Supplements to Reverse Metabolic Syndrome?

Remy

Administrator
I have a whole list, as usual. Why take one when you can take 10?? :)

ETA: I'm going to update this list as new things come up to keep them all in one place. So it's not all things I'm taking but a list of things that have been shown to help reverse insulin resistance.

  1. Alpha Lipoic Acid/R-Lipoic Acid
  2. L-Carnitine
  3. Magnesium Malate
  4. Metagenics Insinase
  5. Berberine
  6. LEF AMPK Activator
  7. T3
  8. Oral Estradiol
  9. High Dose Vit C (5g/day)
  10. Biotin
  11. Chromium (particularly chromium GTF)
  12. Hintonia latiflora
  13. CoQ10
  14. DHEA
  15. Irvingia
  16. Vanadyl Sulfate
  17. Metformin
  18. TUDCA (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2911053/)
  19. Ursolic Acid (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02337933)

What do you all take?
 
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Remy

Administrator
Funny...look what just turned up in my email from ProHealth...

Herbal Rescue for High Blood Sugar

By Terry Lemerond*

If you've ever wondered why we're seeing such an epidemic of diabetes and prediabetes, all you have to do is look at our diets. In a very short time, we have dramatically increased our consumption of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and refined carbohydrates, like white flour and white rice.
The Sugar and Insulin Connection
Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas. It picks up sugars in the bloodstream and carries them into the cells for energy. The more starch you eat, the more insulin your body needs to produce. High-sugar and high-carbohydrate diets put a huge burden on your insulin production. There is simply too much sugar for insulin to process, and increasingly higher levels of sugar remain in the bloodstream.

There's another complication. Because high-sugar and refined carbohydrate foods cause inflammation, the body's own natural inflammatory reaction can impair the ability of insulin to do its job, so cells become starved for energy. If cells start to ignore insulin (called "insulin resistance"), they do not respond to insulin's signals to accept sugar into the cell for energy production. Starved too long, cells start to die. Ironic, isn't it, that a disease we associate with overeating actually causes starvation at the cellular level?

But high blood sugar and diabetes is not inevitable. Despite the statistics, you can stabilize and reverse your high blood sugar levels with diet, exercise, and an amazing herbal extract. This remarkable botanical for blood sugar control has been clinically shown to treat mild and moderate type 2 diabetes. It is a traditionally used plant found in Mexico and Central America called Hintonia latiflora.
Hintonia latiflora - Herbal Rescue for High Blood Sugar
Known as "copalchi" and sold in many marketplaces in Mexico and Central America, Hintonia latiflora is a tree that grows in the desert, where it has to withstand an intense climate. Toughing out monsoon-like rainy seasons and scorching dry spells has created a powerful defense mechanism within the plant itself. Much in the same way that concentrations of anthocyanins (protective compounds found in berries) increase after a plant is stressed, the beneficial features of Hintonia are made all the stronger by its ability to survive and thrive in a difficult environment. While Hintonia has been traditionally recommended for diabetes and gastrointestinal complaints, it has shown some exciting clinical results as well.

Impressive Clinical Results
Hintonia latiflora has been clinically studied in Europe for over 60 years in type 2 diabetes and shows impressive results. Early clinical work with the herb found that it was equal to or better than insulin in mild to moderate cases of diabetes. In later work, patients using insulin and taking Hintonia latiflora were able to dispense with using insulin altogether, or switch from insulin to glibenclamide, a common drug that boosts the level of insulin produced by the pancreas. Ideally, nobody would have to be on a prescription drug, but over the years, studies of Hintonia latiflora have shown that it can either replace medications or at the very least, make them much more effective.

