In my earlier post, I explained that supplemental insulin can cause people who are trying to manage diabetes to gain weight. Sadly enough, weight gain isn’t the only downside of insulin use.
Another strike against insulin is its tendency to increase your risk of hypertension.
Taiwanese researchers looked at more than 87,000 patients with type 2 diabetes who were treated with either oral drugs or insulin. They found that patients managing diabetes using insulin had a higher prevalence of hypertension (61.3 versus 53.9 percent), and the longer they used it, the greater their risk.
This is not surprising when you consider insulin’s activities beyond nutrient storage.
Injected insulin increases sodium retention and stimulates the sympathetic nervous system. It induces oxidative stress, leading to free-radical damage that impairs the function of the endothelial cells lining the arteries. It also has growth factor–like activity that thickens blood vessels and increases risk of atherosclerosis, which also adversely affects blood pressure health.
Since people living with diabetes are already at dramatically increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, the last thing they need is a treatment that amplifies this risk.
I opt for more natural remedies for diabetes, many of which I’ll be discussing here in my blog. Please stay tuned.
Although most people think injected insulin is reserved for type 1 diabetes, more than one in four people also use insulin to treat type 2 diabetes. And, in most of those cases, it just makes things worse.
For starters, insulin use increases weight gain. A patient of mine, let’s call him Bill, had type 2 diabetes for 10 years prior to coming to my clinic. At the time of diagnosis, his physician started him on a drug that stimulates insulin production.
This method of treating diabetes worked for a while, but slowly and surely his blood sugar—and his weight—began to increase. His doctor responded by upping his medication dose. Again, this temporarily made living with diabetes easier for Bill, but eventually both his blood sugar and his waistline inched up.
In time, Bill was no longer able to keep his diabetes under control with oral drugs, so his doctor prescribed a low dose of insulin.
Over the next few years, his insulin dose was periodically ratcheted upward to keep pace with his rising blood sugar levels, and with every increase, he gained more and more weight. Soon he came to me asking, “Dr. Whitaker, what can I do now?” You see, when I first saw Bill, he was taking 100 units of insulin daily and had put on 100 pounds!
Folks, that’s just bad medicine. Bill’s “diabesity” (diabetes plus obesity), which was contributing to a number of health problems, was clearly exacerbated by insulin. After following my treatment program, which included, among other things, a healthy diet and blood sugar supplements, Bill lost those 100 extra pounds over the course of several years, and his blood sugar normalized without any prescription medication at all.
Another testament to the link between insulin use, diabetes and weight gain is the fact that 90 percent of teenagers with type 1 diabetes sometimes skip their insulin doses in order to prevent weight gain. I certainly don’t advocate this practice (especially since type 1 diabetics need insulin to survive), but it goes to show just how many people have experienced this potential downside to taking supplemental insulin.
In my next blog post, I’ll reveal another reason why I’m down on supplemental insulin for treating diabetes.
When blood glucose levels remain elevated for an extended period of time, sticky sugar molecules can attach to protein molecules in a process called glycation. Glycation of protein molecules creates irreversible cross-links between adjacent protein molecules. This cross-linking creates new protein structures called AGEs (Advanced Glycosylation End products).
If you’re dealing with diabetes, you’ll want to be particularly aware of this because, among other things, AGEs can cause tissues like the collagen in your blood vessels to become stiff and lose their flexibility. This is a major culprit behind many diabetic complications, including cataracts and diabetic retinopathy.
But, the good news is that there are two supplements for diabetes that are especially good for your eyes.
Grape Seed Extract. Grape seed extract is a powerful antioxidant that protects blood vessels and capillaries from free-radical damage. Research shows that grape seed extract can also help prevent diabetic retinopathy. The initial dose is one mg per pound of body weight for the first week, in divided doses with meals, continuing with a maintenance dose of one-half this amount. Round your weight up or down to the nearest 50 pounds. For example, if you weigh 210 pounds, take 200 mg a day for the first week, and then continue on 100 mg a day.
