Treating Diabetes

In the United States alone, more than 24 million children and adults are living with diabetes, including 5.7 million who are unaware that they have this disease.  

Diabetes is a fearsome disorder, yet one we take much too lightly. Few people flirting with borderline elevated blood sugar levels realize how important it is to get this situation under control right away.   

Most folks are unaware of the many diabetes complications, and that this disease is the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, and amputations in this country. People living with diabetes are more likely to have—and die of—a heart attack or stroke than those with normal blood sugar levels. Diabetes is also a primary contributor to erectile dysfunction (impotence) and dementia.

Unfortunately, most people either don’t know or tend to ignore the subtle warning signs of this devastating disease. It’s time we all pull our heads out of the sand and look diabetes in the eye.  
Diabetes is in large part a disease of lifestyle. In 90 percent of all cases, it is both preventable and treatable. Treating diabetes is simpler than many people think—exercising most days of the week and cutting sugars and starches out of your diet can go a long way toward improving blood sugar levels and preventing diabetes complications.

For more information about diabetes complications and treating diabetes, visit www.drwhitaker.com.

Diabetic neuropathy is a form of nerve damage that affects many people living with diabetes.  In addition to being quite painful, it can also be debilitating.  Fortunately, there are three effective, natural remedies to treat this common diabetes complication.

Lipoic acid, also called alpha lipoic acid, is an extremely powerful natural antioxidant. High doses of lipoic acid (in the 600 mg range) have been shown in several studies to be an effective therapy for diabetic neuropathy, reducing pain, and improving function in affected patients. Aim for 600-1,200 mg daily, depending on your degree of neuropathy.

Evening primrose oil, which contains the essential fatty acid gamma linolenic acid, also benefits nerves damaged by diabetes and reduces associated pain. In a landmark double-blind study carried out in seven medical centers, 480 mg of evening primrose oil taken daily for one year resulted in improvements in symptoms of neuropathy in both type 1 and type 2 diabetics. Other studies have utilized doses of up to 6,000 mg per day with good results. Start with 500–1,500 mg per day.

Potent daily multivitamin/mineral supplement and fish oil. Because oxidative stress plays a role in diabetic neuropathy, you need to take a potent multivitamin and mineral complex that contains the following nutrients in the suggested doses: vitamin E (at least 300 IUs), vitamin B6 (150 mg), and vitamin B12 (1,500 mcg). Since inflammation is also a factor, take 2–8 grams of high-quality fish oil.

For more information on managing diabetes and diabetes complications, visit www.drwhitaker.com.

At the Whitaker Wellness Institute, we routinely prescribe high doses of water- and fat-soluble vitamins and minerals to virtually all of our patients. However, for our patients living with diabetes, we bump up those amounts by at least 50 percent. The diabetic condition causes increased urination and essentially acts as a diuretic, washing away magnesium, zinc, folic acid, and other vital nutrients from the body. Supplementing with high levels of these vitamins and minerals helps compensate for nutritional deficiencies and protect against diabetic complications.

Take Roxann, a type 2 diabetic who had been on insulin for 16 years. She had retinopathy, angina, high blood pressure, a history of two heart attacks, and an open ulcer on her foot that refused to heal. But the most debilitating of her problems was neuropathy. Nerve damage left her with virtually no sensation in her feet, and she could barely get around on her own.

After hitting rock bottom, Roxann came to my clinic and started on a comprehensive nutritional regimen that included high doses of antioxidants, B-complex vitamins, zinc, magnesium, and targeted nutrients and herbs known to help control blood sugar. Given the severity of Roxann’s condition, she also underwent a course of enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).

Within three days, the feeling began to return to Roxann’s feet. She had more energy, less pain, and a renewed sense of hope. By the end of her second week at the clinic, she was walking normally. In fact, she and her daughter did something that would have been unthinkable just three weeks before: They spent the next couple of days strolling around and sightseeing in southern California.

If you’re living with diabetes and are seeing a conventional doctor, ask this question: “Doctor, I understand that diabetes causes losses of many micronutrients in the urine. Would it be wise for me to be on a nutrient supplement regimen to counteract those losses?”

