Diabetes mellitus results when the body doesn't produce enough insulin to maintain normal blood sugar levels or when cells in the body don't respond appropriately to insulin. People with type I diabetes mellitus (insulin-dependent diabetes) produce little or no insulin at all. In type II diabetes mellitus (non-insulin-dependent diabetes), the pancreas continues to manufacture insulin, sometimes even at higher than normal levels. However, the body develops resistance to its effects and the sugar in the blood does not enter the cells as well as it should resulting in higher blood sugar levels. Type II diabetes usually begins after age 30 and becomes progressively more common with age. Obesity is a risk factor for type II diabetes; 80 to 90 percent of the people with diabetes are obese.

Natural Supplements for Diabetes Treatment
Before you embark on ingesting supplements, have a discussion with your health care provider to see if they are appropriate for you. If you doctor is not familiar with these herbs and nutrients, you may recommend he or she read this information. If you do take supplements for your diabetes, keep your dosages low. If you consume too many calories, consider taking Diet Rx, an all natural stimulant-free appetite suppressant. By eating less, there is less likelihood that blood sugar will elevate as much. See below for details on Diet Rx. Further on I discuss some natural, non-supplement ways to treat diabetes. Daily exercise is key in keeping your diabetes under control.

Alpha Lipoic Acid 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 30 to 50 mg three or four times a week appears to be appropriate. Alpha lipoic acid is found in Diet Rx.
Stevia is a no calorie natural sweetener and a wonderful alternative to artificial sweeteners. all diabetics should learn about stevia. Stevia is a substitute not only for artificial sweeteners, but also for sugar.
Banaba has been used in the Philippines for the treatment of diabetes. Banaba is found in Diet Rx.
Fish oils maintain healthy blood flow, especially in the microcirculation.
Fenugreek is an herb that helps support healthy blood sugar levels.
Acetylcarnitine is a promising treatment for diabetic neuropathy, usually at a dose of 100 to 400 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
Natural Vitamin C with bioflavonoids
Chromium increases insulin sensitivity and binding, also increases number of insulin receptors.
Magnesium may help lower blood pressure in those with diabetes.
Flavonoids
Natural Vitamin E complex Vitamin E is only needed a few times a week.
Aloe vera gel has been found to be helpful in rodents with diabetes.
Spirulina
Astragalus may be helpful in diabetic nephropathy.
Whey Protein - For people with type 2 diabetes, adding whey to high-carbohydrate meals stimulates insulin release and reduces spikes in blood glucose levels after meals.

Diet Rx natural appetite suppressant
If you would like to eat less, consider a product called Diet Rx. This natural appetite suppressant works without stimulants. Diet Rx has no added caffeine, ephedra, ephedrine alkaloids, synephrine, hormones, guarana, ginseng, or stimulating amino acids. 

Benefits of Diet Rx
All natural appetite suppressant, decreases appetite so you eat less
Helps you maintain healthy blood sugar levels
Helps you maintain healthy cholesterol and lipid levels
Provides a variety of antioxidant from two dozen herbs and nutrients
Provides healthy fiber
Improves energy
Balances mood
Improves mental concentration and focus
Improves will power and choice of food selection

You can buy Diet Rx here, find out the ingredients, and see a list of hundreds of high quality natural supplement products

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

If you have sexual difficulties, Passion Rx , a product formulated by Dr. Sahelian, may be useful. Passion Rx supports healthy libido. Patients with diabetes have noticed benefits from Passion Rx when taken under medical supervision. A good option is to go with the slow libido lift approach using half or 2/3 a capsule in the morning on an empty stomach as opposed to two capsules at a time.  Passion Rx works great in women, too.

Subscribe to a FREE Supplement Research Update newsletter at Physician Formulas.  Twice a month we email you a brief abstract of several new studies on various supplements and natural medicine topics, including diabetes, and their practical interpretation by Ray Sahelian, M.D.

Diabetes Medicines and Potential Risks
Older, cheaper diabetes drugs are as safe and effective as newer ones. There is no reason to jump on the latest bandwagon of new diabetes drugs unless their prices drop and many years go by proving their safety.

December 2005 - The European Medicines Agency's scientific committee is investigating a possible link between glitazone therapies and macular edema. The CHMP investigation comes after the EMEA received reports of cases of macular edema in patients taking Glaxo Smith Kline's Avandia / Avandamet (rosiglitazone) and Takeda and Lilly's Actos (pioglitazone). A spokeswoman for the EMEA told APM that since 2000 the agency had been alerted to 35 cases in patients taking pioglitazone and 28 on rosiglitazone.
     People with type 2 diabetes who take sulfonylureas or insulin appear to be at increased risk of dying from cancer compared with their peers who take metformin. However, this relationship is very preliminary; it is still uncertain whether the increased risks of cancer-related mortality observed are related to a protective effect of metformin or deleterious effects of sulfonylurea and insulin. The so-called sulfonylureas boost production of insulin, while the drug metformin makes the body's existing stores of insulin more effective.

