People who have higher calcium and magnesium levels from diet and/or supplements can better absorb sugar (glucose) and convert it to energy (insulin sensitivity) than can those who have lower calcium and magnesium levels. Researchers examined a multiethnic group of 1,036 U.S. adults who took part in the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study, and who did not have diabetes at the outset of the study in 1992. At the start of the study, and after five years, doctors measured the levels of dairy, calcium, and magnesium in the diet through a food questionnaire, and assessed the level of supplemental calcium and magnesium by reading the supplement labels. The scientists tested insulin sensitivity using a glucose tolerance test and found that those who had more calcium and magnesium from all sources had better insulin sensitivity, and that the effect appeared most reliably in those who had at least 325 mg of magnesium per day.

Reference: American Journal of Epidemiology; 2006, Vol. 164, No. 5, 449-58.

The antioxidant alpha lipoic acid (ALA) improved the ability of the body to absorb and convert sugar (glucose) to energy (glycemic control-insulin sensitivity) in type 2 diabetes mellitus, according to a new study. Researchers recruited 12 obese type 2 diabetics, average age 53, and gave an oral dose of 600 mg of ALA, twice per day for a daily total of 1,200 mg of ALA, for four weeks. Doctors also monitored, as a control group, 12 healthy subjects with normal glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity who did not take ALA.

At the end of the study period, scientists found that the diabetics were able to clear glucose from the blood nearly twice as quickly—an average 85.8% increase in clearing rate—as before taking ALA. The doctors also determined how sensitive the diabetics were to insulin—the natural hormone produced by the healthy body that regulates glucose—and found that insulin sensitivity increased 62.3% after taking ALA. The scientists noted that there was no statistically significant difference in insulin sensitivity between the diabetics who had taken ALA and the healthy control group, leading the doctors to conclude that short-term oral ALA treatment increases insulin sensitivity in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Prior studies have shown that ALA improved insulin sensitivity when patients received an injection of the antioxidant, and doctors wanted to determine if ALA would be as effective entering the system through the digestive tract.

Reference: Hormones (Athens, Greece); October-December, 2006, Vol. 5, No. 4, 251-8.

An extract of cinnamon reduced risk for diabetes in pre-diabetic volunteers, according to results from a new study. Researchers recruited 24 participants who had slightly raised blood sugar levels after not eating for 8 to 14 hours, a condition known as impaired fasting glucose, which is a risk factor for diabetes.

In the double-blind trial, doctors from the Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble, France, randomly assigned the recruits to take 500 mg of standardized cinnamon extract, in two 250 mg capsules per day, or a placebo, for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, scientists found that, compared to placebo, those who had taken cinnamon had less cell damage (oxidative stress) and higher blood-fluid (plasma) levels of antioxidants, factors which the doctors believe are related to the ability of the body to convert glucose into energy (insulin sensitivity). There were no changes in the placebo group. The researchers stated that this was the first study to test the antioxidant effects of cinnamon in humans.

In a related study in the July, 2006, issue of the European Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers from the University of Hannover, Germany followed 79 type 2 diabetic patients who took 3 grams of standardized cinnamon extract capsules per day, or a placebo, for four months. At the end of the study, fasting plasma glucose levels dropped by an average of 10.3% for those who had taken cinnamon compared to a 3.4% drop in the placebo group. Doctors pointed out that those who had the highest fasting plasma glucose levels at the start of the study saw the largest drop in plasma glucose.

Reference: The 47th Annual American College of Nutrition Conference; October, 2006, Reno, Nevada, U.S.

Two new studies have found that the naturally-occurring antioxidant, alpha lipoic acid (ALA), lowered risk for hardening arteries (atherosclerosis) in obese patients, and reduced symptoms of nerve disease in diabetics. In the atherosclerosis study, 58 patients with metabolic syndrome—a set of risk factors that usually includes high blood-fat levels (triglycerides, cholesterol), high blood pressure, high fasting-levels of blood sugar, and abdominal obesity—took 300 mg of ALA per day, or a placebo, for four weeks. At the end of the period, those who had taken ALA had 44% greater blood-flow capacity (vasodilation) in the upper arm (brachial artery), compared to placebo.

