Proud of my 5.5
I have emphasized the importance of periodic tests to check your average blood glucose values, blood lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides), and kidney function. When I got the results back from my most recent tests, done at the end of April, I was very encouraged by what I saw. I switched to a new doctor since then and he hasn’t seen the report, but I think he will be impressed too.
From previous tests, my triglycerides dropped from 222 to 128. Less than 150 mg/dL is ideal. Total cholesterol went from 216 to123. The normal range is 125-200 mg/dL. My bad cholesterol (LDL) dropped from 135 to 68. The desirable range in diabetics should fall below 100 mg/dL and <70 for those with known heart disease. Unfortunately, my good cholesterol (HDL) also dropped from 37 to 29. It should be > or equal to 40 mg/dL. I don’t know what caused that, but I will research ways to improve it. More exercise will help, I’m sure.
Everything on my Comprehensive Metabolic Panel w/EGFR was fine except for my fasting glucose reference interval, which stood at 126. It should range from 65-99 mg/dL. What totally amazed me was the result of my Hemoglobin A1c test. Originally, I clocked in at 8.o%, a relatively high number. The non-diabetic range is less than 6.0%. This time, my number is 5.5%, an incredible improvement and something I am quite proud to crow about. I attribute this and the other results to several different factors: I am on a prescription medication for blood pressure and to loosen my arteries to protect my kidneys, I take a statin drug for cholesterol, and I take a sulfonylurea medication for diabetes. I do not consume processed sugar and my fat intake is way down. I exercise more than I did before I was diagnosed and I drink a lot less alcohol. I try to eat better overall. Of course, I miss pizza and fried chicken, but hey, you gots to do what you gots to do.
I did a tremendous amount of research on supplements for diabetics, primarily for those with type 2. I really tried to weed out the junk stuff and to make a concerted effort to avoid conflicts with other supplements and medications. Here are the results of what I’ve found and a list of what I take daily. Bear in mind, I made sure my doctor knows exactly what I’m taking and what his thoughts are on each one. Can I say for sure that these supplements have helped? Of course not. I’ve only been taking them for a few months. I would have to have similar test results over a much longer period of time to assume otherwise, and my tests may vary as much in myself as they will in any other individual. I would not recommend any other treatment without consulting your own physician first. OK, I do think cassia cinnamon can be a small miracle for people like us.
1.) 2,000 mg cassia cinnamon. This type of cinnamon may help promote sugar metabolism.
2.) 200 mcg chromium picolinate. May help promote insulin effectiveness and regulate blood sugar.
3.) 250 mg magnesium. I take this because of neuropathy. It may help with nerve impulses.
4.) Omega 3 fish oil/alpha lipoic acid. I alternate daily between these two for heart health and to fight against free radicals, plus antioxidant benefits.
5.) multivitamin
6.) 1 gram apple cider vinegar tablet with min. 35% acetic acid. Studies have shown that apple cider vinegar helps control blood sugar spikes in type 2 diabetics.
1.) 81 mg aspirin. Because my doctor told me to.
I take all of these supplements with my evening meal, except for the aspirin, which I take whenever I remember to.
When he looked over my list, he was amazed. He said that the only patients he ever sees that take these supplemental cocktails are diabetics and those with AIDS. Whether they help or not are subject to further studies. He approved most of them in a round about sort of way by checking them off one by one and saying they seem to be OK. He only questioned two of them. Chromium picolinate may alter DNA, but if I’m not thinking about having children at my ripe old age, it should be fairly safe. He takes it himself. His children are grown. He seems to think it might be of more benefit to help ward off diabetes, though. He was puzzled by the magnesium and when I told him it’s for neuropathy, he just shrugged. That one, he was less sure of. I wonder what he’ll think after reading my test results? I’m running them up to his office this afternoon, but I won’t see him again until the middle of July. In the meantime, please discuss these with your doctor before going on any sort of regimen. Just because you read about them here does not mean they are right for you. Besides, I’m still exploring other supplements. It doesn’t give me license to eat pizza and fried chicken, either, so watch your diet!
10 responses so far ↓
k1b234 // June 22, 2007 at 1:08 am
I am a type II diabetic, diagnosed in March 2006, with a then blood glucose level of 300 and an A1C of over 11.
Now, following a high protein, low carbohydrate diet and using natural supplements, my A1C has been 5.7 for about 7 months.
I encourage you to shift to the high protein, low carbohydrate diet and cut out all alcohol. The body metabolizes sugars, alcohols, and fats into blood sugar.
Other commonly mentioned natural supplements for blood sugar control include bitter melon and gymnema sylvestre.
Please see: http://diabetes-center.blogspot.com/ .