Clinical Results Have Shown... Hintonia latiflora combined with key nutrients for blood sugar control can:
  • Lower A1C levels by 10 percent
  • Improve fasting and postprandial blood sugar by 23% and 24%, respectively
  • Balance total cholesterol and reduce triglyceride levels
  • Prevent hypoglycemia - undesirable drops in blood sugar
  • Reduce medication use (39% of patients reduced medication - some didn't need it at all!)
Why Does Hintonia Work?
Plants and plant extracts are complex, and the reasons behind their benefits can be a challenge to unlock. However, scientists have been working diligently to discover the keys to Hintonia latiflora's success. Hintonia bark contains compounds that help keep blood sugar levels stable. Clinical work with the ingredient has shown that it was so effective that individuals could reduce or entirely dispense with their insulin medication in type 2 diabetes. Hintonia is also an inhibitor of alpha-glucosidase, an enzyme that releases sugar from foods, particularly carbohydrates. And coutareagenin, a polyphenol found in the bark extracts, appears to be responsible for other blood sugar-controlling benefits. For the best results, look for an extract standardized for this compound.

Hintonia is able to slow sugar metabolism, delaying the release of sugar in the bloodstream and keeping glucose levels down, rather than allowing them to spike as often seen in cases of type 2 diabetes.


Aside from that, research on Hintonia shows that compounds from its leaves may help stop gastrointestinal damage and gastric ulcers. Considering the harsh effects of some drugs used for type 2 diabetes on the digestive system, this is yet another reason to consider adding Hintonia latiflora to a diabetes-fighting regimen.
What You Can Do
I would encourage those with blood sugar issues to consider adopting a low-carb paleo diet or a ketogenic diet. These diets provide sufficient daily fats and proteins - but very few carbs - which means the body's energy comes from using body fat and fats from the diet. These fats provide ketones, which are used for energy rather than glucose. When you essentially "train" your body to stop using glucose as its primary source of energy, you help break the addiction to sugars and carbs and reduce your risk of diabetes.

Additionally, I would strongly urge you to add a clinically studied Hintonia latiflora to your daily regimen. The form I recommend is combined with trace amounts of B vitamins, folic acid, chromium, zinc, and vitamins C and E. These ingredients help protect against oxidative damage to blood vessels, stop nerve damage, and keep metabolism functioning well.
 

IrisRV

Well-Known Member
@Remy, do you take the Malate form of Magnesium because it's better in some way for metabolic syndrome, or for other reasons? Do you have any problems with 5g of Vitamin C? My doc is recommending 2g, but I'm thinking of increasing. Does it matter if you take it all at once or divide the dosage?

Looks like it's time for me to try ALA and L-carnitine again. :)

Chromium is believed to help the body utilize insulin, so might help with the blood glucose aspect of metabolic syndrome. I tried it, but quit when I didn't see my blood glucose decrease. In hindsight, while it didn't lower my blood glucose, it might have stopped in from increasing, which is useful in my case. It's going back on my list, too.

I take Omega-3 fatty acids/fish oil, which does improve my lipid profile somewhat.
 

Remy

Administrator
Chromium is believed to help the body utilize insulin, so might help with the blood glucose aspect of metabolic syndrome. I tried it, but quit when I didn't see my blood glucose decrease. In hindsight, while it didn't lower my blood glucose, it might have stopped in from increasing, which is useful in my case. It's going back on my list, too.

Chromium GTF (glucose tolerance factor) is the variety that is most used for insulin resistance and helps to use glucose more efficiently. The dose is 600 mcg with every meal. FWIW, I got nausea from it at that dose and have to take a lower one.

do you take the Malate form of Magnesium because it's better in some way for metabolic syndrome, or for other reasons?
I take malic acid because it is supposed to help the body produce ATP under low oxygen conditions and helps to boost energy. I'm not sure that it helps in any particular way that any magnesium chelate wouldn't in terms of metabolic syndrome though. Eades recommended it in his book Protein Power which was my bible when I first learned about ketogenic diets 15 years ago.

