Replies

Right now, “pre-diabetus” is a very popular medical diagnostic fad. Here is a summary of what you need to know.

Blood glucose monitors are cheapest at Wal-Mart, with the instant test kind running about $10, a box of 100 test strips about $25. Lancets are very cheap and mostly standardized and you can get them anywhere.

What do those numbers mean? Here’s a good chart for that.

http://www.joslin.org/info/Goals-for-Blood-Glucose-Control.html

Now this is the instant test. Doctors also use a different test called an “HbA1c” or just “A1C” test. It measures how “sweet” your blood has become over a period of months, literally, the amount of sugar that has stuck to your red blood cells.

It took them a long time, but they have developed a home A1C test. It is somewhat more expensive, and must be kept indoors, because if it gets too warm it no longer works.

A two-test kit sells at Walgreens for about $42, but you only need to use it twice a year. It is a very commonly *shoplifted* item, so make sure your local stores have it, and that the package has not been tampered with. Some even have a temperature sensitive tab on the outside of the box that will change color if it has gotten too warm at any point.

What does its number mean?

https://www.healthline.com/health/type-2-diabetes/ac1-test

Okay, that is the home diagnosis: NOW FOR THE UPSIDE.

GYMNEMA SYLVESTER, or just “Gymnema”, is an India-Indian herb nicknamed “The Sugar Killer”. Every person who is a diabetic or pre-diabetic should be taking it. You can get great deals for it on ebay and Amazon, there are dozens of manufacturers, and best of all, IT WORKS!

Two pills a day and it will really drive your blood sugar way down to normal levels.

Here is the science:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2170951/#B12

Stimulates insulin release in vitro by increased membrane permeability. It promotes regeneration of islet cells.

It increases utilization of glucose: it is shown to increase the activities of enzymes responsible for utilization of glucose by insulin-dependant pathways, an increase in phosphorylase activity, decrease in gluconeogenic enzymes and sorbitol dehydrogenase

Gymnemic acid molecules fill the receptor location in the absorptive external layers of the intestine thereby preventing the sugar molecules absorption by the intestine, which results in low blood sugar level.

(As a tea it) Interferes with the ability of the taste buds on the tongue to taste sweet and bitter.

NEXT UP: common ground cloves

Improve glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides of people with type 2 diabetes. (Just 1 gram/day, about a heaping teaspoon. More is not better.)

http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/meeting_abstract/20/5/A990-b

NEXT UP: common ginger (this one is impressive, as it also lowers you A1C. In pill form you can take a LOT of it.)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25561919/

Oral administration of ginger powder supplement can improve fasting blood sugar, hemoglobin A1C, apolipoprotein B, apolipoprotein A-I, apolipoprotein B/apolipoprotein A-I and malondialdehyde in type 2 diabetic patients.

NEXT UP: common turmeric and its principle constituent Curcumin (along with black pepper that enhances its effects)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4338652/

Curcumin can reduce blood glucose level by reducing the hepatic glucose production, suppression of hyperglycemia-induced inflammatory state, stimulation of glucose uptake by up-regulation of GLUT4, GLUT2 and GLUT3 genes expressions, activation of AMP kinase, promoting the PPAR ligand-binding activity, stimulation of insulin secretion from pancreatic tissues, improvement in pancreatic cell function, and reduction of insulin resistance.

TWO MORE IMPORTANT SUPPLEMENTS TO TAKE:

Ordinary Vitamin B-1, normal daily dose. The excessive urination associated with diabetes depletes “albumin”, and this depletion stresses and can damage the kidneys. But by taking an ordinary dose of B-1, it restores the albumin levels.

A little more complicated is Stabilized (or NA (sodium)) R-Alpha Lipoic Acid. Full name “NA-R-ALA”.

Alpha Lipoic Acid has been found to substantially slow down the development of diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage in the extremities). Ordinary ALA contains both R-ALA, which is natural ALA, and S-ALA, which is synthetic. Only R-ALA is good against neuropathy.

However, R-ALA is very unstable, both outside of and inside the body, unless it has been “sodium stabilized”. Once it has been, it works much better and lasts much longer. But only one company makes it, though they license it to a second company.

You can probably get it cheapest online.

OKAY, THE NUMBER ONE DRUG TO *NOT* TAKE:

Statins (for high cholesterol)

https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20150304/statins-linked-to-raised-risk-of-type-2-diabetes

Statins Linked to Raised Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Large Finnish study found a nearly 50 percent increase in people taking cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Bottom line is that the only people taking statins should be those with a *high* risk of stroke or heart attack, based on factors other than just cholesterol/triglyceride levels alone.