Diabetes Nutritional Supplements

For those looking either to supplement their traditional treatments or to find an alternative approach to managing their diabetes nutritional supplements are at least worth a look. The following nutritional supplements have shown some promise for diabetics:

Chromium

Chromium is a trace mineral found in fruits, vegetables, vegetable oils, whole grains, wheet germ, certain seeds and brewer's yeast. Chromium helps support the functions of insulin in the body, which may make it an effective diabetes nutritional supplement. However, whether you believe this to be helpful or not depends on which study you read, as results have been mixed.

Folic Acid

Folic acid is one of the B vitamins (B9), and is important to the production of red blood cells and maintenance of the nervous system. Folic acid has been shown to help lower blood levels of an amino acid called homocysteine, which is linked to coronary artery disease and stroke. For this function alone, folic acid looks like a good addition to diabetes nutritional supplement regimens. Besides being available as a supplement, you can also find it in dark leafy green vegetables, beans, peas and oranges. You should know, however, that folic acid is destroyed during cooking, so you'll get its benefit most in raw fruits and vegetables.

Panax Ginseng

Ginseng has been touted as a cure-all for so many things that some people doubt its use overall. However, at least one small study showed it helped reduce blood glucose levels for type 2 diabetics. Although probably not the most powerful tool for the purposes, ginseng can be added to the list of diabetes nutritional supplements.

Green Tea

Green tea contains polyphenols, which operate in the body as antioxidants. The purpose of antioxidants is to battle free radicals, which cause damage to cells and to the immune system and are believed to be the cause of several serious health conditions. Since high levels of blood glucose are believed to produce free radicals, green tea could be helpful. It does seem that as a diabetes nutritional supplement green tea is not a very strong indication --- but it does taste good and won't do any harm, so why not?

Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA)

Another antioxidant, ALA also battles free radicals, but also helps convert food into energy. Some studies have apparently found ALA can significantly reduce the symptoms of diabetic neuropathy.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon has been used as an alternative treatment for many conditions for hundreds of years, but recently has created some excitement for its apparent use as a diabetes nutritional supplement. The way it works is to help fat cells respond to insulin and quicken the removal of glucose. The active ingredient in cinnamon responsible for this is called MHCP.

One reason the discovery that cinnamon is an effective diabetes nutritional supplement is that it is so easy to obtain and to take. You can buy the powdered form in the grocery store and simply add it to juice or other drinks. Half to one teaspoon a day is needed to have the desired effect. Stirring cinnamon sticks into hot tea also yields a delicious and nutricious drink.

More information is coming out all the time about the value of these and other diabetes nutritional supplements. It is, however, important to consult your diabetes care team before embarking on this or any other treatment regimen. Even for those who lean towards natural treatments and natural health care, there are certain times and conditions where the best treatment is traditional drug medicine. So do speak to your doctor as well as your dietician and natural health specialist to get more details on how you can add diabetes nutritional supplements to your daily routine.