Two Incredibly Effective, Risk-Free Ways to Battle High Blood Sugar
If you have elevated blood sugar levels, you may be on track to getting type 2 diabetes. For example, a fasting blood glucose level in the 100- 125 mg/dL range is considered a pre-diabetic level. But when those numbers rise higher than that – and it can happen easily – you have diabetes.
A protein-rich diet with less than 75 grams of carbs daily and regular exercise is critical to keeping your health on track. But for extra help to get your blood sugar numbers into a better range, there are natural ingredients that are proven to help. I’m going to focus on two of them here.
Berberine: Berberine is not a plant, but a compound available from many botanical sources. The compound’s host plants have been a part of Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine for thousands of years.
One of the ways that berberine can help reduce overall blood sugar levels is by stimulating glycolysis – the process of releasing the energy from sugars. Having those sugars used up by the mitochondria for fuel is far better than overloading the bloodstream or being converted into triglycerides. Some research also shows that berberine may inhibit alphaglucosidase, an enzyme involved in releasing sugar from carbohydrates in the digestive system. While there are classes of drugs that do the same thing, berberine appears to be just as effective but without the potential for side effects.
In a three-month clinical study, berberine lowered fasting and postprandial glucose, reduced fasting plasma insulin by 28 percent, and the insulin resistance index by 44 percent. These results were similar to the group treated with metformin, a commonly used drug for type 2 diabetes, and one that can cause serious side effects.
Hintonia latiflora: This plant is native to Mexico and Central America and survives in extremely harsh growing conditions. These environmental challenges actually help the plant create powerful protective compounds that in the human body have the effect of reducing high blood sugar levels. One of these compounds is called coutareagenin, which, like berberine, appears to inhibit the actions of alphaglucosidase, so it changes the way that sugars are released from carbohydrates.
In one clinical study, Hintonia latiflora combined with additional nutrients (vitamins B1, B6, B12, folic acid, chromium, zinc, and vitamins C and E) lowered HbA1C levels, fasting glucose, and postprandial blood sugar. Factoring all of the diabetic symptom scores, researchers noted an improvement of over 70 percent.
Plus, Hintonia latiflora improved blood pressure, blood lipids, and liver values, too. It also worked well alongside antidiabetic medications without creating any hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) effects.
Great for Fighting Metabolic Syndrome, too
Blood sugar problems rarely happen just on their own – they are often part of a larger problem, like metabolic syndrome, a clustering of conditions, including elevated glucose, weight gain, and rising blood pressure and triglyceride levels. Along with adjusting your diet and being active, I think that berberine and Hintonia latiflora may be two of the best supplemental options available to help reverse the course of high blood sugar and the many related complications it can bring.
Terry Lemerond is a natural health expert with over 50 years of experience. His continual dedication, energy, and zeal are part of his on-going mission — to improve the health of America.
