The 10 Best Supplements To Help Lower Blood Sugar
05/21/2021 | 10 min. read
Healthy Directions Staff Editor
Glucose, also referred to as blood sugar, is the primary sugar found in the blood. This blood sugar travels through the bloodstream into the bodys cells, providing nutrients to the organs, muscles, and more. Most importantly, blood sugar is the main source of energy for the body.
The body gets glucose from the food we eat — mainly from foods rich in carbohydrates. These foods can be breads, potatoes, and numerous types of other vegetables and fruits.
As the body digests the food, through various acids and enzymes, the carbohydrates are broken down into this usable form of sugar glucose. It is absorbed and stored for energy use.
This breakdown process is carried out by the pancreas through a release of insulin — a hormone created by beta cells.
In brief, the pancreas releases insulin into the bloodstream and to the bodys cells, allowing those cells to accept the glucose where they can then be converted to energy to be used or stored. When this process is interrupted, problems arise.
Can Someone With Diabetes Take Supplements To Lower Blood Sugar
A quick trip to the vitamin or supplement section of your local grocery store or health food store and youâll notice thereâs often a whole section devoted to blood sugar-related supplements. Can these supplements actually lower blood sugar or cure diabetes? While some may help by making blood sugars a bit easier to manage, no supplement can cure any form of diabetes. And no supplement should be used in place of a medication without specific guidance and direction from your physician.
I know these supplements often come with unrealistic promises that are very enticing. But, I cannot stress enough the importance of discussing any and all supplements with your healthcare team. Some blood sugar related supplements may interact with certain medications, and can have potentially dangerous side effects.
Supplements To Help Lower Blood Sugar
Scientists are testing many different supplements to determine if they help lower blood sugar.
Such supplements could benefit people with prediabetes or diabetes particularly type 2.
Over time, taking a supplement alongside diabetes medication may enable your doctor to decrease your medication dose though supplements likely cant replace medication entirely.
Here are 10 supplements that may help lower blood sugar.
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Who Should Consume These Supplements And Who Shouldnt
A blood sugar management supplement could be taken by anybody. Blood sugar control is essential for hunger control, weight loss, cognitive support, and diabetic symptom management.
Many blood sugar management supplements, on the other hand, are targeted at two sets of people:
- Pre-Diabetics
- Diabetics
If you have diabetes, your system has a hard time controlling blood sugar levels. Insulin resistance has developed in your body, which could ordinarily reduce your sugar levels. To treat the condition, healthcare professionals may suggest dietary modifications, exercising, weight loss, or medications. Many pre-diabetics and diabetics now consume supplements to help them cope with the side effects of their doctor-approved medication regimen.
Furthermore, it does not matter if you are a diabetic or not, you can always consume these supplements, they will help in preventing the onset of diabetes. Moreover, The majority of supplements include components that promote heart health and overall wellness.
Blood sugar management pills are also used by few people to help them lose weight, minimize hunger pangs, and promote hormone production. Supplements that help with blood sugar levels act in a variety of ways. Blood sugar management supplements may be able to assist you in achieving your objectives, based on your desired outcomes.
Minerals That Support Healthy Blood Sugar
Theres a long debate about macronutrients and blood sugar, but theres a lot less information out there about micronutrients . Heres a look at four minerals that are important for blood sugar control, plus some ideas for getting them from delicious, nutrient-dense Paleo recipes.
A quick review :
- Blood sugar: the amount of sugar thats in your blood. Its fine and normal for blood sugar to go up after a meal, but then it needs to go back down again. Too much glucose hanging out in your bloodstream for a long time is very dangerous.
- Insulin: the hormone responsible for clearing sugar from the bloodstream.
- Insulin resistance: when insulin says please take this glucose out of the bloodstream and put it in a fat/muscle cell but your body doesnt listen to the insulin and blood sugar stays high. This is very bad news.
- Type 2 Diabetes: People with type 2 diabetes have chronic insulin resistance, so they have high blood sugar a lot of the time. .
There are reams and reams of studies on diabetes because its officially a disease so it gets a lot of attention. Problems managing blood sugar isnt officially a disease until it gets to a particular cut-off, so it doesnt get as much attention. But type 2 diabetes doesnt come from nowhere. It starts with problems managing blood sugar that steadily get worse over time. Diabetes is the extreme end of the spectrum, not some new and totally unrelated issue.
And now, for the minerals!
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Best Supplements For Diabetes
Whether youâre looking for the best supplements to lower blood sugar, vitamins to lower blood sugar, or just best vitamins for diabetes in general⦠there is a lot of information out there!
Below I will cover a few more commonly asked about topics within the diabetes world about supplements, and then will give you an explanation on the most common supplements I get asked about.