Marinade Dave // June 22, 2007 at 10:25 am
Wow! An A1c of over 11… that’s scary. On your diet and supplement regimen, are you not taking any prescription medications? I attribute my 5.5 A1c to a combination of things, which I outlined. The doctors are pretty strict about the benefits of certain drugs, including one doctor, himself a diabetic. I would hope that maintaining below diabetic numbers would preclude any kidney damage and may be a viable alternative to an ACE inhibitor, which keeps the veins loose to protect them. Aside from the A1c number, how are your lipids? My statin med was cut in half because of my latest results.
I have heard of the supplements you mentioned and I will have to do further studies. In my case, what I am doing seems to be working. 5.5 is nothing to sniff at. That’s a very good number. So is yours. Many supplements are good, but sometimes when used in combination, they can produce harmful results. For example, Ginseng and St. John’s Wort. By themselves, they may be of benefit. Taken together, they are not and can do damage. That’s why a health provider must know everything one takes.
I’m curious, I’d like to know what natural supplements you take that have lowered your A1c so much. Of course, I am aware of how much a diabetic needs protein and what harm carbs can do, but there are vast differences between simple and complex carbs and diabetics should not necessarily avoid them. They too, are part of a diet which is of benefit.
I went to your site and the link you provided. I’d like to add them both to my Blogroll, yours especially, after you get it up and running. Good luck with it and your diabetes and thank you for leaving me a comment. I’d like to hear more from you.
khehome // June 23, 2007 at 11:53 pm
I just wanted to congratulate you on your great numbers! We all need a great big pat on the back sometimes and this is one of those times.
Consider yourself duly patted!
best
k
Marinade Dave // June 24, 2007 at 7:15 am
Thank you, k.
Because of my good cholesterol dropping so dramatically, my doctor reduced the lovastatin from 40 mg to 20 mg per day. Other than that, I’m very happy with the results.
k1b234 // July 9, 2007 at 12:16 am
I have avoided prescription medications totally and still have brought my diabetes numbers under control.
The primary source of this control (of the diabetes and cholesterol) is the high protein low carbohydrate diet. Over two years, I lost over 60 pounds. I have allowed regaining about 5-7 pounds and am a 6′0″ man now weighing about 196 pounds.
During the process, I learned that I also had to exercise strict control over the intake of fats and oils. The body can convert these into blood glucose. For example, if I go eat at an Asian seafood buffet where virtually everything is cooked in fat or oil, my blood sugar reading will be noticeably elevated the next morning.
Also, I get a fair amount of walking in each day. I average walking anywhere from 2 miles to 7 miles a day.
After you get the blood chemistry under control, you can begin to add back some carbohydates. You can gauge how much to add back by what the blood sugar readings’ range is. Yes, the glycemic index is important, but don’t think you can eat pasta. Both the pasta and the sauce will drive up the blood sugar numbers. Generally, I am aiming at a maximum of 60 grams a day (i.e., 2 ounces). By comparison, the American Diabetic Association diet is predicated on 225 grams a day of carbohydrate.
Be cautious of the lower ends of the blood sugar range and be super attentive to the signs of too-low blood sugar. These signs may include feeling of weakness, light-headedness, or vision effects (blurring or phantom patterns in your field of vision that are not really there).
Be aware that the onset of fainting can be a time period of 5-10 seconds. You must have emergency supply of sugar (Lifesaver candy) handy and consume several immediately at the first signs of low blood sugar. It can happen even while you are still full from the previous meal.
Before I really understood what blood sugar range is good for me–not just what a stated normal range is–I passed out twice primarily from low blood sugar and a virus infection. Now, I do not attempt to push my blood sugar range down to what is stated to be normal.
You asked about my cholesterol readings. I lost a hard drive in my notebook computer and that took a lot of data with it. The following numbers are from small shirt-pocket notes and the time frames are approximate.
Mid-February 2007 lab results:
Total cholesterol 208 (it was about 240 10 months earlier)
HDL 45 (it was 39 ten months earlier)
LDL 141
Triglycerides 111 (it was about 160 ten months earlier)
A1c 5.7
Glucose 124
Mid-April 2007 lab results:
Total cholesterol 166
HDL 45
LDL 111
Triglycerides 52
A1c 5.7
Glucose 113
I had been taking bitter melon and gymnema sylvestre, but have largely tapered off from them. I am using cinnamon in tea (I drink a lot of ice tea), but am using the Canela Molida species. I’m not sure if it has the same effects as those reported in studies.
You and other readers may be interested to know that with those reduced cholesterol readings, I eat 5 or 6 eggs scrambled with mozarella cheese and fat free cream cheese (plus about 1 tbsp. olive oil) for breakfast and, typically, add at least one sliced hard-boiled egg to my lunchtime salad. I pick up the salad from the local grocery store salad bar. If I have a dinner salad, it usually has 1-2 hard-boiled eggs added in.
