Other supplements have positive effects on blood sugar, including, magnesium, berberine, cinnamon, and alpha lipoic acid. Cinnamon has been found to lower A1c by 0.67 to 0.92 percent; berberine lowered A1c by 0.71 percent; a study found that each 50-mg increase in magnesium intake produced a 3 percent decrease in fasting blood sugar.
Then there’s weight loss. A major problem we’ve noted for a long time is that we are a profoundly overweight country, but many of us are also not getting the nutrients we need for our metabolic systems to operate correctly. We’re eating too many calories and too few nutrients—the Western Diet in a nutshell. A ketogenic diet (high fat, adequate protein, low carb) has been shown to help manage type II diabetes and facilitate weight loss.
Fixing gut health can also be crucial. A poor diet depletes microbe diversity in your gut which can have profound effects on your weight. In fact, studies have shown that taking the gut bacteria from a thin mouse and putting it into a fat mouse can cause the fat mouse to lose dramatic amounts of weight without any changes in diet. Foods that are inflammatory (refined carbohydrates like sugar, bread, pastries, fried foods, soda, etc.) trigger insulin resistance and diabetes. A healthy microbiome can be cultivated by eating whole, high fiber, unprocessed foods, including lots of fruits and vegetables, unrefined fats high in omega-3 fatty acids (e.g., organic flax seed and krill oils), and fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi.
Plus, sufficient sunshine vitamin D, which enables over 500 vital functions to help maintain a healthy weight, is vital.
Maintaining healthy thyroid function is also vital. Sea vegetables/seaweed) are a good source of iodine. Also, avoid fluoride, which hinders the uptake and production of iodine.
Finally, limiting exposures to environmental contaminants is also important. The thousands of chemicals we are exposed to in the modern world interfere with metabolism and cause weight gain.
There are no quick fixes to diabetes and weight gain. Working with a natural health practitioner can start you on your way to addressing these problems by attacking the root cause.