Benfotiamine. According to researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, benfotiamine blocks three of the major culprits responsible for blood vessel damage in patients with elevated blood sugar levels. As a result, it helps prevent retinopathy, neuropathy, and other diabetes complications.
Although benfotiamine is found in small quantities in garlic, shallots, leeks, and onions, you’d have to eat an awful lot of these vegetables to obtain therapeutic doses. If you want to forego the bad breath, I suggest you use benfotiamine in capsule form. Look for it in your local health food store. Typical doses range from 150 to 450 mg daily.
People who lead a sedentary lifestyle are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. In fact, some Harvard researchers found that the more TV you watch, the more likely you are to suffer with diabetes and weight problems and diabetes. Why? Because lack of exercise lowers insulin sensitivity and increases the possibility of metabolic syndrome.
Regular exercise is a must if you’re looking to maintain a healthy weight and control blood sugar levels. Researchers at Stanford and the University of California Berkeley who followed nearly 6,000 men for 14 years determined that increased physical activity was extremely effective in preventing type 2 diabetes. And it was especially protective for men with the highest risk of developing diabetes—those who were overweight or had a family history of the disease.
Aerobic exercise will lower blood sugar and burn calories, while resistance training, such as weightlifting, builds muscle and improves long-term insulin sensitivity. You don’t have to run marathons—just get active. Brisk walking is one of the easiest exercises.
The most important thing is to choose something you enjoy and stick with it. I recommend at least 30–45 minutes of vigorous exercise four or more days per week.
Are you looking for natural remedies for diabetes? If so, one thing you can do is maintain a healthy weight.
One of the most significant risk factors for type 2 diabetes is obesity. Statistics show that 90 percent of all people with type 2 diabetes are overweight. In fact, the link between diabetes and obesity is so strong that it’s led to the coining of a new term, diabesity.
Where you store those extra pounds is also an issue. If you’re a person living with diabetes and you carry your weight in the abdominal area, you are at an even greater risk of insulin resistance and diabetes. That’s because abdominal fat is more metabolically active than fat stored in the hips or buttocks. It is more easily broken down into free fatty acids that enter the bloodstream, interfere with the action of insulin, and raise triglyceride and glucose levels.
The good news is, for most people, getting a handle on weight is all it takes to minimize diabetes risk factors.
Vanadium, a trace mineral, is an excellent natural treatment for diabetes. I believe it is one of the most effective and intriguing blood sugar supplements. In fact, studies show that vanadium (as vanadyl sulfate) mimics insulin in the body and helps maintain blood sugar levels well within the healthy range.
One specific study involved individuals who were trying to treat type 2 diabetes. They each received 50 mg of vanadyl sulfate twice a day for four weeks, followed by a placebo for four weeks. At the end of the study, they were found to have a 20 percent reduction in average fasting blood sugar, which lasted well into the placebo period after the mineral was discontinued.
The only reported adverse effect was minor gastrointestinal distress during the first few days of the study. The suggested dose of vanadyl sulfate is 100 mg per day.
Much of the research on the relationship between diabetes and heart disease has come from the Framingham Heart Study.
Started in the early 1950s, this study, which has followed the medical history of thousands of residents of Framingham, Massachusetts, has provided a gold mine of data showing how people living with diabetes are at dramatically increased risk of heart disease and related health concerns.
Other studies have demonstrated that even in the absence of other heart disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol, or a family history of heart disease, people living with diabetes are still at a much higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and death from cardiovascular disease. They’re also more likely to be concerned about their blood pressure health. Why is this?
The most common type of heart disease, coronary artery disease, is primarily a disease of the blood vessels, or coronary arteries, that supply the heart muscle with vital oxygen and nutrients. In a process known as atherosclerosis, the artery walls become narrowed and hardened with buildups of cholesterol and cellular debris, which can restrict blood flow and impair circulation. If the blood flow through these arteries is severely restricted, angina (chest pain caused by insufficient oxygen to the heart muscle) may result. And if a blood clot lodges in a narrowed artery, a heart attack or stroke may occur.
