Jan 26 2011

Additions for the Diabetic Food List – Part 2 of 4, Gymnema Sylvestre

Category: Food List — JimR @ 1:49 am

Gymnema Sylvestre
The next item that I am considering for my diabetic food list is a substance called gymnema sylvestre. Gymnema sylvestra is an herbal substance obtained from the tropical forests of India and has long been recommended by naturopathic medical practitioners for use in treating diabetes to lower blood sugar levels. Naturopathic doctors recommend treating disease by a combination of modern medical science and traditional medical approaches.

Known and used for thousands of years in Ayurvedic medicine, the traditional medicine that is practiced widely in India, it also finds favor in Western medicine within the system categorized as alternative or complementary medicine.

Gymnema sylvestre is claimed to aid in the maintenance of normal blood glucose levels and to achieve effects that are equivalent to insulin or some of the most frequently used oral medications. It is also claimed that many studies have been carried out that confirm those opinions. A comment relating to one such study suggests that the leaves of gymnema can promote the regeneration of pancreatic cells that secrete insulin. A lack of insulin production by the pancreas is a major cause of type-1 diabetes and also one that contributes to type-2 diabetes. Another comment on past clinical research states, among other things, that gymnema improves the absorption of glucose by the body’s cells, which would be good for diabetics since the glucose would otherwise continue to circulate in the bloodstream.

Apart from diabetes, of additional interest are other properties claimed for gymnema sylvestre regarding other disease conditions. It seems that gymnema leaves can apparently lower triglycerides and also lower serum LDL cholesterol, the so-called bad cholesterol. It has also been suggested to be beneficial in its use as an aid in losing weight. A substance that can do so many things deserves, I believe, consideration to be added to the diabetic food list.

References to research, a recommendation and dosage
While there are abundant comments on the benefits of gymnema sylvestre in naturopathic literature, I had found it difficult to track down specific references to individual clinical research and testing that provides actual details. However, a recent reader of this article has supplied suitable references that can be consulted and those are now shown, with thanks, in the comments section at the end of this article.

Dr. Stephen Sinatra, in his book The Sinatra Solution, published in 2005 by Basic Health Publications Inc, in addition to several other substances, says in reference to what he calls nutraceuticals, that for diabetes he “likes” a daily dose of 100 to 200 mg of gymnema sylvestra. Also in mentioning nutraceuticals, Dr. Sinatra suggests the use of alpha-lipoic acid in doses of 100 to 400 mg and vanadyl sulphate in the amount of 1 mg daily.

Dr. Stephen Sinatra is a well-known cardiologist who has written extensively on the treatment of heart disease and how it can be prevented and reversed. Diabetes is considered to be a major risk factor for heart disease. Dr. Sinatra’s explanations in his books on the subject are very informative and, with a little effort and concentration, easy to understand. Several other cardiologists have also written informative books on the treatment and reversal of cardiovascular disease and diabetes that are well-worth reading.

Dr. Sinatra is also associated with a line of health products, at least in the use of his name, that I believe especially meet and match his views for treatment of cardiovascular and related diseases. I do not use any of the brand of products listed on Dr. Sinatra’s website and I don’t believe his association with the commercial marketing of such items presents a conflict so I might possibly consider using them sometime in the future. On the strength of Dr. Sinatra’s recommendations, I am likely to check out the use of gymnema sylvestre for my own diabetes and for my recently diagnosed cardiovascular disease condition.

I am aware that gymnema sylvestre is available from a wide range of sources such as health food stores and I see that the dose for the Beta Fast product, mentioned in the Comment below, is 400 mg twice daily, (in the morning and the evening).

Jan 11 2011

Additions for the Diabetic Food List – Part 1 of 4, Alpha-lipoic Acid

Category: Food List — JimR @ 6:10 pm

The additions to consider are: Alpha-lipoic acid, gymnema sylvestre, vanadyl sulphate, and cinnamon


Please note: in this post we discuss Alpha-lipoic acid, the other possible additions, mentioned above will be covered on following posts to this website.

Recently, I have been reading about Cardiovascular disease, often abbreviated to just CVD, a serious health complication that frequently develops from diabetes and is a primary cause of death in the diabetic population of North America. I try to follow-up as much as possible, anything that is published on diabetes topics, watching for anything that seems appropriate and beneficial to add to the diabetic food list, and in this brief series of articles I would like to make reference to some that do seem promising and beneficial – with the belief that everyone interested should have at least a general knowledge of the pertinent facts regarding any substance and I have provided a reference source below where more substantial details can be found for anyone who might wish to look further.

In the book dealing with CVD, “The Sinatra Solution” by Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D. published in 2005 by Basic Health Publications, I was interested to read the comment, in a section referring to diabetes, that there are many nutraceuticals that can be taken to aid in the regulation of glucose metabolism and listed was alpha-lipoic acid, gymnema sylvestre, vanadyl sulphate, and cinnamon. I should add that for many years there have been positive mentions and recommendtions of those substances in other books and articles dealing with diabetes healthcare.

So let us look briefly at those substances, together with the dosages recommended in the Sinatra book, to consider them as possible additions to our diabetic food list. To keep these articles sufficiently short, each of the mentioned substance will be cobered separately.

Alpha-lipoic Acid, also called ALA, 100 to 400 mg
Alpha-lipoic Acid is a powerful antioxident and one of a few that is both water-soluble and fat-soluble, a major advantage because it can exist in cell membranes where it can prevent free radical damage and it can also enter the watery parts of cells. Apparently, ALA initiates chemical reactions in the body that boosts the effect of other important antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E and is claimed to improve glucose metabolism in diabetes. In animal studies alpha-lipoic acid was shown to decrease blood pressure and improve the workings of the cardiovascular system.

