Diabetes is a common disease, unfortunately, in our modern society. There are several reasons for this, but the most glaring is the fact that people are not eating the right kinds of foods. Certainly, sugar is a major problem, as the average American eats more than 140 pounds of sugar a year! Imagine a life-sized statue of a person made completely out of sugar, and that’s how much is eaten. Add this to the fact that most diets lack quality nutrients, and you have a potential for not only diabetes, but also many other health problems.
Diabetics, as well as others who suffer from blood sugar imbalances, need nutrition from foods to support the pancreas, to balance sugar between the cells and the blood stream, and, secondarily, to support the body through some of the other problems arising from diabetes, including:
• Weight gain
• Wound healing
• Skin problems
• Organ and glandular sluggishness
• Food cravings
• Vision problems
• Cardiovascular concerns
The most important substance in nutrition for diabetics is Glucose Tolerance Factor (GTF), which is a molecular structure that decreases the amount of insulin needed to balance blood sugar. GTF makes insulin and your pancreas more efficient. (See Blood Sugar Nutrients).
Other trace elements known to lower blood sugar are manganese, zinc, calcium, potassium and sodium. Sodium, however, is rarely necessary to worry about since it is added everywhere in the modern diet. (But as an aside, be sure to get rid of your typical table salt and switch to genuine Sea Salt. Regular table salt is a toxic substance, while real sea salt promotes health!) These other nutrients are far more important to be concerned about (see Alkaline Food). Also helpful in blood sugar and pancreatic health is the vitamin B complex only found in foods (see Vitamin B Food).
There are very specific foods that have been shown to help regulate blood sugar levels, including an ancient Indian herb called Gymnema, chromium-rich yeast, black pepper, liver, beef, whole wheat bread, beets, beet sugar molasses, mushrooms, buckwheat leaf and seed, liver, pancreas, dandelion root, whole oat flour, fenugreek seed, bilberry leaf, aloe, cinnamon. See Blood Sugar Nutrients.
For complications involving vision health, cardiovascular health and wound healing, nutrients from foods are needed to bring an adequate blood supply into cells and body structures (see Healthy Heart and Bio Vitamin C Food).
The body content of chromium decreases with age. Diets higher in natural foods help avoid this loss. "Many women in Western countries are so deficient in chromium that the white blood cell chromium level may decrease by 50% with each pregnancy, resulting first in complete alcohol intolerance and later in glucose intolerance (adult-type diabetes)."
Food researcher Carl Pfeiffer, MD, wrote, "Humans, like rats, need this glucose tolerance factor...Glucose is required for every cellular function. It supplies the energy that is burned every time a muscle contracts or a nerve impulse is transmitted....GTF is not entirely new since brewer's yeast and soluble chromium salts have been used to lower the insulin requirement of unstable diabetic children and also to get older patients off insulin and oral insulin substitutes...GTF is a trivalent chromium in an organic chemical complex which cannot be easily synthesized in the body but may be synthesized by the normal bacteria of the intestine when enough chromium is contained in the diet. "
Finding food with chromium is not enough because chromium occurs in several forms. For instance, inorganic chromium found in the typical diet is only 1 to 10% absorbable. Eggs are high in chromium, for instance, but little of it is biologically active. The best sources are yeast, black pepper, liver, beef, whole wheat bread, beets, beet sugar molasses, mushrooms and beer (in moderation, of course).
Gymnema sylvestra, from the tropical forests of central and southern India, has been used in India for diabetes for over 2,000 years. The hypoglycemic (blood sugar-lowering) effect of gymnema leaves was first documented in the late 1920s.* This action is gradual in nature, differing from the rapid effect of many prescription hypoglycemic drugs. Gymnema leaves raise insulin levels, according to research in healthy volunteers.** The leaves are also noted for lowering serum cholesterol and triglycerides.*** While studies have shown that a water-soluble acidic fraction of the leaves provides hypoglycemic actions, it is not yet clear what specific constituent in the leaves is responsible for this action. Some researchers have suggested gymnemic acid as one possible candidate.+ Further research is needed to clearly determine which constituent is responsible for this effect. Gurmarin, another constituent of the leaves, and gymnemic acid have been shown to block sweet taste in humans.
Adjunctive Nutritional Schedule (Adults ONLY) * Blood Sugar Nutrients: 6 per day
* Vitamin B Food tablets: 6 per day
* Whole Calcium Supplement: 6 per day
* Super Green Food powder: 1 tbl per day
Additional Support:* Healthy Heart: 4 tablets per day
* Bio Vitamin C Food: 4 tablets per day
Scientific Sources: sources:
Carl Pfeiffer, MD, Zinc & Other MicroNutrients
* Mhasker KS, Caius JF. A study of Indian medicinal plants. II. Gymnema sylvestre R.Br. Indian Medical Research Memoirs 1930;16:2–75.
** Shanmugasundaram KR, Panneerselvam C, Sumudram P, Shanmugasundaram ERB. Insulinotropic activity of G. sylvestre, R.Br. and Indian medicinal herb used in controlling diabetes mellitus. Pharmacol Res Commun 1981;13:475–86.
*** Bishayee A, Chatterjee M. Hypolipidemic and antiatherosclerotic effects of oral Gymnema sylvestre R.Br. leaf extract in albino rats fed on a high fat diet. Phytother Res 1994;8:118–20. + Gymnema. Lawrence Review of Natural Products August, 1993 (Monograph).
Disclaimer:
Always coordinate your health program with a qualified health care practitioner. The nutrients in each Adjunctive Nutritional Schedule are not meant to treat or cure disease nor diabetes, but rather to support health. The FDA has not evaluated any statements made herein. All products have been formulated based on sound scientific and medical research. No artificial ingredients are used. 
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