Diabetes and Alternative Medicine

Many people with diabetes comb the internet looking for cures for diabetes or alternatives to standard medical recommendation.  Please see  the article below from the staff at the Mayo clinic which provides the evidence for alternative therapy for diabetes. Please comment below and let us know if you have tried any of these treatments for diabetes, or know anybody who has had a successful result from an alternative treatment for diabetes.

Alternative medicine

Numerous substances have been shown in some studies to improve insulin sensitivity, yet other studies have failed to find any benefit for blood sugar control or in lowering A1C levels. Because of the conflicting findings, no alternative therapies are currently recommended for diabetes control. Some of the substances that have shown promise in helping to control blood sugar include:

• Alpha-lipoic acid
• Caffeine
• Cinnamon
• Chromium
• Flaxseed
• Ginseng
• Glucomannan
• Guar gum
• Magnesium

If you decide that you’d like to try an alternative therapy, don’t stop taking the medications that your doctor has prescribed, and discuss the use of any of these therapies with your doctor to be sure that they won’t cause adverse reactions with your current therapy.

Additionally, there are no treatments — alternative or conventional — that can cure diabetes, so it’s critical that people who are on insulin therapy for diabetes don’t stop using insulin unless directed to do so by their physician.

Comment by Dr. Sybil Kramer: Many of my patients, friends, and colleagues, have asked about these and other substances and I have not found any controlled trials demonstrating that any of these substances work.  The Mayo clinic, does not recommend these substances. We all want a cure for this disease or at the very least we would like to find something that will help improve control.  However, as a physician, I have to know something works and will not do any harm before recommending it. Let us hope for a favorable study providing information people with diabetes may implement to enhance their lives.

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