In another reference to ALA, in a book by Nobel laureate Dr. Louis J. Ignarro, called NO more Heart Disease, published in 2005 by St. Martin’s Griffin, dealing with Nitric Oxide (NO), a substance that enhance cardiovascular health and helps keep the arteries and veins of the circulation system supple and pliable and preventing them from hardening, Dr Ignarro recommends a daily supplementary intake of 10 mg of alpha-lipoic acid in the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

Alpa Lipoic Acid is readily available for purchase at most national drug stores and health food stores and comes in various amounts , 30 gm, 100, gm, 200gm, 400 gm, etcetera. In my area of the country, a typical price for 100 capsule of 100 mg costs about $14.00 U.S.and I usually can buy it on sale with a two for one deal.

Dietary Sources:
ALA is found in red meat, organ meats (such as liver), and yeast, and particularly Brewer’s yeast.

In the case of a healthy person, sufficient alpha-lipoic acid is normally manufactured by the body, but as diabetics by definition, we as a group cannot consider ourselves to be healthy and it might be worth considering the possible claimed benefits that can be derived by adding ALA to our current diabetic health plan in the form of supplements.

I should also note that many people nowadays, and I am one of them, who are deliberately eating less red meat such as that listed above.

For a lengthier and comprehensive description of Alph-=lipoic acid, check out the University of Marylands’s website at http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/alpha-lipoic-000285.htm

The other possible additions to the Diabetic Food List, gymnema sylvestre, vanadyl sulphate, and cinnamon, will be also be briefly covered in the next postings to this website shortly. There is already an article on cinnamon that can be found on this Diabetic Food List website at Cinnamon — Does it Help Combat Diabetes?.

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Jun 24 2010

Low Carb Foods

Category: Food List — JimR @ 12:46 am


Most of us living in North America eat more food than we really need to keep us in good health.  We eat too many carbohydrates and many of us also include too much protein and fat in our diets with the result that, like most Americans, we gain weight. Carbohydrates, proteins and fats are the primary nutrients, together with water, minerals and vitamins, that keep us alive.

Carbohydrates supply energy
Carbohydrates, also called carbs, are the sugars and starches in breads and grains, potatoes and other vegetables, and in fruits and beans, and those foods are the major contributors of carbs as a source of energy needed by the body’s cells. After eating carbohydrate foods, the digestion process breaks them down and the glucose content is passed through the walls of the intestines into the bloodstream and there circulates to reach the cells that require glucose.

How can we determine which foods can be considered as low carb foods?
Not all carbohydrates are the same in their immediate impact and speed of entry into the bloodstream, and it is the rate at which they are reduced to the sugar in the form of glucose that helps define whether they are considered as low carb foods or otherwise. Carbs can also be classified as refined or unrefined, with white breads, pastas and white flours being especially considered as refined carbs while foods such as whole grained breads, fruits, beans and most vegetables are classified as unrefined.

To indicate the relative rate of entry of carbs into the bloodstream, a scale has been devised called the Glycemic Index, also referred to as the GI for short. The GI ranks individual carbohydrate food items with an index number that compares them to glucose that has the assigned value of 100. The other food sources are ranked in the relation of their speed of conversion to glucose and for convenience are categorized as follows:

  • high carb foods have GI values higher than 70
  • medium carb foods have a GI value of 56 to 70
  • low carb foods have GI values of 55 and lower

As can be seen, the low carb foods provide sugar at a slower rate of entry into the blood stream and this allows the body to more easily maintain a balanced amount of sugars in the blood. The high carb foods on the other hand, tend to cause spikes, blood sugars elevated to higher levels, not a preferred condition and certainly potentially harmful for people with diabetes or prediabetes.

A great deal more can be said on the topic of carbohydrates. We should distinguish between low carb foods and low carb diets. Low carbohydrate diets restrict the proportion of any types of carbohydrates in relation to the proportions of proteins and fats, whereas low carbohydrate foods can best be described as those that have lower Glycemic Index values.

Many well-known diet approaches using low quantities of carbohydrates have been described in such best selling books such as The Atkins Diet and The South Beach Diet. Taking opposite views to those popular books, there are many advocates of a medium dietary intake, represented by about 50 percent carbs, 25 percent proteins, 25% fats with no more than 10 percent of fat being saturated fats.

On my companion website, Diabetes Menu Guide, you might wish to read a related article on low carbs, to do so, just click on this link Low Carbohydrate Approach in Meal Planning. And check out these link for more on the Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load.

The amount of carbohydrate in a meal or in a food item will not usually comprise the entire calorie amount of any food. To adjust the measurements for this, the Glycemic Index has been modified to produce a companion set of numerical values called the Glycemic Load. The Glycemic Load takes into account that particular amount of carbohydrate in an entire food item, giving a set of values.

High glycemic index carb foods include:

White and non-whole wheat breads, pastas, many breakfast cereals, potatoes, baked goods.

Low glycemic index carb foods include:

Fruits, many vegetables, whole wheat breads, legumes (beans and peas)

When consumed in reasonable amounts, some low glycemic load carb foods are:

Breads - whole grain pumpernickel bread, Soy and flaxseed bread, other whole grain breads.
Breakfast cereals – cooked oatmeal, All-bran, Bran Buds.
Fruits ans berries – grapefruit, strawberries, cherries, watermelon, apples, pears, peaches, plums, grapes, oranges, blueberries, raspberries, and others
Vegetables – cabbage, spinach, lettuce, kale, chard, broccoli, cauliflower, and most others.
Dairy and soy foods – soy milk, low fat milk, low fat yogurt
Nuts and seeds – flax seed, peanuts, cashews, walnuts, almonds, pecans, brazil nuts, hazel nuts – Nuts should be raw or dry-roasted.

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