When you throw elevated blood sugar into the mix, the situation only gets worse. Excess blood sugar makes the blood less viscous, causing impaired circulation. And high levels of insulin, also characteristic of type 2 diabetes, damage the arteries and contribute to atherosclerosis. So it makes sense that people living with diabetes are also at increased risk of developing heart disease. Fortunately, taking steps to manage blood sugar levels can help to reduce this risk.
In addition to being the driving force behind type-2 diabetes, insulin resistance is also part and parcel of a condition known as metabolic syndrome.
Identified in the mid-1980s by Stanford University researcher Gerald Reaven, MD, metabolic syndrome, initially called syndrome X, is a cluster of disorders that includes obesity, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol (often referred to as “good” cholesterol since it ushers excess cholesterol out of the body), and increased risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Reaven, observing that these seemingly unrelated disorders cropped up so often in the same individuals, determined that the one underlying constant was insulin resistance. In addition to insulin resistance, here are some of the other risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome:
Abdominal obesity: an accumulation of excess fat around the waist
Age: the older you are, the higher your risk
Sedentary lifestyle
Hormone imbalances
Poor diet: a diet high in saturated and trans fats and sugar
Fortunately, by following the alternative treatments for diabetes that we’ll be sharing here, you will not only protect yourself from diabetes, but also lower your risk of metabolic syndrome.
While there are many diabetes risk factors, I’d like to focus on three:
1. Prescription Drugs. Taking certain prescription drugs can increase your risk of developing diabetes. Common culprits include: corticosteroids (typically prescribed to treat asthma and arthritis), thiazide diuretics (often used to treat heart failure and high blood pressure), and antipsychotic drugs. British researchers also found that beta blockers (medications used to treat hypertension) increase the risk of diabetes by 50 percent. If you are taking any of these medications, talk to your doctor about safe, natural alternatives to these side effect-riddled drugs. Doing so may help you manage diabetes.
2. Level of Activity. People who are inactive are at higher risk of developing type-2 diabetes. In fact, Harvard researchers found that the more TV you watch, the more likely you are to develop diabetes and weight problems. This is because lack of regular exercise lowers insulin sensitivity and increases the possibility of metabolic syndrome.
3. Smoking. Everyone knows smoking increases your risk of cancer, but many probably don’t know that it is also a risk factor for type2 diabetes.
There are many other diabetes risk factors, which we will explore in this blog. We’ll also carefully examine the many alternative treatments for diabetes and how you can incorporate them into your daily life.
Just about anyone can develop type 2 diabetes, but research has shown that certain individuals seem to be more susceptible than others. Let’s take a look at two common type 2 diabetes risk factors.
Genetics
Some research has found that people who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes typically have at least one close relative who has the disease. That being said, if you have a family history of diabetes, it is important that you take steps now to manage the risk factors that you can control so you can avoid diabetes and its complications.
Age
According to recent findings published by the CDC, the age bracket with the highest percentage of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes is the 60+ age group.
However, the CDC also found that of the approximate 1.6 million new cases of diabetes that were diagnosed in people aged 20 years or older in 2007, most of them (approx. 819,000) occurred in those aged 40–59 years.
Furthermore, while there are no firm statistics available, more and more young adults and children are now being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes—a disease that has historically been confined to adults aged 40 years and older.
Additional diabetes risk factors will be discussed in future blog postings. I’ll also be sharing natural remedies for diabetes. Stay tuned.
Type 1 diabetes, sometimes referred to as insulin-dependent diabetes or juvenile diabetes (because it usually appears before the age of 20, but it can present at any age), is caused by an autoimmune attack on the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Researchers aren’t sure exactly what causes the immune system to go awry, but viral infection, vitamin D deficiency, and genetic predisposition are possible causes. Whatever the reason, the damaged pancreas is unable to produce adequate insulin, resulting in the inability of glucose and other nutrients to enter the cells.