I am now taking 1000 mg of flush free niacin each morning (inositol hexanicotinate) to help with the cholesterol. Most natural supplement books describe natural supplements that have tested as effective as the prescription statin drugs and without the side effects. Do it the natural way and get off the prescription medications.
I was taking policosanol (sugar cane wax extract) 40 mg/day for help with cholesterol, but have let it lapse when the bottle emptied after I read that the results for policosanol were rigged.
I take acetyl-L-carnitine (about 800 mg) with alpha lipoic acid (about 400 mg) per day to try to improve some peripheral neuropathy in my feet. I have been reading that aspartame may be a culprit in neuropathy and am considering getting off it in diet soft drinks. I drink at least one 7-11 super big gulp (1/2 gallon) of diet soda a day; sometimes more.
I use saccharine in my tea. I also am considering trying stevia.
Please see: http://diabetes-center.blogspot.com/
Marinade Dave // July 20, 2007 at 11:24 am
Sorry about the long delay in response to your comment, k1b234.
I commend you for what you have done. As with any regimen, though, testing that hasn’t been done long term with supplements and diets will not prove anything until fully established results come in from legitimate studies. That is why I recommend everyone talking things over with their primary care physician. Also, what ultimately works for one person may have an adverse effect on another. What about Vegan diabetics? Where do they get their protein? How much tofu can one eat? In my opinion, the trouble with a high protein, low carb diet is that they’re not healthy in their approach. Most of the fat in this diet is saturated. Things might be fine now, but what about 10 years hence? Also, from what I’ve read, many people on this type of diet have problems with hair loss, cracking nails (more on that later) and dry skin. Sometimes, over a long period, their urine and breath smell of acetone because of all the fat breakdown from a high protein diet of meats, cheeses and egg yolks. They become very dry and must consume large quantities of beverages, like Super Big Gulps.
Studies I have read about niacin have concluded that it does, in fact, lower cholesterol naturally, but it has a strong tendency to raise blood sugar at the same time.
I can eat pasta with tomato sauce and it doesn’t seem to be a problem for me. My sugar does not go up dramatically like it does in most diabetics. Everyone’s metabolism is different.
Right now, I am doing extensive research on gymnema sylvestre and biotin and will report on a post after I feel comfortable with my knowledge. Gymnema sylvestre is supposed to lower glucose levels, but again, I would not take it without my doctor’s approval because of the risk of hypoglycemia in conjunction with the sulfonylurea I take. Of course, I’d love to wean myself off all prescription medications, but I will not do so because of this study or that study or what may help this person or what may help that person. Biotin is supposed to help, too, in lowering sugar. For years, I have had brittle and ridged nails. Studies have shown that many diabetics are low in biotin. The NIH website says it is safe to take. Again, I will talk to my doctor first. I go to see him on Monday.
As I experiment with my diet and supplements, perhaps I can reduce my reliance on prescription medications, but certainly there is nothing that I take now that will put my doctor in a compromising position with giant pharmaceutical companies. Everything I take is generic and I trust my doctor. Aside from getting filthy rich, these pill manufacturers have put a lot of research into drugs and the proof shows in my latest numbers. I can’t wantonly reject what has been established as a method of treatment. It would be nice to be able to stop taking meds forever, but I don’t think so. How many people have died of advanced cancer because of what macro/aroma diet/therapy they were put on after the diagnosis? After the diagnosis is the key phrase here. Sometimes, a traditional course of action is necessary while exploring other options.
detoxbabe // February 19, 2008 at 1:52 am
Where do you get your cassia cinnamon? Can you also tell me the brand name? I can’t seem to find it. Thanks!
By the way, I do low carb moderate protein intake daily and have come off my Metformin. I took the full dosage. Now I have the same blood sugar levels I had on the medication eating carbs as I wished (fasting 90-114, post prandial 125-140, A1C on Metformin was 5.9, haven’t tested since began diet).
Check out Dr. Bernstein’s work on this. He has had type I diabetes for 58 years with no complications since he went on this diet. His story is amazing, and you can read a lot of his book online. The testimonies are also encouraging.
Check out his book at his website at: http://www.diabetes-normalsugars.com/readit.shtml
Dr. Bernstein had neuropathy and major complications as a young man were all reversed (save for the foot deformation). Originally an engineer with a medical doctor for a wife, he wanted to play with his blood sugar numbers to see if he could improve them (like a typical engineer) so he ordered a $600 glucose meter that weighed several pounds. In the 1960’s you couldn’t get one unless you were a doctor.
Anyway, he developed this diet around regular testing of blood sugars and dramatically reduced his insulin. He keeps his blood sugars consistently under 100 in order to keep from having any complications after 58 years. His work is really amazing.