In the second double-blind study, 181 diabetic patients with a nerve disease affecting both arms and/or both legs (distal symmetric polyneuropathy, or DSP), took 600 mg of ALA, 1,200 mg of ALA, 1,800 mg of ALA, or a placebo—all once per day—for five weeks. Symptoms including stabbing pain, burning pain, pricking or tingling of the skin (paresthesia), and numbing of the feet known as "falling asleep," decreased by 50% in the combined ALA groups compared with 32% for placebo. Within the ALA groups, 56% responded favorably, compared to 26% in the placebo group. The lowest dosage of ALA—600 mg per day—was nearly as effective as the highest, 1,200 mg dose, reducing symptoms 51% versus 52%. Some patients who took the higher doses reported nausea and vertigo, leading doctors to recommend 600 mg of ALA per day as the best dose to reduce DSP symptoms with the least risk of side effects.

Reference: Diabetes Care; 2006, Vol. 29, No. 11, 2365-70.

Chromium picolinate, an essential trace mineral, helped type 2 diabetics gain less weight and body fat, control blood sugar levels, and use (absorb) sugar (glucose), in a new study. For the first three months, researchers from the University of Vermont, Burlington, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, gave 37 type 2 diabetics a 5 mg dose of the antidiabetic drug glipizide per day plus a placebo substitute for chromium picolinate. The placebo was "single-blind," meaning the doctors knew—but the patients did not know—that it was a placebo. During the next six-month double-blind phase, 29 patients who continued took glipizide plus 1,000 mcg of chromium picolinate per day, or glipizide plus a placebo.

Doctors measured the percentage of fat, bone, and muscle (body composition), the ability to absorb glucose (insulin sensitivity), and blood sugar levels (glycemic control), at the start of the study, after three months, and at nine months. Those who took chromium gained 60% less weight, adding less than two pounds compared to almost five pounds for the placebo group. The chromium group increased the percentage of body fat by 0.12%, compared to 1.17% for placebo, a 90% improvement. For abdominal fat, the chromium group added less than five square inches, while the placebo group expanded by nearly 13 square inches, a 62% enhancement. Insulin sensitivity increased 80% more in the chromium group than in the placebo group.

The doctors concluded that chromium picolinate supplements improved insulin sensitivity and glycemic control while reducing weight gain and percentage increase in body fat in type 2 diabetics who were taking glipizide, compared to placebo. According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the intestinal tract absorbs only a small fraction of chromium, excreting the rest, and that vitamin C and niacin (vitamin B3) increase the ability of the body to absorb chromium.

Reference: Diabetes Care; 2006, Vol. 29, No. 8, 1826-32.

     Diabetics who took the B-vitamin biotin and the essential trace mineral chromium picolinate had better blood sugar control and reduced blood fats, according to a new study.

     Researchers from Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, recruited 43 overweight or obese type 2 diabetics with poorly controlled blood sugar who were taking—but not responding well to—oral anti-hyperglycemic drugs. Participants took 2 mg of biotin plus 600 mcg of chromium picolinate per day, or a placebo, for four weeks. Researchers tested blood sugar control at the start and end of the study and found that those who had taken biotin and chromium picolinate had an average 9.7% decrease in blood sugar levels compared to the start of the study, while blood sugar levels in the placebo group increased an average of 5.1%. Blood fats (triglycerides) decreased 9.25 mg per deciliter of blood (mg/dL) in the biotin/chromium picolinate group while increasing 59.75 mg/dL in the placebo group.

     Researchers also measured blood-fluid (serum) levels of fructosamine, a sign of poor blood sugar control, and found that levels decreased 1.3 millimoles per liter of serum (mm/L) in the biotin/chromium group while increasing 0.7 mm/L for placebo. Participants reported no significant side effects. Doctors concluded that, for people with poorly controlled diabetes, biotin combined with chromium picolinate may be an effective complementary therapy that may also help lower blood-fat levels.

Reference: Diabetes, Technology & Therapeutics: December, 2006; Vol. 8, No. 6, 636-43.