D. 2002;3(4):223-31.
To assess the efficacy and tolerability of acetylcarnitine versus placebo in the treatment of diabetic neuropathy, mainly by evaluating the effects of treatment on electrophysiological parameters and pain symptoms. This was a multicentre (n = 20), randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study. Acetylcarnitine was effective and well tolerated in improving neurophysiological parameters and in reducing pain over a 1-year period. acetylcarnitine is, therefore, a promising treatment option in patients with diabetic neuropathy.

The size of the spinal cord is significantly diminished long before symptoms of nerve damage appear in adults with diabetes. Dr. Dinesh Selvarajah of Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, UK, and colleagues studied 84 men with type 1 or insulin-dependent diabetes, 24 nondiabetic controls and eight subjects with an inherited neuropathy.
Nineteen of the diabetic subjects had no diabetic neuropathy, 23 had silent or "subclinical" neuropathy and 39 had clinically detectable neuropathy. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of the spine showed that the spinal cord area, corrected for age, height and weight, was 67.5 mm in diabetics without neuropathy, 62.4 mm in diabetics with subclinical neuropathy and 57.2 mm in diabetics with overt neuropathy. There were no significant differences in the spinal cord area of diabetics without neuropathy and nondiabetic controls. Diabetes Care December 2006.

Diabetes Questions
Q. I have type II diabetes and use no insulin or prescription drugs. I keep my morning glucose readings in the 80-120 range with diet and supplements. What is the right dosage of alpha lipoic acid for diabetes? Sources recommend more alpha lipoic aicd for a person with diabetes that for "normal" people. Do you agree with that recommendation? They recommend 600mg (equals 300mg R-form) for diabetes which greatly exceeds recommendation of 50mg R-lipoic form three days a week recommended by Dr. Ray Sahelian! How can I reconcile these disparate recommendations? What is your advice for diabetes treatment?
   A. There is a difference in the dosage of a supplement as to whether it is meant for long term preventive maintenance or for the treatment of a medical condition such as diabetes. Also, when research is done, they use high amounts of the tested nutrient or drug for short period of time just so they can elicit a statistically measurable effect. This does not mean that people should be taking these high amounts forever. We have no idea what would happen to people if they took 300 or 600 mg alpha lipoic acid every day for years to come. If you have diabetes, first inform your doctor of your interest in using ALA, then start with half a capsule of 50 mg R-ALA. With time you can increase the dose gradually while monitoring your blood sugar. One side effect to look out for is insomnia. If you notice being too alert when you go to bed, it may be that you are taking too much ALA, or perhaps too many other supplements.

Diabetes drugs
Drugs for diabetes treatment include Actos from Takeda and Avandia from GlaxoSmithKline, and the injectable drug Byetta from Amylin and Eli Lilly & Co., treat diabetes. Byetta works by signaling the pancreas to produce the right amount of insulin after eating. Byetta is a drug based on the saliva of the Gila monster, a rare venomous lizard from the American Southwest and Mexico.
   Not only do diabetics sometimes have trouble producing insulin naturally, but they also develop resistance to it. Actos and Avandia work by reducing that resistance. Actos and Avandia share many characteristics because they're members of the same drug class, known as thiazolidinedione, or TZD.
   Januvia, a diabetes drug from New Jersey-based Merck & Co., Inc., is the newest entrant to the diabetes field. Like the other drugs, it controls blood-sugar levels and is only used by diabetics with type II diabetes, which generally emerges in adults as a result of obesity.

Type I diabetes in children and eating disorders
There is a high prevalence of abnormal eating behavior and eating disorders among girls with type 1 diabetes. Eating disturbances in these diabetes patients start young and are likely to persist over time.

Plants used in Trinidad and Tobago to treat diabetes
Antigonon leptopus, Bidens alba, Bidens pilosa, Bixa orellana, Bontia daphnoides, Carica papaya, Catharanthus roseus, Cocos nucifera, Gomphrena globosa, Laportea aestuans, Momordica charantia, Morus alba, Phyllanthus urinaria and Spiranthes acaulis.

Diabetes emails
Q. I have diabetes type 2, I read and hear constantly about how patients with diabetes need to keep their weight down, and avoiding gaining weight around the waist (being pear-shaped). What I never see or hear anything about is what to do when that weight gain is caused by the diabetes medicines being taken. My doctor has stated the obvious - that I should not stop taking the meds in order to lose the weight! I'm 57 years old. In my case, three years ago, I put on 80 lbs over the course of a year, while maintaining my exercise and diet regimen. My doctor started me on Avandia when diet and exercise alone no longer maintained my blood sugar at the proper levels. Over the next year, the Avandia dosage was doubled, then doubled again. After it became apparent that it wasn't having the desired effect, Amaryl was added, Avandia was later dropped, Metformin was added later on, and then insulin. I also take Byetta. I understand the weight gain, since these meds and insulin work by altering metabolism, but what are your thoughts on how to deal with it? My experience has been that if I try to eat less, my blood sugar numbers go up. If I eat enough to maintain the blood sugar, then I don't lose any weight. This has been the case both with and without exercising.
   A. We are not in a position to offer specific advice, but it is agreed in the scientific community that weight gain makes blood sugar control worse and leads to a worse case of diabetes. Eating less, in general, should keep blood sugar lower in those with type 2 diabetes. Weight loss should lower blood sugar in those who have diabetes. Diet Rx can help with appetite control and you can ask your doctor if it appropriate for you. Your doctor may also wish to review natural health information regarding diabetes on the web site.

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