Diabetes Research Update
Acetyl-L-carnitine improves pain, nerve regeneration, and vibratory perception in patients with chronic diabetic neuropathy: an analysis of two randomized placebo-controlled trials.
Diabetes Care. 2005 Jan;28(1):89-94. Sima AA, Calvani M, Mehra M, Amato A; Acetyl-L-Carnitine Study Group. Department of Pathology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan
We evaluated frozen databases from two 52-week randomized placebo-controlled clinical diabetic neuropathy trials testing two doses of acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC): 500 and 1,000 mg/day t.i.d. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Intention-to-treat patients amounted to 1,257 or 93% of enrolled patients. Efficacy end points were sural nerve morphometry, nerve conduction velocities, vibration perception thresholds, clinical symptom scores, and a visual analogue scale for most bothersome symptom, most notably pain. The two studies were evaluated separately and combined. RESULTS: Data showed significant improvements in sural nerve fiber numbers and regenerating nerve fiber clusters. Nerve conduction velocities and amplitudes did not improve, whereas vibration perception improved in both studies. Pain as the most bothersome symptom showed significant improvement in one study and in the combined cohort taking 1,000 mg ALC. CONCLUSIONS: These studies demonstrate that ALC treatment is efficacious in alleviating symptoms, particularly pain, and improves nerve fiber regeneration and vibration perception in patients with established diabetic neuropathy.

A couple workouts with weights per week may help older men manage their diabetes, even if they don't lose weight. The study of nine older men with type 2 diabetes found that a program of supervised strength training generally improved their sensitivity to insulin, a hormone key to regulating the body's blood sugar levels. The workout also trimmed the amount of fat the men carried around the middle, though their overall weight held steady.

Many patients with diabetes develop numbness, tingling, pain, or weakness in their hands or feet, a condition called diabetic neuropathy. While good control of blood sugar levels is known to lower the risk of neuropathy, new research suggests that there are other measures diabetes patients can take. In particular, by maintaining a healthy weight, quitting smoking, and receiving treatment for high blood pressure, those with diabetes may reduce the risk of diabetic neuropathy.

What do herbalists suggest to diabetes patients in order to improve glycemic control? Evaluation of scientific evidence and potential risks.
Acta Diabetol. 2004 Sep;41(3):91-8.
In the course of 12 continuing education seminars given in different regions of Italy in 2001, we distributed a questionnaire to all the attending herbalists asking information about the herbal remedy and dietary supplement they mainly recommended to subjects who required a "natural" treatment to control glycemia. We distributed 720 questionnaires and we received 685 completed ones. We have compiled a short review on the efficacy and safety of the 10 most frequently advised products for each category. The 10 more frequently suggested herbal remedies were gymnema, psyllium, fenugreek, bilberry, garlic, Chinese ginseng, dandelion, burdock, prickly pear cactus, and bitter melon. The 10 most frequently recommended dietary supplements were biotin, vanadium, chromium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, selenium, alpha-lipoic acid, and fructooligosaccharides. The majority of the diabetes products recommended by Italian herbalists may be efficacious in reducing glycemia.

Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have discovered why excess weight leads to low-grade inflammation, which hampers the body's ability to use insulin. They found that the "master switch" of this inflammation is activated in the liver by weight gain. And they showed it can be turned off by salicylates, a class of drugs that includes aspirin. The Joslin study, published in the February 2005 edition of Nature Medicine, is cited as a major milestone in understanding why being overweight can lead to a host of health problems, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. An estimated 18 million Americans have type 2 diabetes, including an increasing number of young people. They are two to four times more likely to have cardiovascular disease.

Improved haemorrheological properties by Ginkgo biloba extract (Egb 761) in type 2 diabetes mellitus complicated with retinopathy.
Clin Nutr. 2004 Aug;23(4):615-21.
Abnormal haemorrheological property changes in erythrocyte deformability, plasma and blood viscosity, and blood viscoelasticity may play very important roles in the development of microangiopathies in diabetes mellitus (DM). In this study, we demonstrate the improvement in abnormal haemorrheological parameters in DM with ingestion of Ginkgo biloba extract 761. METHODS: Haemorrheological parameters before and 3 months after Ginkgo biloba oral ingestion were determined in 25 type 2 DM patients with retinopathy. These parameters included lipid peroxidation stress of erythrocytes, erythrocyte deformability, plasma and blood viscosity, blood viscoelasticity, and retinal capillary blood flow velocity. RESULTS: After taking Ginkgo biloba orally for 3 months, the blood viscosity was significantly reduced at different shear rates. Viscoelasticity was significantly reduced in diabetic patients by 3.08 +/- 0.78 (0.1 Hz). The level of erythrocyte malondialdehyde (MDA) was reduced by 30%; however, the deformability of erythrocyte was increased by 20%. And lastly, retinal capillary blood flow rate was increase. CONCLUSION: In this preliminary clinical study, 3 months of oral administration of Ginkgo biloba significantly reduced MDA levels of erythrocytes membranes, decreased fibrinogen levels, promoted erythrocytes deformability, and improved blood viscosity and viscoelasticity, which may facilitate blood perfusion. Furthermore, Ginkgo biloba effectively improved retinal capillary blood flow rate in type 2 diabetic patients with retinopathy.