Research Design And Methods
Following a 1-month run-in phase, participants were randomized by block randomization with stratification for sex to receive two 400-IU natural vitamin E capsules per day or two matching placebo capsules per day for 3 months. At the end of this period, the dose of vitamin E was increased to 1,200 IU/day, with a matching increase in placebo for a further 3 months. Subjects were instructed to take vitamin E and placebo with meals. Stratification occurred for sex to ensure equal proportions in each group. The participants and the research nurses who interacted with the participants remained blinded to allocation throughout the study. Only one researcher , who did not interact with the participants, was responsible for study drug allocation. Randomization was carried out in blocks of six. Participants were instructed not to make lifestyle changes during the study. Assessments were made at baseline and at 3 and 6 months, when blood specimens, repeat anthropometric measurements, and capsule counts to assess compliance were performed.
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Natural Herbs And Vitamins That Lower Blood Sugar
You dont have to be a diabetic to benefit from having a lower blood sugar. When you have too much sugar in your blood, your body wont function as well as it could. The sugars interact with your nervous system and can cause pain. They can interact with your kidneys, increasing your risk of forming a disease. High sugar levels can even be a contributing factor to the development of urinary tract infections or thrush if left unchecked.
If you have been diagnosed with Type II diabetes, it can be a struggle to ensure your blood sugar levels stay in your targeted range. Your levels could be higher than they should be, but not high enough to take the medication you have to lower your blood sugar. That leaves you in an uncomfortable position, doesnt it?
Thankfully there are a number of natural herbs and vitamins that can help to lower your blood sugar by as many as 40 points. If you are a diabetic, youll want to discuss these options with your doctor so that you can be properly monitored. After all, having blood sugar that is too low can be problematic as well. When diagnosed as a diabetic, you show your blood sugar levels as a little outside of normal. However, you can lower your blood sugar in as little as 1 hour.
Supplements To Lower Blood Sugar
Finding ways to lower your blood sugar is a vital part of managing your diabetes. There are many different solutions out there that, when coupled together, can create a successful diabetes management plan for you. And you can peruse the internet and find supplements to lower blood sugar or any number of tips, tricks, and things people swear by, but its not always a one-size-fits-all approach. However, everyone is different, and there is no tried-and-true formula for how to lower blood sugar at any given time.
Instead, you should try a few different solutions to see what works best. Also, you should always speak with your doctor or dietitian about what you should try. They are the best person to go to for advice and suggestions on how to create the perfect diabetes management plan for you.
For many people with diabetes, supplements that help lower their blood sugar are one solution that they rely on. Today were focusing on six supplements that have been known to help people with diabetes lower their blood glucose levelssome of which may surprise you.
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Supplementing Diabetes Medication To Lower Blood Sugar
A variety of dietary supplements have proven effective at lowering blood sugar, which helps reduce the risk of developing prediabetes or diabetes symptoms. Supplements can also reduce the side effects of diabetes medication. Knowing which supplements help lower blood sugar can give patients a better chance of preventing diabetes.
Skip This: Bitter Melon
A popular fruit in the cuisines of Africa, East Asia, India, and South America, bitter melon is also sold in capsules claiming to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. One study published in 2017 in Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine suggests that bitter melon may reduce high blood glucose in type 1 diabetes, but the evidence is otherwise limited for real blood sugar benefits in people, according to the National Institutes of Healths National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.
The verdict: Its fine to eat bitter melon as a food, but as a supplement, it hasnt delivered the expected benefits and is potentially dangerous, Shane-McWhorter says. For example, it may cause gastrointestinal discomfort or allergic reactions. Now that you know about these vitamins for people with diabetes, read up on these diabetes breakthroughs.
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Biotin In The Use Of Diabetes Management
So far, Biotin has been a source of significant interest to investigative medical experts in the use of Biotin in diabetes management. Many encouraging results have come forth, and people are hopeful that they could help with this substance for their condition.
But what does the scientific evidence tell us? Lets take a look at the details below:
Best Blood Sugar Support Supplements To Buy In 2021
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Blood sugar control is key to good health and weight control.
Many people with diabetes use vitamins to help them maintain a healthy blood sugar level. Many diabetes supplements promise to assist people with diabetes to maintain an average blood sugar level, allowing them to live healthier lives.
Diabetic vitamins, when used in conjunction with doctor-prescribed diabetes medication, may help you manage high blood sugar. Several supplements contain natural substances such as chromium, licorice extract, cinnamon, and berberine to control blood sugar.
However, many frauds in the blood sugar support supplement area, such as supplements that promise to cure type 2 diabetes but have no proof to back them up.
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How Dietary Supplements May Help Control Diabetes
So far, there is not enough research to support specific recommendations for diabetes and dietary supplements. Ongoing studies point to two minerals that may be linked to blood sugar control.
- Magnesium is needed to help the body use glucose effectively. But more research is needed to see if taking a magnesium supplement will help control blood sugar levels in people who are not magnesium deficient. Currently, there are no recommendations for its use in diabetes management.
