Chromium is a trace mineral that helps the action of insulin.  It does not increase the production of insulin but it increases cellular uptake, which is deficient in diabetes II.

Chromium picolinate is very important in glucose metabolism and diabetes control. Julian Whitaker, M.D. highly recommends it for diabetes II therapy because it is frequently found deficient in the population.

Chromium is well researched and at least 15 studies have demonstrated its effectiveness in glucose metabolism, reduced insulin resistance and blood sugar related improvements.

The USDA (Dept. of Agriculture) conducted a study on 180 people with diabetes II. They were divided into 3 different groups.  One group took 500 mcg of chromium picolinate twice daily, a second group took 100 mcg of chromium picolinate, and the third group was the placebo control to measure against.

Julian Whitaker, M.D. reports on this study and found blood sugar, insulin, cholesterol, glycated hemoglobin (a long term measure of blood sugar) were all significantly improved. Dr. Whitaker has an excellent track record for diabetes II treatment and he now routinely recommends a supplement of 200 mcg of chromium picolinate daily for his diabetic patients.

Chromium is also important to eye health. It has an antagonist, vanadium, which is a trace element best obtained from marine fish and poultry. The imbalance in the population favors vanadium.

Optometrist Dr. Benjamin C. Lane, from the Nutritional Optometry Institute says “Americans are getting less chromium and much more of its major antagonist, vanadium because of recent dietary trends to large marine fish and poultry.”

Dr. Lane has conducted studies on the subject for the past 20 years and finds that low levels of chromium are a major risk factor for increased interocular pressure. Chromium is believed to play a part in muscle contraction and the use of eye muscles ultimately affects the interocular pressure.

Good food sources for chromium (a trace element…be careful of unsupervised supplements) are natural foods.  It is easy to upset the mineral balance by over supplementation. Good food sources include beef, eggs, liver, chicken, wheat germ, oysters, green peppers, bananas, apples and spinach.

Cinnamon & Diabetes II

Cinnamon has shown value in controlling diabetes II.  An ingredient in cinnamon (MHCP) is a strong anti-oxidant and it also improves insulin sensitivity at a cellular level.  This helps the needed uptake of insulin for the cellular resistant diabetes II.

Some research on the subject suggests that saliva components render the good effect of cinnamon ineffective.  A water soluble extract or heated cinnamon in tea or hot water is acceptable.  Dr. Julian Whitaker, who has successfully treated hundreds of diabetics, finds cinnamon one of his “tools” that is helpful in the control of diabetes.

Michael Cutler, M.D. reports on the efficacy of cinnamon. He reports on a study done by Kahn et.al.  It was a double blind, placebo controlled, study.  The subjects took one, three, or six grams of cinnamon and the second group took a non-reactive placebo substance in the same amounts.  The researchers checked the blood at 0, 20, 40, and 60 days.

The subjects taking the cinnamon had a reduction of 7% to 27% LDL cholesterol and a reduction of blood glucose of 18% to 29%.  The placebo group had no significant reductions of cholesterol and blood glucose.

Dr. Cutler is also a big fan of cinnamon in the control of diabetes II.  He says a component in cinnamon, MHCP (methyhydroxy chalcone polymer), is known to increase glucose metabolism up to 20-fold. Cinnamon is a mimic of insulin, affecting cells in much the same way as insulin.

Gymnema Sylvestre

The Gymnema Sylvestre supplement is an extract from a plant native to India.  It is noted for its ability to help slow the absorption of glucose from the intestine into the blood stream.

Gymnema Sylvestre is reported in True Health literature by Michael Cutler, M.D. as beneficial for:

• Regulating the fasting blood sugar levels

• Improving the body’s glycemic control

• Making insulin more efficient

The mechanism for accomplishing the above is because it:

• Releases gymnenic acids that suppress absorption of glucose

• Helps insulin production by the pancreas to balance blood glucose

• Reduces sugar appetite and cravings

Gymnema Sylvestre is reported to be used in India for the past 5000 years.  In more recent studies its effectiveness in diabetes control is validated. In a study by Indians, 400 mg of Gymnema Sylvestre extract was given to 27 patients each day.  It was measured against a control group that was given a placebo.  Those taking the Gymnema Sylvestre supplement improved both their blood glucose and insulin levels. The control group did not have any improvement in these measures.

Diabetes II individuals suffer from their condition because of excess circulating glucose in the blood that causes inflammation.  Gymnema Sylvestre helps slow down the accumulation of glucose in the blood. Dr. Julian Whitaker, M.D. who has a successful track record for diabetes II treatment recommends a daily supplement of 400 mg of Gymnema Sylvestre…Denis Van Loan D.D.S.

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