Type 1 Diabetes Signs and Symptoms
The classic presentation in type 1 diabetes is extreme hunger as the body tries to compensate for this inability to feed its cells—and rapid weight loss as the cells are unable to utilize food, regardless of how much is eaten. In addition, untreated individuals with type 1 diabetes are extremely thirsty, drink copious amounts of fluids, and urinate excessively as the body attempts to dilute and get rid of extremely high levels of glucose in the blood.
Type 1 diabetes is not as common as you may think—only between five and 10 percent of all people with diabetes have this form of the disease. Most diabetics have type 2.
Type 2 Diabetes Causes
Type 2 diabetes is also marked by elevated blood glucose levels but for different reasons. Initially, people with type 2 diabetes make plenty of insulin. In fact, they often produce much more insulin than healthy individuals. But as the disease progresses the beta cells become exhausted and insulin production slows gradually and, although rare, may cease altogether.
The problem in this form of the disease involves the insulin receptor sites on the cells’ surfaces—they simply don’t respond to signals to open up to let in glucose and other nutrients, regardless of how much insulin is knocking at the door. This is a condition known as insulin resistance or insulin insensitivity, and it is at the root of 90 percent of all diagnoses of diabetes.
Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms
People with the type 2 form don’t experience the same diabetes signs and symptoms as those with Type 1. In fact, many of them have no symptoms at all. The disease is often discovered only during a routine blood test when a high fasting blood glucose reading, usually in the 150 to 300 mg/dL range, is noted.
The good news is that because the body only becomes “insensitive” or “resistant” to insulin, versus destroying insulin-producing cells , there are many type 2 diabetes treatments available. We’ll be addressing them in future blog postings.
Diabetes, like most chronic illnesses, is often (and rightly) characterized as a disease of lifestyle. Specific lifestyle choices can create and exacerbate type 2 diabetes, but as Dr. Whitaker has proven time and again, the right lifestyle changes can prevent, treat and even reverse type 2 diabetes as well.
But do some people have the cards stacked against them, where developing diabetes is an inevitable component of their very genetic makeup? To read the latest study in Nature Genetics, you might reach that conclusion.
There's no disputing that there is a strong, inheritable correlation present with type 2 diabetes. If your mother, father, sister or brother has it, your risk of developing diabetes goes up considerably. Your identical twin has diabetes? Your risk is even higher.
Now researchers have identified 10 new genetic variants that lead to differences in glucose levels for non-diabetic people. Half of these genetic differences also correlate to the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
"Finding these new pathways can help us better understand how glucose is regulated, distinguish between normal and pathological glucose variations and develop potential new therapies for type 2 diabetes," Dr Jose Florez, one of the lead researchers, explained.
What researchers go on to say is that by studying healthy people without type 2 diabetes, their hope is we can better understand how to treat those people who are currently living with diabetes, or those simply trying to manage blood sugar every day.
No dispute here, it's an admirable pursuit. And most experts concede that the future of medicine will be greatly influenced by the study of the human genome. But a danger few people talk about is this science of medicine instead fueling a belief that if you have a genetic predisposition towards a disease, all you're left to do is throw up your hands and live with it.
The fact is, 55 percent of people dealing with type 2 diabetes are struggling with their weight, and regardless of your genes, diabetes and weight are unquestionably connected. Another lifestyle correlation -- making regular exercise a part of your life -- dramatically impacts your likelihood of facing type 2 diabetes, now or in the future.
By understanding how to manage your risk -- with the proper diet that promotes insulin sensitivity, with supplements for diabetes that make maintaining blood sugar safe and manageable -- you gain control of your genes, not allow your genes to seal your fate.
The fact that you're reading this means you're already taking steps to understand your role in your own health.
Remember, as Dr. Whitaker says, you're in charge. Not your doctor. Not the system. And, as we'll have to keep in mind as more studies like this come out, not your genes.
A recent study in the Journal of Applied Physiology highlights an important point for those living with diabetes or simply trying to maintain healthy blood sugar -- what you eat immediately after exercise can have a dramatic impact on your ability to control your blood sugar and maintain insulin sensitivity.