If your doctor says it’s not needed or gives you some garbage about lack of science or some other nonsense, run—don’t walk—to a physician with a different attitude toward nutritional supplementation and other natural diabetes treatments. You just might save yourself a whole lot of suffering.

For more information on treating diabetes or key supplements for diabetes, visit www.drwhitaker.com.

If you’re working hard to manage diabetes, it may surprise you to know that one of the easiest aspects of diabetes management is keeping on top of the nutritional deficiencies the disease can cause. And taking nutrients and supplements for diabetes in the proper doses can go a long way toward improving your condition.

The best way to do this is to take a high quality daily multivitamin and mineral supplement. Although the bulk of the vitamins and minerals I recommend are included in most multivitamin and mineral supplements, the amount of each nutrient they contain is often woefully inadequate. Most one-a-day brands contain only the government’s recommended daily allowances (RDAs), which are absurdly low.

Read labels carefully and look for a high-potency formula, or augment individual nutrients to achieve the therapeutic doses recommended in articles posted throughout this blog.

For more information on treating diabetes and supplements for diabetes, visit www.drwhitaker.com.

As you strive to control blood sugar levels, it’s important to remember the role antioxidants play in managing diabetes. In order to get a handle on this condition, you’ll need to shore up on these important nutrients.

For starters, there’s Vitamin C. Vitamin C is the most active antioxidant in our water-based tissues. It lowers levels of sorbitol, the sugar that collects in and damages cells of the eyes (retinopathy), kidneys (nephropathy), and nerves (neuropathy).

You’ll also want to take an adequate amount of Vitamin E, your body’s premier fat-soluble antioxidant. Vitamin E improves glucose control and protects blood vessels and nerves from free radical damage, which is accelerated in people living with diabetes. Studies have shown that high doses of supplemental vitamin E may even reverse damage to nerves caused by diabetes and protect against diabetic cataracts and atherosclerosis.

Supplementation with both of these antioxidants is associated with a reduced risk of diabetic retinopathy. If you are living with diabetes, aim for 1,000-2,500 mg of vitamin C and 300-800 IU of vitamin E daily.

For more information on treating diabetes and diabetes risk factors, visit www.drwhitaker.com.

The key to the treating diabetes is twofold. First, you need to control blood sugar levels. Equally important, you must prevent diabetes complications.

While conventional physicians do attempt to stave off diabetes complications by helping patients maintain blood sugar levels that are in the normal range, they ignore the solid scientific research that supports the aggressive use of specific nutritional supplements for protection against the ravages of diabetes. This is one of the most obvious and inexcusable blind spots of conventional medicine.

Diabetes is a nutritionally wasting disease. Massive amounts of nutrients are lost as the kidneys rid the body of excess glucose by increasing urination, so the first step is replacement of these lost nutrients.

Among the most significant losses are the B-complex vitamins, and many people with diabetes have suboptimal cellular levels of these vital nutrients. Vitamins B6, B12, and biotin improve insulin sensitivity and also help prevent diabetes complications, particularly neuropathy, which is present in almost half of all people with diabetes. Supplementation is imperative, with recommended doses of:

• 75 mg vitamin B6,
• 150 mcg of B12,
• 300 mcg of biotin, and
• an array of other B-complex vitamins.

People with diabetes also tend to have low levels of magnesium, and those with the lowest levels are most likely to have diabetic retinopathy and other eye problems. For this reason, anyone trying to manage diabetes should also take a minimum of 500 mg of magnesium per day, balanced with 1,000 mg of calcium.

For more information on managing diabetes, natural diabetes treatments, and reversing diabetes, visit www.drwhitaker.com.

Type 2 diabetes information and research can be found all over the place, but much less is written about type 1. That’s likely because the vast majority of people living with diabetes have type 2. Nevertheless, type 1 diabetes warrants discussion. 

Type 1 diabetes, sometimes referred to as juvenile diabetes because it usually appears before the age of 20 (though it can crop up at any age), results from the inability of the pancreas to produce adequate insulin. Insulin is the nutritional storage hormone. Produced in specialized beta cells located in areas of the pancreas called the Islets of Langerhans, insulin is the key that opens up cells to glucose and other nutrients. If there is not enough insulin in the bloodstream to “unlock” these cells so that nutrients can get in, cells literally starve to death.  