- Magnesium levels are often low in people who have problems with insulin secretion and in people with complications of type 2 diabetes. Whether magnesium dietary supplements can help relieve or reduce these problems is still unknown.
A few studies have shown that vanadium, a supplement that comes from plants, can increase a person’s sensitivity to insulin. So far, thereâs no recommendation for its use as a supplement for people with diabetes.
Who Are Blood Sugar Support Supplements For
There is no inherent reason why someone cannot use blood sugar support products. To manage hunger, keep weight off, assist in brain function, and manage symptoms of diabetes, having good blood sugar is essential.
However, many supplement makers market their products to two distinct categories of people: pre-diabetics and diabetics.
As a person with diabetes, your bodys ability to maintain blood sugar is compromised. Insulin, which is generally used to help your blood sugar drop, has been ineffective for you, and your body has built up a resistance to it. In treating specific conditions, doctors may recommend dietary modifications, exercise, weight reduction, or medications. Today, many prediabetic people or have diabetes use nutritional supplements to manage their disease with doctor-approved treatment plans.
You may take diabetes or pre-diabetes supplements if you dont have diabetes or pre-diabetes. In the vast majority of supplements, the components have a dual purpose of promoting general cardiovascular health and wellbeing.
Some individuals additionally use vitamins that help maintain blood sugar levels and minimize cravings for eating while also supporting hormone synthesis. Some nutrients support blood sugar via numerous mechanisms. Various blood sugar support products might assist you in attaining your objectives.
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Supplements That Impact Blood Sugar
Supplements may cause unwelcomeor dangerousside effects, especially if they interact with your medications. While some ingredients could intensify the effects of your diabetes meds, causing hypoglycemia , others may have the opposite effect, leading to hyperglycemia .
Research on many supplements is inconclusive. Talk to your health care provider before you start taking chromium, vitamin E, St. Johns wort, or niacin.
Confused about what to take? Unless your health care provider recommends a specific vitamin or supplement, its probably not all that helpfulor economicalto add another pill to your regimen.
Who Should Buy A Blood Sugar Supplement
Blood sugar supplements are designed to help your body naturally regulate your blood sugar. They are particularly helpful for those with prediabetes or diabetes who are trying to control their disease using diet and exercise.
These pills are not a cure for diabetes, but their natural ingredients can help control your blood sugar and evening it out.
Of course, just like any medication, some supplements may work wonders for you, while others might not work at all. We highly recommend trying out multiple supplements before you dismiss them all.
If you already have diabetes and are on medication, discuss these supplements with your doctor. Some ingredients can interfere with diabetes medication since both are performing the same job. Plus, you may need to decrease your medication at some point as the supplements begin to take effect.
While these supplements are mostly for treating and managing prediabetes and diabetes, they may also help those who are overweight lose a bit of weight. Many have the added side effect of lowering the absorption rate of sugar and carbohydrates, which can lower the number of calories your body absorbs.
Furthermore, many of these supplements also increase your metabolic rate. This may help you burn more calories than you would otherwise, which can lead to higher levels of weight loss.
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What Supplements Help Regulate Blood Sugar
One of the most difficult and frustrating aspects of type 2 diabetes is getting your blood sugar under control. To keep your blood sugar from spiking and crashing, the first and most important step is becoming aware of your diet.Eating too many calories from carbohydrates is usually the cause of blood sugar fluctuations. Your body produces extra insulin to clear away the glucose rush that eating carbs can cause.Thats normal, but if you have type 2 diabetes, your pancreas is likely to overcompensate and pour out too much insulin, causing your blood sugar to dip-sometimes to dangerously low levels .Avoiding low-quality carbohydrates from junk food and processed foods can make a big difference in getting your blood sugar under control.Improving your diet is a crucial first step for better blood sugar control. The next step is just as important: be more physically active.You dont have to train for a marathon to do this. Just adding a few more minutes a day of being active, until youve worked up to thirty minutes most days, can really help bring your blood sugar down to manageable levels.The frustration comes when youve been watching your diet and getting more exercise for months, but youre still not getting the blood sugar results you want. At this point, you might want to consider adding some natural supplements.Some supplements have been shown to give you a boost to help lower your blood sugar and overcome the insulin resistance that is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes.
Biotin And Diabetes: Will Vitamin B7 Help Regulate Blood Glucose Levels
In the modern world, there is a growing trend to use supplements and other holistic treatments instead of turning to Big Pharma and using synthetic medications. Biotin is one of these supplements that has been touted as a supplement that has numerous potential effects on our organism. One of the most apparent connections is using biotin for hair growth when you are seeking a hair loss treatment . Another claim that has been linked with biotin is its potential use as a sugar lowering agent. Here, we will explore if there really is a connection between biotin and diabetes.
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