While it's no surprise that exercise can enhance insulin sensitivity, what we're learning is how to best maintain that benefit for a longer period of time, so you get a more lasting impact from your efforts. When study participants were given post-exercise meals containing relatively low levels of carbohydrates, the benefits for insulin sensitivity were greatest.
When you improve your insulin sensitivity, it's easier for your body to absorb the sugar in your blood stream into your tissues, where it can be stored or used as fuel. One of the main signs of type 2 diabetes is insulin resistance, which is also a significant risk factor for other chronic diseases, like heart disease.
The good news is that efforts to eat modestly after exercise, with low-calorie meals, did not improve insulin sensitivity any more than when study participants ate enough calories to match what they burned off. As anyone who's hopped on a treadmill knows, exercise often increases hunger, and it's good to know you don't have to fight the urge to eat after a workout to still take advantage of the important blood sugar benefits.
Exercise Acts Like A Natural Shot of Insulin
As Dr. Whitaker has pointed out in Health & Healing, exercise dramatically improves your ability to fight diabetes and insulin resistance. That's because exercise actually acts like insulin in the body — the exercising muscle takes up glucose, even when no insulin is present. And if you exercise regularly, the benefits can be long-lasting.
Given the soaring rate of obesity in this country and the connection between diabetes and weight, exercise is more important than ever to stem the epidemic of type 2 diabetes, and keep those with metabolic syndrome from progressing toward full-blown disease.
As studies have shown, regular exercise (just 30 minutes, five days a week) and a low-fat diet can deliver average sustained weight loss of 10-15 pounds. This alone can help prevent diabetes or reverse the disease if you already have it.
Brisk walking, jogging, cycling, swimming — it's not what you do but your commitment to actually do it that matters. Shoot for 30 minutes 3-5 times a week. Once you start, and you start reaping the rewards, it's that much easier to stick with it!
We're all knee deep in New Year's resolutions...if we haven't abandoned them already.
For those of you who smoke, hopefully you've chosen 2010 as the year to quit.
But a study just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine just might have you scratching your head, at least at first glance.
According to researchers, a review of 10,000 smokers found that the risk of type 2 diabetes actually went up when people quit smoking, most dramatically in the first three years after quitting.
During those first three years, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes was about 70 percent higher than those who had never smoked. If you kept on smoking, however, your increased risk of diabetes was just (just?) 30 percent higher than lifelong non-smokers.
The good news of course is that if you've never smoked, your risk of developing diabetes is significanly lower than if you have. But quitting smoking as a cause of type 2 diabetes...how can this be?
After all, we know that quitting smoking reduces your risk of nearly every serious disease, including heart disease and an assortment of lung ailments and cancers. But the connection between smoking and diabetes is clear if you've ever known someone who quit or you've tried it yourself -- it's the link between type 2 diabetes and weight.
Sadly, people tend to put on weight when they quit smoking, reaching for a snack when the urge for a cigarette hits. When researchers took into account weight gain after quitting, the increased risk of diabetes from quitting smoking was negligible.
So if you smoke, you need to quit, and you need to control your weight after quitting, to avoid facing increased diabetes risk.
To make it easier to quit and reduce cravings, Dr. Whitaker recommends the following plan:
Before your start date, get two bottles each of Sulfonil and buffered vitamin C. Sulfonil is a sulfur-based compound that actually binds to the same receptor sites in the brain as nicotine. These receptors become habituated to nicotine, and once you quit smoking they cry out for more. Dr. Whitaker prefers Sulfonil to niotine gums, patches, etc. because it satisfies the cravings without providing the very thing you’re trying to escape.
Starting on your quit day, take two Sulfonil capsules when you wake up, then one every four to six hours during the day, and two more at bedtime. Drink copious amount of water to flush your system. The biochemical addiction to nicotine will dissipate in two to three weeks, so you likely won’t need Sulfonil for longer than that.