Not surprisingly, classic symptoms of type 1 diabetes include 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. This is because the kidneys, in an attempt to keep things in balance, excrete as much excess glucose via the urine as they possibly can.  

People with type 1 diabetes are often diagnosed in the emergency room—dehydrated, wasting away, and sometimes in a life-threatening diabetic coma. Their blood glucose is sky high, usually between 350 and 750 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL; normal is 80 to 110 mg/dL).  

This type of diabetes is defined as an autoimmune attack on the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Researchers aren’t sure exactly what causes the immune system to attack, but viral infections are one possible cause.   

But to reiterate, only 10 percent of all people dealing with diabetes have this form of the disease. For the other 90 percent, lifestyle factors—the foods you choose to eat, the supplements you take, your activity level, and your weight—determine whether or not you will develop diabetes and what course it will take if you already have it. 

For more information on treating diabetes, diabetes risk factors, or diabetes success stories, visit www.drwhitaker.com.

While several herbs have been proven to lower blood sugar levels, two in particular stand out:

Gymnema sylvestre.  This is a plant native to India that, incredible as it may seem, appears to regenerate the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Gymnema has been demonstrated to lower blood sugar levels in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In a study of 22 type 2 diabetics, supplementation with this herb resulted in improved blood sugar control across the board. Furthermore, 16 of the 22 patients were able to reduce their oral medications while five discontinued them altogether. The recommended dose is 400 mg of Gymnema sylvestre per day.

Banaba leaf (Lagerstroemia speciosa L.). Banaba leaf contains colosolic acid, which activates glucose transport into the cells and effectively lowers blood sugar. In a landmark Japanese placebo-controlled clinical trial, 24 diabetics were given a supplement containing banaba leaf or a placebo three times a day for four weeks. Significant blood sugar declines were observed in the individuals taking the herb (average 153.9 to 133.1 mg/dL); there was little change in the placebo group. Aim for approximately 50 mg of banaba leaf extract daily.

Other botanicals that make it easier to control blood sugar, albeit to a lesser degree, include:

• bitter melon (Momordica charantia),
• Siberian ginseng,
• basil,
• cinnamon,
• garlic, and
• onion.

Look for all of these herbs in your health food store and use as directed.

For more information on treating diabetes, natural diabetes treatments, and reversing diabetes, visit www.drwhitaker.com. While there, sign up for FREE e-letters, or subscribe to Dr. Whitaker’s monthly newsletter, Health & Healing.

If you’re dealing with diabetes, specifically type 2 diabetes, the primary thrust of your medical management should be to obtain and maintain blood sugar levels within the normal range.

For most physicians, this means drug therapy. However, in more than 30 years of treating thousands of type 2 diabetics at the Whitaker Wellness Institute, I’ve found that drugs are rarely necessary. Instead, I rely on alternative diabetes treatments, including a comprehensive diet, exercise, and weight loss program, and natural agents that lower blood sugar. Adopting this natural treatment program has allowed the majority of the diabetic patients who come to the clinic to be successfully weaned from their hypoglycemic drugs.

Take the case of Alice, who came to Whitaker Wellness with a seven-year history of type 2 diabetes. Her blood sugar was under pretty good control on Diabeta (a sulfonylurea drug), but she was concerned about side effects—as she should have been. Drugs in this class are associated with weight gain, elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and an increased risk of heart disease.  

During her week at the Back to Health Program, Alice was weaned off Diabeta and placed on a combination of targeted minerals and herbs. And guess what? Her blood sugar levels remained stable. She continued on this effective, less expensive, and far safer program, and has been able to maintain blood sugar levels in the normal range.

For more information on managing diabetes, natural diabetes treatments, and reversing diabetes, visit www.drwhitaker.com. While there, sign up for FREE e-letters, or subscribe to Dr. Whitaker’s monthly newsletter, Health & Healing.

If you are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, you’ll immediately—and unavoidably—be prescribed insulin. If the diagnosis is type 2 diabetes, you’ll probably be told to make some changes in your diet and to begin exercising. But, you’ll also likely be told to take a drug if your blood glucose doesn’t normalize with lifestyle changes.  

Prescribing drugs is what physicians do. Medical school education is largely an exercise in learning which drugs to prescribe for certain conditions. Studies published in the most prestigious medical journals routinely compare the benefits of one drug versus another. Prescription medications are simply the heart and soul of modern medicine.

