Diabetes Supplements Can Be Effective Helpers

As a Type II diabetic I have had to educate myself about this disease and wondered about what supplements if any could help get my blood sugar under control.

I learned there is no magic bullet, and not substitute for proper diet and enough exercise, but there are a few doctor recommend supplements that I take.:

Alpha-lipoic acid: An antioxidant that can enhance glucose uptake, inhibit glycosylation (the abnormal attachment of sugar to protein), and helps promote and maintain eye and nerve health. A good level to begin with is 100 mg a day.

Coenzyme Q10: Diabetics are generally at more risk of having heart trouble, and CoQ10 is a powerful antioxidant that helps maintain a healthy cardiac function. The recommendation is to take 60-100 mg of a soft gel capsule with your largest meal.

GTF (glucose tolerance factor) chromium: This trace element plays a role in blood sugar regulation by working with insulin to help transport glucose into cells. I recommend the form known as GTF chromium. Take 1,000 mcg daily.

Magnesium: To help promote healthy insulin production, take 400 mg daily.

Because I’m on a tighter budget these days I also found a place where I can get better quality supplements at cheaper prices. I fill up my nutritional supplement needs there and you might also want to visit their website

What is Magnesium Diabetes?

Magnesium Diabetes is the most common disorder associated with low magnesium. As many as one out of every three people with diabetes is low on this mineral. Even more convincing: Studies show that as magnesium intake goes up, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes goes down.

Although a few studies have shown that nutritional supplements of about 350 mg a day improve insulin resistance and blood sugar control, there's little agreement among experts as to whether low magnesium levels are the cause or the result of diabetes.

Still, experts say it's a good practice to make sure you're getting enough magnesium. (Most people, especially seniors, don't.) Supplements come in a variety of forms, including magnesium acetate, aspartate, carbonate, chloride, citrate, glycinate, hydroxide, lactate, oxide, or pidolate. And they come in a variety of combinations, from multis to special-formula supplements for diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis. One study found magnesium citrate to be well absorbed.

Natural foods like green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts, wheat germ, and whole grains provide magnesium to the body.

For the body to function, each cell must "open its door" and allow sugar to enter. Chromium has been called the key that unlocks that door. Without it, sugar builds up in the blood, and eventually diabetes develops.

It would seem to make perfect sense, then, to take chromium supplements to avoid high blood sugars. And some studies have suggested that supplementing with chromium helps keep blood sugar under control. But according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), only very low chromium levels cause problems. For most people, the ADA says, chromium supplements offer no known benefit. A recent animal study also found that one form of chromium, chromium picolinate, can trigger potentially cancer-causing cell mutations.

But not everyone is so quick to dismiss chromium's tremendous potential for people with diabetes. "There are several lines of evidence suggesting that higher doses of chromium supplements may be beneficial," says William Cefalu, MD, associate professor of medicine and director of the clinical trials unit at the University of Vermont’s College of Medicine in Burlington. Diabetes experts say 600 micrograms (mcg) a day have proven effective. (The animal studies suggesting a cancer link used much larger amounts than you would get from nutritional supplements.)

Chromium is available in a variety of forms: as single nutritional supplements, as an ingredient in multivitamins, or combined with any number of vitamins and/or minerals. Chromium picolinate and chromium histidine are believed to be better absorbed than other forms of the mineral.

Foods that contain chromium include: black pepper, broccoli, dried beans, and whole grains.