Check out his “corner” at this other very informative diabetic website: http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/bernstein/
By the way, I took the medication for seven years and it ended up contributing to my gut permeability; a common condition in diabetics and many Americans who take too much aspirin, meds, have stress, antibiotic use (without reliable probiotics), and eat the standard American diet where milk and meat is infused with antibiotics and horomones, food is full of gunk we don’t need, and so on.
Gut permeability wears little holes in our upper intestine causing whole food particles, pathogens like fungi, and toxins to get into our blood stream causing inflammation, immunosuppressive disorders (like diabetes, MS) and sudden allergies to foods.
I had irritable bowel syndrome ever since I started taking Metformin, but doctors weren’t concerned, but I had the runs sometimes three or four times a day for seven years. Eventually my poor bowel got compromised because I found out last summer I now have severe, life threatening allergies to multiple foods. I was also experiencing major inflammation for an unknown reason until we understood the food was getting into my blood (not the molecules, the chunks!) Many people get other diseases after years of this sort of unchecked, unbridled inflammation, like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Cancer, and Heart Disease.
Doctors didn’t know much about why the allergies happened and said IBS never caused any serious damage. Had to do the research myself!
Had heard about gut permeability when doing some research a couple of years ago on fungal infections of the bowel and body that come to the “immuno-compromised” (and that can be anyone with our stress-filled, garbage-eating, over-medicated lives). Did you know researchers have to inject fungi into mice to make them diabetic to do research to test medication? Duh! Maybe there is a fungal connection! Maybe the fungi got into our cells and organs from the bowel. Without the good bacteria to hedge off attack, we get overgrowth of multiple pathogens, fungi only being one.
How do we get the fungi into our bodies? Corn, for example, is universally infected and many other grain products and peanut butter have fungi on them. Cooking doesn’t stop the byproduct of fungi from getting into you (antibiotics are one such byproduct. These harmful byproducts, called mycotoxins, are in grainfed, antibiotic-laden meat.) This isn’t as big of a problem when you have good bacteria in your bowel that can eat them and you heal the gut lining, but it is still not recommended you eat many grains regardless of the condition of your bowel for this reason.
Doctors are learning about fungal infections from AIDS and chemo patients, but they have difficulty accepting that anyone else can have an infection simply because they don’t realize how prevalent this problem (gut permeability) is. There isn’t a test that can be done to detect a fungal infection, for the most part, without a biopsy, because most labs are not trained to identify but a few of the millions of species. Many times it is identified as cancer because it can mimic and look like cancer. However there is a test for finding out if you have gut permeability and a treatment plan outlined by an MD. Lots of research in medical journals, too, which helps.
Here are some articles on healing gut permeability and testing by an MD…
http://mdheal.org/leakygut.htm
and testing (for your doctor, who may not be aprised of this condition, but he/she will find many articles in medical journals on it)
http://www.crohns.net/page/C/PROD/GSD3000
Here are an article on fungal infections (by the leader in this campaign to educate the public, Doug Kaufmann). You will want to watch the introduction and his other shows Know the Cause, are featured here…
http://www.know-the-cause.com/
… but the really interesting article with the scoop on fungi is the one called “Why Doctors no longer Know about Fungi: An Expose on Nystatin”
http://www.know-the-cause.com/Articles/tabid/56/newsid614/28/Why-Physicians-No-Longer-Know-About-Fungi-An-Expose-On-Nystatin-/Default.aspx
My (largely unvisited) website/blog isn’t so great, but it will improve soon. You can check it out if you want… it gives some cool info, too. I will go ahead and update it if you include my response in your blog…
http://www.missinglinktohealth.zoomshare.com/0.html
I hope this has been a help to someone. I feel so much better now that I am killing the fungi and healing my permeabilty. I feel alert, no more brain fog, and I have a desire to move around and think and be creative again. My inflammation is gone in my joints and I have great, healthy BMs. Hooray!
Marinade Dave // February 19, 2008 at 5:39 am
Thanks for the comment, detoxbabe. I buy my cinnamon at Walmart and Walgreens in capsule form. Many drug stores now carry it. The brand isn’t important, but cassia is the type you want and most sold is that type.
I will have to do research on everything else you wrote about and get back to you with my thoughts. It all sounds very interesting, though. Unfortunately, I have to leave for work now.
detoxbabe // February 20, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Thanks for the info. Look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Marinade Dave // February 21, 2008 at 5:11 am
My pleasure. One thing I didn’t change on this particular post is that I subsequently reduced my cinnamon intake to 1,000 mg per day instead of 2,000. Also, I started taking gymnema sylvestre about a month ago. That is supposed to help reduce glucose, too, but I’m still studying it and watching my sugar levels.
I wrote a post about cinnamon in March of last year:
http://marinadedave.wordpress.com/2007/03/20/a-diabetics-diary-part-eleven/