I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving feast and blood sugars were kept in check.  With this being the last week in November it too is the last week of National Diabetes month.  Hopefully these articles have inspired you to take control of your health and your blood sugars.   This week I want to talk about nutritional supplements and diabetes.  I have many patients come to my office with a laundry list of supplements they’re taking.   The first thing I try to find out is “why.”   Are they wanting to reduce their medication cost, or trying to avoid drugs altogether?  Do they think a “natural” substance is better, or did they just see an infomercial or website touting a sugar-controlling remedy?  Most of the time, the response I get is “I want to do things more “naturally.” Understandably so, but my definition of natural doesn’t’ match their perception of the word.  Doing things naturally would mean, eating whole foods, avoiding concentrated sweets and beverages, eliminate fast food, minding your carbohydrate intake, exercising, and losing weight if warranted.  “Naturally” does not mean swallowing a handful of “supplement.”  Supplements don’t grow on trees like apples and oranges.   Though some would rather swallow a “pill” and think they are doing “good” than put down the double cheeseburger and fries.  If supplements did grow on trees then yes we could say this is a natural way to help control blood sugars, but they don’t and they aren’t.    With this said the scary truth is  more than 50 percent of people with diabetes take nutritional supplements, and those with type 2 diabetes are twice as likely as those with type 1 to experiment with herbal treatments and other nonvitamin, nonmineral pills and capsules. These findings were reported in the May/June issue of The Diabetes Educator.  

The question is: Should people with diabetes be taking over the counter supplements?  The answer is no, not if it’s not discussed it with your medical doctor or dietitian first.  Supplements can interact and even interfere with prescription drugs causing more harm than good.  One of the big concerns with diabetes is hypoglycemia.  Some supplements at high-levels can interact with diabetes drugs and cause dangerously low blood sugar.  They can cause harm to the kidneys and liver, not to mention potentially interfere  with  other medications such as antacids, H2 blockers, proton pump inhibitors, beta blockers, corticosteroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

You should always inform your health care team of any and all supplements taken especially if prescription drugs are in the mix, and by no means should you replace your prescription drugs with supplements unless instructed to do so by your medical doctor. This is one of the most dangerous things you could do.  It can cause your blood sugars to rise to an unhealthy range very quickly leaving you feeling terrible and even earn you a trip to the emergency room.  

An interesting thing about supplements is that once something natural like “cinnamon” has shown a positive effect on blood sugar, then boom, there’s a “pill” for it, and now everyone is taking a cinnamon “supplement”.  This tasty spice is has been shown to be an effective “add-on” therapy (not replacement) for blood sugar control.  And the research was done using ground cinnamon not  a supplement .  It takes as little as 3-6 grams or powdered cinnamon (about ? – 1.2 tsp daily) to show positive effects.  How it works:  there’s a compound in cinnamon called hydroxychalcone.  This compound stimulates insulin receptors, hence improving insulin sensitivity.  One thing we do know is that using small amounts of cinnamon on food as a spice is safe, but what we’re unsure of is the effect   large dose cinnamon capsule have if taken daily for months or years.  So be cautious when jumping on the cinnamon bandwagon or any other supplement for that matter and always inform your health care provider of any and all supplements taken.  

If you have a nutrition question you’d like answered in this column or if you like to schedule an appointment. Contact the office at 706-473-5801 or email us at oconeenutrition@yahoo.com

Lisa Eisele, RD, CSO, LD is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian. She also holds a Board Certification as a Specialist in Oncology Nutrition. Lisa and her partner Stacy Paine, RD, LD own Oconee Nutrition Consultants, LLC located at Cowles Clinic.  (706) 473-5801