People with advanced heart failure and who also have diabetes that requires insulin treatment have about a fourfold greater mortality rate than heart failure patients who don't take insulin. Previous studies have shown that diabetes itself is associated with a moderate increase in mortality risk in heart failure patients. It is not clear whether the insulin itself leading to this dramatic increase in mortality risk.

Clinical efficacy of magnesium supplementation in patients with type 2 diabetes.
J Am Coll Nutr. 2004 Oct;23(5):506S-509S.
Effects of magnesium (Mg) supplementation on nine mild type 2 diabetic patients with stable glycemic control were investigated. Water from a salt lake with a high natural Mg content (7.1%) (MAG21) was used for supplementation after dilution with distilled water to 100mg/100mL; 300mL/day was given for 30 days. Fasting serum immunoreactive insulin level decreased significantly. There was also a marked decrease of the mean triglyceride level after supplementation. The patients with hypertension showed significant reduction of systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressure. The salt lake water supplement, MAG21, exerted clinical benefit as a Mg supplement in patients with mild type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Red meats and processed meats such as hot dogs appear to increase the risk of diabetes, as does a heavily "Western" diet. U.S. investigators found that people that ate mostly Western foods - including sweets, French fries, refined grains such as white bread, and red and processed meats - were nearly 50 percent more likely to develop diabetes over a 14-year period than people who ate minimal amounts of Western-type foods.

A daily dose of vitamin E may help delay the onset of type 2 diabetes in people at high risk of the disease. Researchers in New Zealand found that high-dose vitamin E appeared to temporarily improve insulin resistance -- a precursor to type 2 diabetes -- among 41 overweight adults. Though the improvement was short-lived, another diabetes risk factor -- elevations in a liver enzyme called alanine transferase -- changed for the better throughout the six-month study. Some past studies have reached similar conclusions. A recent study found that people whose diets had a healthy dose of antioxidants, including vitamin E, had a lower diabetes risk than those with lower antioxidant intakes.

The new study included 80 overweight adults ages 31 to 65. Overweight and obese individuals are at increased risk of developing insulin resistance, in which the body loses sensitivity to the hormone insulin, causing blood sugar levels to soar.

Some people with diabetes have an unexpected decrease in HDL ("good") cholesterol when they take fenofibrate to reduce triglyceride levels, along with an insulin sensitizer such as Avandia.

Multivitamins cut diabetic infections
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."

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. DESIGN: This was a multicentre (n = 20), randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study. PATIENTS: 333 patients meeting clinical and/or neurophysiological criteria for diabetic neuropathy were enrolled. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomised to treatment with acetyl-L-carnitine or placebo. Acetylcarnitine (or placebo) was started intramuscularly at a dosage of 1000 mg/day for 10 days and continued orally at a dosage of 2000 mg/day for the remainder of the study (355 days). MAIN OUTCOME PARAMETERS AND RESULTS: The main efficacy parameter was the effect of treatment on 6- and 12-month changes from baseline in nerve conduction velocity (NCV) and amplitude in the sensory (ulnar, sural and median) and motor (median, ulnar and peroneal) nerves. The effect of treatment on pain was also evaluated by means of a visual analogue scale (VAS). Among the 294 patients with impaired electrophysiological parameters at baseline, those treated with LAC showed a statistically significant improvement in mean NCV and amplitude compared with placebo (p < 0.01). The greatest changes in NCV (at 12 months) were observed in the sensory sural nerve (7 m/sec in the acetylcarnitine group vs +1.0 m/sec in the placebo group), sensory ulnar nerve (+2.9 vs +0.1 m/sec, respectively) and motor peroneal nerve (+2.7 vs -0.2 m/sec), whereas the greatest changes in amplitude were recorded in the motor peroneal nerve (+2.2 vs +0.1 mV). After 12 months of treatment, mean VAS scores for pain were significantly reduced from baseline by 39% in acetylcarnitine-treated patients (p < 0.0 vs baseline) compared with 8% in placebo recipients. acetylcarnitine was well tolerated over the study period. CONCLUSIONS: 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.

Q. I have diabetes and recently purchased R lipoic acid, Cinnamon extract, Fenugreek and Milk Thistle and I wanted to know if these supplements could be taken together or not.
   A. Please visit Newsletter to see why the answer is much more complicated than it would appear.