Do you have any problems with 5g of Vitamin C? My doc is recommending 2g, but I'm thinking of increasing. Does it matter if you take it all at once or divide the dosage?
I don't have any trouble with it now, but my tolerance for Vit C does vary some. I actually took about 15g/day for most of last year by mixing it into all my water bottles and sipping it throughout the day. I do think you should take small amounts more frequently because there is only so much that can be absorbed at one time. And you should not spill sodium ascorbate powder on your wool rug because it will oxidize and stain it forever.

I'm actually using liposomal C now which avoids all the bowel issues altogether. I just take it all at once and enjoy the buzz.
 

IrisRV

Well-Known Member
Chromium GTF (glucose tolerance factor) is the variety that is most used for insulin resistance and helps to use glucose more efficiently. The dose is 600 mcg with every meal.
Holy moly, that's a lot more than I took. Maybe that's why it didn't do anything for me. ;)

I'm taking Vitamin C powder at the moment, but in two doses in my water. I'll try spreading it out more over the day.

I'm going to have to think about malic acid. I haven't tried that in a long time, but it might be time to try it again.
 

Tigerlily

Active Member
It seems to me that taking supplements is not the best option, unless a keto or paleo diet has failed as surely you will just deteriorate and require more and more supplements as you are not getting to the root of the problem which is too much carbohydrate. I have not heard of these diets failing to correct the problem.

You haven't cured the cravings for more carbo's either which those diets do.
 

IrisRV

Well-Known Member
Consuming too much carbs is not the only cause of high blood glucose, although it is a common one. It is possible to be on a paleo diet and still have high blood glucose. Paleo and keto diets can fail to correct the problem under some circumstances in which case supplements or medications may be necessary.

However, if you are talking about high blood glucose due to over-consumption of carbohydrates, then certainly cutting back on carbs could make a big difference.
 

Remy

Administrator
It seems to me that taking supplements is not the best option, unless a keto or paleo diet has failed as surely you will just deteriorate and require more and more supplements as you are not getting to the root of the problem which is too much carbohydrate. I have not heard of these diets failing to correct the problem.

You haven't cured the cravings for more carbo's either which those diets do.
I haven't seen a carb in 3 months and I'm still battling the problem. The diet helps, but it's not enough without the supplements too. It's very frustrating because things don't work like they should. As usual. :)
 

Tigerlily

Active Member
I just will not accept that one cannot get the body into healing mode and will battle until I do it but using diet alone as the basis. It seems to me that if one says they cannot do it then they will not be able to do it. I don't think that is wishful thinking. I have been in this healing malarchy for long enough to know what is possible to achieve. If you want some inspiration then read "We want to live" by Aajonus Vonderplaniz and the Primal diet which will be my next venture if this one fails.
 

Remy

Administrator
I just will not accept that one cannot get the body into healing mode and will battle until I do it but using diet alone as the basis. It seems to me that if one says they cannot do it then they will not be able to do it. I don't think that is wishful thinking. I have been in this healing malarchy for long enough to know what is possible to achieve. If you want some inspiration then read "We want to live" by Aajonus Vonderplaniz and the Primal diet which will be my next venture if this one fails.
I won't accept that I can't heal either...that's why I use all the tools at my disposal including supplements. :)
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
I have a whole list, as usual. Why take one when you can take 10?? :)

Alpha Lipoic Acid/R-Lipoic Acid
L-Carnitine
Magnesium Malate
Metagenics Insinase
Berberine
LEF AMPK Activator
T3
Oral Estradiol
High Dose Vit C (5g/day)

What do you all take?
Why take one when you can take 10?

That gave me a good laugh! :joyful: :joyful: :joyful:

A good way to start the day...

Thanks....Since the immune booster from Synergy really does help I really need to investigate supplements more..
 

Remy

Administrator
Metformin improves insulin sensitivity and is commonly used in antiaging medicine.
It's true...but I keep getting hung up on the "is it toxic to the mitochondria or not" question.

