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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