There are five major classes of drugs usually prescribed to help control blood sugar.  Although these medications may be effective in lowering blood sugar, each and every one of them has its price.  

Most oral hypoglycemic agents are no more than a Band-Aid approach to diabetes—they lower blood sugar, but do nothing to address the underlying condition. The majority increases insulin production, which, is not what’s needed in the case of type 2 diabetes, where folks are not insulin deficient, but rather insulin resistant.  

Other meds affect the way carbohydrates are metabolized in the intestinal tract. And although some drugs do attempt to improve insulin sensitivity, their side effects (including liver failure and death) make them highly suspect.  

Drugs are by their very nature foreign agents. As such, they affect your body in unnatural ways. The most common side effects of diabetic drugs are weight gain, gastrointestinal upset, and sometimes serious liver problems.  

While I’m not against all prescription drugs, I know from decades of experience treating diabetes that natural remedies for diabetes also work. Better still, I have thousands of patient success stories to back up this natural approach.   

For more information on diabetes, diabetic complications, and reversing diabetes, visit www.drwhitaker.com. While there, sign up for FREE e-letters or subscribe to Dr. Whitaker’s monthly newsletter, Health & Healing. 

Diabetes is a silent stalker, and if you’re over 45, overweight, inactive, or suffering with other diabetes risk factors, you’re a prime target.  

In the United States alone, nearly 24 million people suffer from diabetes, and another 5.7 million are walking around undiagnosed. Worldwide, the number of people with diabetes is expected to skyrocket to 366 million by the year 2030.

Diabetes is a fearsome disorder, yet one we take much too lightly. Few people flirting with borderline elevated blood sugar levels realize the urgency of managing diabetes in its early stages. Most are unaware that diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, and amputations in this country, or that people with diabetes are more likely to have—and die of—a heart attack or stroke than those with normal blood sugar metabolism. Nor do they recognize that diabetes is a primary contributor to erectile dysfunction (impotence) and dementia.

Furthermore, most people either don’t know or tend to ignore the subtle warning signs of this devastating disease. It’s time we all pull our heads out of the sand and look diabetes in the eye. Diabetes is in large part a disease of lifestyle. In 90 percent of all cases, it is both preventable and treatable—yet statistics clearly show that it is being neither prevented nor treated appropriately.

For more information on diabetes, diabetic complications, and reversing diabetes, visit www.drwhitaker.com. While there, sign up for FREE e-letters or subscribe to Dr. Whitaker’s monthly newsletter, Health & Healing.

If you’re living with diabetes, you’ll be interested in learning about these two treatments used at the Whitaker Wellness Institute—hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP).

HBOT and EECP are two powerful therapies that can help treat a variety of conditions. They’re both all about oxygen.

HBOT, which involves breathing concentrated oxygen in a pressurized chamber, saturates the tissues with oxygen and “wakes up” damaged nerves. Because many bacteria cannot survive in an oxygen-rich environment, HBOT also facilitates the healing of diabetic ulcers.

EECP increases oxygen delivery as well, but by a different mechanism. It rhythmically squeezes the lower extremities, which dramatically improves blood flow throughout the body. In addition, EECP stimulates the production of new blood vessels resulting in benefits that are enduring.

Although it is used primarily to treat patients with heart disease, EECP also benefits a long list of other conditions, including kidney disease and diabetes complications.

Ethylene diamine tetracidic acid (EDTA) chelation is an FDA-approved intravenous therapy that removes toxic heavy metals from the blood, improves circulation, and restores arterial health. Chelation is often used to treat patients with early kidney disease because, even at low levels, lead has been shown to speed up the progression of kidney damage.  

It is important to note, however, that intravenous therapy is never offered to patients with severe kidney failure because their bodies cannot handle that much excess fluid.

Because it helps improve blood flow and promotes arterial health, EDTA chelation is also effective for treating diabetes. It is just one of the many alternative treatments for diabetes that is studied and used regularly at the Whitaker Wellness Institute. 

With all the focus on “fixing” diabetes with drugs, underlying causes of the condition are rarely considered.  One potential contributor is low testosterone, which affects one in three men managing diabetes. But which came first, testosterone deficiency or diabetes?