Berberine supposedly works as well as Metformin (500 mg/3 times a day) and is available OTC.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2410097/

http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/content/105/2/408.full

Many pharmacological applications have been attributed to berberine, such as antidiarrheic (Taylor and Baird, 1995), antimicrobial (Kaneda et al., 1991), anti-inflammatory (Ckless et al., 1995), antiarrhythmic (Hong et al., 2002), antihypertensive (Hong et al., 2002), antiproliferative/antitumoral (Letasiova et al., 2005; Serafim et al., 2008), and as an antioxidant (Shirwaikar et al., 2006). It has also been reported that berberine reduces glucose blood levels in diabetes (Zhou et al., 2007), alters the processing of Alzheimer's amyloid precursor protein decreasing Aβ secretion (Asai et al., 2007), and shows antiangiogenic properties (Linet al., 2004), inhibiting HIF-α expression via enhanced proteolysis.
Unfortunately, the same questions arise with berberine in terms of the mitochondria...none of this sounds particularly good!

We have previously demonstrated that berberine causes mitochondrial depolarization and fragmentation, with simultaneous increase in oxidative stress. We also demonstrated that berberine causes an inhibition of mitochondrial respiration and a decrease on calcium loading capacity through induction of the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT).

So is it causing the antioxidant stress that it then relieves much like selenium? I wish I knew.
 

Remy

Administrator
what is metabolic syndrome? And does a blood test dx it?
Wikipedia definies metabolic syndrome thusly (bolding mine):

Metabolic syndrome is a clustering of at least three of five of the following medical conditions: abdominal (central) obesity, elevated blood pressure, elevated fasting plasma glucose, high serum triglycerides, and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels.

Metabolic syndrome is associated with the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes.[1][2] Some studies have shown the prevalence in the USA to be an estimated 34% of the adult population,[3] and the prevalence increases with age.

Metabolic syndrome and prediabetes may be the same disorder, just diagnosed by a different set of biomarkers.

The syndrome is thought to be caused by an underlying disorder of energy utilization and storage. The cause of the syndrome is an area of on-going medical research.

I would also add insulin resistance as a marker of metabolic syndrome. Pretty much all of these things can be tested....either with a scale, a blood pressure cuff, or with the corresponding blood tests.

Really, I think excess weight resistant to normal diet and exercise is almost always a result of metabolic syndrome...and there are definitely varying degrees of this syndrome.
 

Who Me?

Well-Known Member
See my doc next week so will get him to run labs. I think my glucose is usually fine. The only thing that is. lol.
 

Tigerlily

Active Member
Tested fasting glucose this morning and it was 6.1 which is lower than it was last year when l was keeping a check in it (but other things got in the way since).

I am sure that things got a lot worse later in the year due to developing symptoms like sleepiness during the day and adrenal surges at night so l think that my new autoimmune paleo diet is having an effect as those symptoms gave gone along with others after just three weeks.

It will be interesting to see how it goes the next week. I was not eating high carb before but was eating non gluten grains.
 

Remy

Administrator
6.1 is roughly equivalent to 130, for anyone reading.

My doctor says it should be no higher than 85 fasting so I still have some work to do too.

A paleo diet should help but still might be too heavy in (good) carbs to reverse course. You'll have to let us know how it goes for you.
 

Upgrayedd

Active Member
6.1 is roughly equivalent to 130, for anyone reading.

My doctor says it should be no higher than 85 fasting so I still have some work to do too.

A paleo diet should help but still might be too heavy in (good) carbs to reverse course. You'll have to let us know how it goes for you.

After eating a low carb (practically no carb) diet for 10 months, I had my blood drawn about 10 days ago fully expecting to see that fasting 85 BG, and an a1c to be envious of. Instead, my fasting BG was still over 100 (105) and my a1c was a borderline prediabetic 5.7, which I think equates to an average BG of about 117. It was lower when I was eating carbohydrates (5.2).

I'm so confused...
 

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