But you'll still need to break the habit of smoking, and not replace it with a habit for snacking, to prevent added weight and diabetes risk. When the desire for a cigarette strikes, Dr. Whitaker recommends 500 - 1,000 mg of buffered vitamin C, which can take the edge off intense cravings.
Then...do something, don't eat something. Take a walk, do household chores or paperwork, anything to keep your hands and mind busy.
If you're anxious or edgy (which is highly likely), you should consider supplementing with GABA or l-theanine, two nutrients well known for taking the edge off any stressful situation.
Seems you might get more than you bargained for with your $5 foot-long.
According to a study of heavy meat eaters published in the journal Diabetologia, a diet high in processed meats -- think bologna, salami, hot dogs and the like -- could increase your risk of type 2 diabetes by as much as 40 percent.
The incidence of diabetes with a high meat diet rose 17 percent overall, but with red meat, the increase lept to over 20 percent. Processed meats drove diabetes risk even higher still.
But why, exactly? What is it about an Italian hoagie that could specifically cause type 2 diabetes?
The researchers involved speculate that the culprit could be nitrates.
"Nitrosamines can be formed by the interaction of amino compounds with nitrates present either in the stomach or within the food product,” they said. “[Nitrosamines] have been linked to beta cell toxicity. In addition, low doses of the nitrosamine streptozotocin were found to induce type 2 diabetes in animal models.”
Because beta cells produce and regulate the release of insulin, a diet heavy in anything that targets and kills them off is a recipe for a diabetes disaster. Healthy beta cells equal healthy glucose levels in the blood. Without them, glucose levels can spike unabated, insulin sensitivity plummets, and maintaining healthy blood sugar becomes a weighty challenge.
Clearly, maintaining a healthy diet is paramount to beating diabetes, or preventing diabetes and nearly any other serious health condition in the first place.
And no one would argue, save the commissioner of Major League Baseball, that hot dogs are a good choice, no matter what your health concerns are.
Finally, a reason to feel good about my daily venti dark roast fix.
A new meta-analysis from the Archives of Internal Medicine showed a nice correlation between coffee consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes.
For every cup of Joe you drink, your risk goes down 7%. Not bad.
This review included data from over 500,000 people, with over 21,000 cases of type-2 diabetes. Of the 31 studies reviewed, 18 looked at regular coffee consumption, six focused on decaf, and the remaining seven studies included tea drinkers.
Bottom line, everyone with a mug holds a natural diabetes treatment in their hands.
It's not just regular coffee drinkers who can beat diabetes. Three to four cups of decaffeinated coffee were associated with a 33 per cent lower risk of type 2 diabetes, compared to non-coffee drinkers. And three to four cups of tea dropped diabetes risk by one-fifth as well.
Now if I've learned anything, it's to take a meta-analysis like this with a grain of salt. And if this were the only reason to drink coffee, I'd proceed cautiously. But it isn't.
Coffee has been championed by researchers as a natural way to maintain blood sugar and reduce diabetes risk before, because coffee has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity. Previous studies have shown that a high intake—at least six cups a day—lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 54 percent in men and 30 percent in women.
Dr. Whitaker has written about the health benefits of coffee for years, including research showing coffee reduces the risk of Parkinson’s disease by as much as 80 percent and even protects against other neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s.
Coffee improves concentration and alertness, boosts mood, and decreases suicide risk. In fact, coffee aroma alone can relieve stress in animals. (Count me among them.)
Did you know that coffee can also halt a full-blown asthma attack in its tracks? And drink coffee before a workout and you'll enjoy both increased endurance and less muscle pain.
There are even studies that suggest coffee will make you live longer!
Of course, if you're exercising, preventing diabetes and enjoying your day feeling alert and in a great mood, you can't help but live longer, right? Pour me another cup...
Contrary to popular belief, the leading liver problem in the United States is not alcoholic cirrhosis or hepatitis, but nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Afflicting roughly one in four Americans, it is not caused by alcohol or a virus, but by obesity and insulin resistance—and at least half of all people with type 2 diabetes are affected.