A study published in Diabetes Care may answer that question. Finnish researchers measured levels of sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) and testosterone in 702 middle-aged men who had no signs of diabetes and were easily able to maintain blood sugar levels that were healthy. They then reexamined them after 11 years.

At the time of follow-up, 147 had developed metabolic syndrome and 57 had diabetes. What’s important about this study is that, regardless of other factors, the men with the lowest testosterone levels were nearly two-and-a-half times more likely to have developed diabetes or metabolic syndrome.

The idea that diabetes can be treated by normalizing testosterone levels is one of the many alternative treatments for diabetes that is picking up speed. Studies looking at supplemental testosterone as an adjunct therapy are being conducted, and many physicians who use bioidentical hormones have been treating diabetes patients with it for years.

Men over the age of 45 should have their testosterone level tested. If it’s low, replacement should be considered. In addition to regulating insulin, testosterone reduces body fat, increases libido, boosts energy levels, and improves mood and memory. Testosterone requires a prescription and may be obtained from compounding pharmacies.

J.J. was lying in a hospital bed awaiting a below-the-knee amputation, thanks to a diabetic ulcer that didn’t respond to intravenous antibiotics.  

Five hours before his surgery, someone told J.J. about the Whitaker Wellness Institute, so J.J. checked out of the hospital against medical advice and came to see us.

Like all of our patients dealing with diabetes, J.J. was started on natural diabetic treatments, including a therapeutic diet and targeted nutritional supplement program (he was obviously unable to exercise). He also underwent a course of EDTA chelation.

In addition, we treated his infected diabetic ulcer—which was so far gone the skin was almost black—with sugar dressings.  

When sugar or honey is packed on top of and inside of an open wound, it dissolves in the fluid exuding from the wound, creating a highly concentrated medium. Bacteria cannot exist in this environment, and infection is dramatically curbed. This natural treatment for diabetes related wounds also reduces swelling and encourages the removal of dead tissue to make room for new growth.

Over the next few weeks, J.J.’s foot began to regain its normal color, and eventually the wound healed completely. Today, he’s beating diabetes, is nearly 150 pounds lighter, and he walks several miles a day on his own God-given legs.

NOTE:  Do not try this on a bleeding wound, as sugar promotes bleeding.   

Sugar Dressing Protocol

• Unravel a 4” x 4” piece of gauze into a long strip and coat it with Vaseline. Place it around the outside edges of the wound, like a donut.
• Cover the wound with ¼-inch of sugar. (The Vaseline “donut” will keep it in place.)
• Place a 4” x 4” sponge on top of the wound. Bandage it firmly but not too snugly with a cling dressing.
• Change the dressing every one or two days. Remove, irrigate with water, saline, or hydrogen peroxide, pat dry, and repeat steps 1–3.

With all the focus on treating diabetes with drugs, underlying causes of the condition are rarely considered. One potential contributor is low testosterone, which affects one in three diabetic men. But which came first, testosterone deficiency or diabetes? A study published in Diabetes Care may answer that question.  

Finnish researchers measured levels of sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) and testosterone in 702 middle-aged men who had no blood sugar problems, and then reexamined them after 11 years.

At the time of follow-up, 147 had developed metabolic syndrome and 57 were living with diabetes. What’s important about this study is that regardless of other factors, the men with the lowest testosterone levels were nearly two and a half times more likely to have developed diabetes or metabolic syndrome.

The idea of treating diabetes by normalizing testosterone levels is picking up speed. A study looking at supplemental testosterone as an adjunct therapy is underway, and many physicians who use bioidentical hormones have been treating patients with it for years.

If you are male and over the age of 45, get your testosterone level tested. If it’s low, replacement should be considered. In addition to regulating insulin and making it easier to control blood sugar, testosterone reduces body fat, increases libido, boosts energy levels, and improves mood and memory. Testosterone requires a prescription and may be obtained from compounding pharmacies.

R.B., a type 2 diabetic, had been on insulin for 16 years. She had retinopathy, angina, high blood pressure, a history of two heart attacks, and an open ulcer on her foot that refused to heal. But the most debilitating of her problems was neuropathy. Nerve damage left her with virtually no sensation in her feet, and she could barely get around on her own.

