If you have diabetes and poorly manage your glucose, or blood sugar levels, you can do various types of damage to your body. Diabetes increases your risk of serious conditions like kidney and heart disease. Healthy lifestyle choices form a cornerstone of management and any supplements you use should serve as complements. Talk to your doctor before taking any natural herbs, vitamins or minerals if you have diabetes.
Interactions
Like pharmaceutical drugs, herbs and other natural supplements can cause negative interactions and side effects. Taking supplements that lower blood sugar levels at the same time as using medications for the same purpose can cause excessively low blood sugar. If you have an interest in using natural treatments to control blood sugar, you might need to adjust dosages of medications to compensate for the effects of the supplements. Your doctor can help determine dosages.
Fiber
Fiber has demonstrated strong benefit for lowering glucose levels, notes the University of Maryland Medical Center, or UMMC. The UMMC specifically mentions the fibers psyllium and beta-glucan for their demonstrated effects on glucose control. You should also include fiber-rich foods in your diet like whole grains and non-starchy vegetables---this represents the optimal way to exercise blood sugar control through fiber intake.
Nutritional Supplements
Certain vitamins and minerals might offer benefit for lowering blood sugar, including magnesium, chromium and vanadium. Chromium plays a role in the metabolization of carbohydrates and it appears to increase insulin's ability to move glucose into the cells and out of the bloodstream. Both the Mayo Clinic and UMMC note that studies have shown mixed results, however. An article published on the Reader's Digest website notes that research has shown chromium only appeared to lower blood sugar in people who were deficient in this mineral.
Diabetics appear to have lower levels of magnesium than normal but it has not been established whether a deficiency contributes to diabetes or the condition lowers levels of this mineral. The mineral vanadium has been shown to lower blood sugar levels and reduce the need for insulin for type one diabetes in human studies, notes the UMMC.
Herbal Remedies
Many herbal remedies have a long history of use for managing blood sugar levels. Traditional Chinese medicine often employs bitter melon, and the Reader's Digest article notes a study conducted in the Phillipines showed it reduced blood sugar, but only slightly. Gymnema, a herb used in traditional Indian medicine, which translates to "sugar destroyer," might help diabetes medications work better. Both American and Asian ginseng have been touted to lower blood sugar and the UMMC notes that studies have shown benefit. Cinnamon has also been studied to lower blood sugar but the Mayo Clinic notes it has only produced mixed results.
Warnings
Some supplements do carry some warnings. Fiber supplements can interfere with the absorption of oral medications. Gymnema might alter your ability to taste sweet foods while magnesium can prove problematic if you have heart or kidney disease.
