have you heard anything about Sugar Balance supplement?

[grasswire]

I'm looking at a full page advertisement in Psychology Today for "Dietary Supplement formulated specially for Type 2 diabetics" -- a "botanical that acts as a mediator between the body's cells and insulin, thereby decreasing resistance to proper insulin function. This unique formula may block excessive formation of glucose in the blood and enhance tolerance for blood sugar."

Scam? Junk? What?

[Systematic Chaos]

1. Can you find a manufacturer name for this stuff?

I searched "Sugar Balance" on Yahoo search and got a plethora of links to many different products.

[grasswire]

4. gslsupplements.com

for questions, comments, or orders.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. I would suggest just good ol' bullshit until...

there's some actual research done. I noticed that a few sites plugging such herbal diabetes help use the word "may" a lot.

Last time I checked with a dietician about "carb-smart" foods and such, she said there's no regulations about labeling such things unless they make health claims, so we're all using this stuff at our own risk. It's a good idea to know what's in there, though, so that even if it doesn't help, we know it won't kill us.

If it's not poison, it may be OK to use the stuff and see if it does affect your own blood glucose-- individual body chemistries can have interesting reactions to the strangest things.

[Warpy]

3. Remember what they say about fools and their money.

Seriously, if some herb did that, the drug companies would have isolated and purified the active ingredient and gotten it registered under a 17 year patent before now.

There's been some interesting research into type II diabetes involving the upper intestine, but nothing that has produced a magic cure so far.

Your best bets are to watch your diet, lose some weight, increase your activity, keep an eye on your sugar, and take the medicines you've been prescribed.

[MannyGoldstein]

5. A Scam That Might Be Very Dangerous

A look at PubMed (the reference for all medical research) shows that there's a tiny bit of research on the active ingredient (bitter melon) that might indicate that it has some effect on diabetic rats. But who knows if the stuff is safe? Could cause cancer for all anyone knows. The FDA is not allowed to regulate most "nutritional supplements", so there's really no way to tell even what's really in the pills you'd get.

[Systematic Chaos]

6. According to Wikipedia, the verdict is a definite "maybe"....

Some claim bitter melon as "a cure for diabetes", although outside of anecdotal stories scientific evidence for this claim is limited. Studies so far demonstrate improvement but not cure in some diabetic parameters.

Bitter Melon contains four very promising bioactive compounds.

These compounds activate a protein called AMPK, which is well known for regulating fuel metabolism and enabling glucose uptake, processes which are impaired in diabetics.

("We can now understand at a molecular level why bitter melon works as a treatment for diabetes," said David James, director of the diabetes and obesity program at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney.

"By isolating the compounds we believe to be therapeutic, we can investigate how they work together in our cells.")<1>

So there you go. It might be worth buying one box and closely comparing your blood glucose readings the month before starting it and then again one month later to see if the numbers trend down. As for the claim above that if this stuff worked, the pharmaceutical companies would corner the market on it, I disagree. Their interest is in keeping people sick. If they're cured of ailments like this then the cash cow goes dry. But what do I know? :shrug:

[grasswire]

7. I agree with your last comment

I don't believe big pharma is interested in cures, especially in the form of herbal supplements. The industry built around diabetes is huge.

[trotsky]

8. "Their interest is in keeping people sick."

Right. Which is why we have antibiotics, cancer-fighting drugs (on which MANY MILLIONS have beat cancer), etc., etc.

I sincerely hope that you truly follow your own beliefs here, and NEVER EVER take ANY drugs made by "big pharma." Or give any to your family. After all, they just want to keep you sick.

Then you can let nature take its course. Sorry if your kid's ear infection makes them deaf. Tough shit, I guess.

[OKthatsIT]

9. Chinese medicine has been around for 4 thousands years

it's all herbs.

Glucose balancing herbs were probably around just as long.