After hitting rock bottom, R.B. came to the Whitaker Wellness Institute and started on a comprehensive nutritional regimen, which included high doses of antioxidants, B-complex vitamins, zinc, magnesium, and targeted nutrients and herbs to help control her blood sugar. Given the severity of her condition, R.B. also underwent a course of enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).

Within three days, the feeling began to return to her feet. She had more energy, less pain, and a renewed sense of hope. By the end of her second week at the clinic, she was walking normally. In fact, she and her daughter did something that would have been unthinkable just three weeks before: They spent the next couple days strolling around and sightseeing in southern California.

R.B. is just one of many diabetes success stories. And, in 99 percent of these cases, people have been willing to try natural diabetes treatments, as opposed to conventional methods of treating this disease. Targeted supplements for diabetes, coupled with lifestyle modifications, are just a few of the natural methods used in treating diabetes – and they work.

Did you know that more than three-quarters of the world’s population today relies on herbs as their primary source of medicine?

And this is not just a “third world” phenomenon. Doctors in Europe often use herbs rather than prescription drugs to treat patients. Unfortunately, here in the US, physicians are far less enlightened.

There is no greater testament to the heavy-handed dominance of conventional medicine and the pharmaceutical industry in this country than the fact that herbal medicine is relegated to the fringes of our culture—branded by conventional physicians as an unproven remnant of our primitive past, rather than thoroughly modern therapies for the diseases that plague us.

But despite the prejudice among doctors against these proven therapies, Americans are buying herbs. According to one survey, almost half of all Americans have used herbal supplements at one time or another.

This is great news for anyone managing diabetes, as herbs are among the top alternative treatments for diabetes. In fact, diabetes herbal remedies, as well as vitamins, minerals, and simple lifestyle adjustments make treating diabetes safe, easy, and natural.
 
Many natural treatments for diabetes are highlighted in this blog.  We hope you’ll read them and take advantage of their ability to help you.

Taiwanese researchers looked at more than 87,000 patients with type 2 diabetes who were treated with either oral drugs or insulin, and what they discovered may shock you.

They found that patients 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.

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.

Instead, opt for alternative treatments for diabetes, including nutritional supplements and diet modifications. These more natural options have been very successful in lowering blood sugar and preventing complications.

How does a physician know someone has diabetes and needs treatment?

For years, fasting blood glucose (blood sugar) and oral glucose tolerance tests were the primary diagnostics doctors used to determine whether or not a patient has diabetes. Today, glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C) is the new gold standard. This test measures the average glucose level during the two to three months prior to the blood draw, so it’s a broader picture than the “snapshot” the other tests provide. An A1C level higher than 6 percent is indicative of blood sugar problems, and 6.5 percent is the cutoff for a diagnosis of diabetes.

If a doctor diagnoses you with type 1 diabetes, you’ll immediately—and unavoidably—be prescribed insulin. If the diagnosis is type 2 diabetes, which nine times out of 10 is the case, you’ll likely be told to make some changes in your diet and to begin exercising. Beyond that, if it’s a conventional physician, a prescription drug will likely also be dangled in front of you, if not to begin at once, then to start if your blood glucose and A1C levels don’t normalize with lifestyle measures.

Prescribing drugs is what physicians do. In fact, medical school education is largely an exercise in learning what drugs to prescribe for which conditions. Studies published in the most prestigious medical journals routinely compare the benefits of one drug to another. Prescription meds are simply the heart and soul of modern medicine.

Although diabetes medications may be effective in helping to lower blood sugar, each and every one of them has its price. The oral hypoglycemic (blood glucose–lowering) agents are no more than a Band-Aid approach to diabetes—they lower blood sugar, but do nothing to address the underlying condition. For example, one popular class of drugs, sulfonylureas, increase insulin production. However, most people with type 2 diabetes produce too much insulin! These folks are not insulin deficient; they’re insulin resistant.

For years, doctors have known the potential dangers of oral hypoglycemic drugs, but for whatever reason, they continue to prescribe them to patients.  This is a shame, given the number of blood sugar supplements and other, more natural treatments for diabetes that exist.

Stay tuned for my top supplements for diabetes and other natural remedies for diabetes.