NAFLD is a progressive disease with three distinct stages. Simple fatty liver, or steatosis, is characterized by elevations in liver enzymes and fatty deposits in the liver (at least 10 percent of the liver cells are replaced by fat). If the disease is arrested in this stage, it remains relatively benign. Unfortunately, for one in five patients, it progresses to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, involving inflammation of the liver. From there, half develop cirrhosis, marked by advanced and irreversible scarring, fibrosis, and loss of liver function.
Why am I telling you this? Because the most significant risk factors for progression include type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome (syndrome X).
To treat or protect against this condition, I recommend regular supplementation with nutrients that enhance liver function (particularly detoxification) in addition to supplements for diabetes. Look for the following products—as stand-alone products or in combination formulas—in your health food store: lipoic acid, 100 mg; silymarin, 420 mg; selenium, 70 mcg; calcium-D-glucarate, 200 mg; N-acetylcysteine, 600 mg; ellagic acid, 50 mg; and trimethylglycine, 300 mg.
It's always nice to be proven right, particularly when it concerns health advice that actually changes people's lives.
As has happened so often over the years, Dr. Whitaker's core recommendation of supplementing with cinnamon daily as a natural way to control blood sugar continues to rack up additional clinical support, the latest from a recent study published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.
This study sought to determine whether cinnamon could help lower hemoglobin A1C in patients with type 2 diabetes. The randomized, controlled study followed patients for 90 days, with the cinnamon group using 1g cinnamon daily (curiously, the same amount Dr. Whitaker has been recommending for years...).
The result: Cinnamon users lowered their hemoglobin A1C by .83 percent, compared to .37 percent with standard treatment alone.
Said another way, adding cinnamon doubled the effectiveness of the basic treatment.
This may not sound that significant, but lowering your A1C is critically important for anyone with diabetes. A hemoglobin A1c test measures the level of glycated hemoglobin in the blood, the result of blood sugar (glucose) attaching to hemoglobin. As your A1C rises, so does your likelihood of diabetes complications, like vision problems, cardiovascular or kidney disease, circulatory and nerve imparement, and stroke.
When it comes to natural remedies for diabetes, cinnamon is pretty hard to beat. It's cheap, readily available, safe, and as the research continues to prove, effective.
Vanadyl sulfate is one of the supplements I recommend to help control blood sugar because it mimics the action of insulin and helps with glucose uptake in cells. But despite its amazing benefits, I find that questions about its safety periodically come up.
Take, for example, a note I received from a reader in Oklahoma City not too long ago. Although he was taking vanadyl sulfate to control blood sugar, he’d heard that it could also cause green tongue and other problems. I’m happy to answer this concern, because it pops up from time to time.
Vanadyl sulfate is a stable, inorganic form of vanadium, a metallic element used primarily as an additive in steel production. Acute exposure to the dust or fumes of vanadium or various vanadium compounds can certainly be toxic to the nervous and respiratory systems, liver, and other organs. And “green tongue” (as the name suggests, a greenish discoloration of the tongue) is indeed a classic symptom of toxicity in miners, industrial workers, or others exposed to high levels of vanadium.
But the accusation—often repeated on the Internet and elsewhere—that nutritional supplements containing minute amounts of vanadyl sulfate are toxic, is completely unfounded. On the contrary, studies demonstrate that vanadyl sulfate is safe when taken in doses of 75, 150, and even 300 mg per day for prolonged periods. Some study subjects taking the higher dosage reported gastrointestinal disturbances, but this resolved over the study course.
What these studies do show—and there are hundreds of them, some dating back more than 20 years—are profound benefits. In average doses of 100–150 mg, vanadyl sulfate increases insulin sensitivity and helps lower blood sugar and hemoglobin A1C—without danger of hypoglycemia. It has even been shown to reduce insulin requirements in individuals with type 1 diabetes. But what I find most remarkable is that benefits usually endured after the supplement was discontinued, suggesting that vanadyl sulfate has an ameliorating effect on the underlying diabetic condition.
So why do rumors of toxicity persist, despite the fact that vanadyl sulfate is, hands down, much safer than the scores of FDA-approved type 2 diabetes treatments? A cynic might say it’s because widespread use would cut into the enormous profits reaped by the pharmaceutical companies—not to mention that a number of vanadium compounds are in the pipeline. Whatever the reason, I stand by my recommendations for patients dealing with diabetes: 100–150 mg of vandyl sulfate daily along with other targeted nutrients, a low-glycemic diet, exercise after every meal, and weight loss. You can take it with confidence.
Should Whey Low sugar substitute be your new sugar?
For years, I’ve recommended stevia and xylitol to my patients concerned about blood sugar. And though these sweeteners remain on the top of my list, I realize that they aren’t for everyone. Stevia’s aftertaste is a little strong for some, and xylitol, being a sugar alcohol, is tough for some people to digest.
That’s why I am happy to recommend another sweetener, called Whey Low®, that tastes, looks, bakes, even feels exactly like common table sugar. But instead of causing a spike in your blood sugar, it reduces your body’s glucose response. In fact, it’s 60-80% lower on the glycemic scale than regular table sugar. Plus, it has 75% fewer calories!
How is this possible? It has to do with the composition of Whey Low sugar substitute. Regular sugar is all sucrose, but Whey Low sugar substitute is a careful balance of three forms of sugar: fructose, lactose, and sucrose. The lactose interferes with the absorption of sucrose, instantly cutting calories and stopping sucrose’s entrance into your bloodstream where it would normally cause a blood sugar spike. Don’t let the word “lactose” worry you. The meager amount of milk sugar in this product will not interfere with your body’s ability to digest dairy products. In fact, you won’t notice any difference between regular sugar and all-natural Whey Low at all—except for your lower blood sugar readings.
Whey Low sugar substitute even fools professional chefs—possibly because it was developed for an avid baker who wouldn’t settle for anything but perfection. Whey Low sugar substitute was created by Dr. Lee Zehner after his wife was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. He set out to develop a natural sugar substitute she could use that would react the same way and taste the same as sugar in recipes.
And Whey Low sugar substitute delivers. Not only does it have the same texture and flavor as regular sugar, it even measures exactly the same. One cup of Whey Low equals one cup of sugar. You don’t even have to think about it—anywhere you’d use sugar, you can substitute Whey Low. While cutting out sugar is always good, the serious health benefits of Whey Low sugar substitute can’t be denied. If you struggle with blood sugar concerns, excess weight, or metabolic syndrome you’ll find that Whey Low gives you a whole new lease on life, or at least your diet! Whey Low sugar substitute is made right here in the USA. Dr. Zehner runs a family-owned business in Maryland, where he develops natural products used largely by local restaurants and businesses. Learn more about Whey Low sugar substitute.
You owe it to yourself, your family, and your waistline to give this sweetener a try.
Diabetes, like most chronic illnesses, is often (and rightly) characterized as a disease of lifestyle. Specific lifestyle choices can create and exacerbate type 2 diabetes, but as Dr. Whitaker has 
A recent study in the 
We're all knee deep in New Year's resolutions...if we haven't abandoned them already. 
Finally, a reason to feel good about my daily venti dark roast fix. 
It's always nice to be proven right, particularly when it concerns health advice that actually changes people's lives. 
For years, I’ve recommended stevia and xylitol to my patients concerned about blood sugar. And though these sweeteners remain on the top of my list, I realize that they aren’t for everyone. Stevia’s aftertaste is a little strong for some, and xylitol, being a sugar alcohol, is tough for some people to digest.
And Whey Low sugar substitute delivers. Not only does it have the same texture and flavor as regular sugar, it even measures exactly the same. One cup of Whey Low equals one cup of sugar. You don’t even have to think about it—anywhere you’d use sugar, you can substitute Whey Low. While cutting out sugar is always good, the serious health benefits of 
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