10 Best Supplements for Diabetes (+ lifestyle and dietary changes)

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Most medical sites and doctors don’t recommend natural supplements as a means of controlling or reversing type 2 diabetes. But medical peer reviewed studies say just the opposite: “Medical doctors are therefore encouraged to incorporate dietary supplements into the regimen employed for … diabetes management.” (source)

The more important question is: Which supplements? Not just any supplements are helpful — especially for long term results. First, we have to know what dysfunctions are occurring in patients with diabetes, so those specific causes are addressed.

Dietary changes ideally come first, as well as some lifestyle changes. And then, several supplements can be very helpful in controlling and limiting one’s exposure to toxicity, while also providing needed nourishment and potential healing.

The necessity of insulin

Insulin dependence is not a given. While many with type 2 diabetes choose to continue using insulin as well as making lifestyle and supplement amendments, insulin dependence is what most medical doctors are educated to recommend. They do not know safe alternatives and doubt that safe alternatives exist.

Multiple studies investigating the results of diets without processed foods (here, here and here) show that a diet high in protein, certain vegetables, sometimes fruits and even starches can be an effective approach for diabetes and other metabolic disorders.

(The key for long term improvement and even healing is to first address liver health and understand causal factors, and we’ll talk more about this below.)

1.5 diabetes

What about type 1.5 diabetes, (which is late onset type 1 and autoimmune in nature); can it be helped with diet and lifestyle? The answer is, Yes. Type 1 and 1.5 diabetes (also called LADA for “latent autoimmune diabetes in adults”) are autoimmune diseases. So diet and lifestyle absolutely can positively affect change and improvement. (source)

Lifestyle Advice

Type 2 diabetes is a lifestyle disease. Caused largely by poor diet, sitting too much, not enough exercise, not enough sleep, over-eating and an imbalance of nutrients (often high fat and/or high sugar), it’s hard for patients to turn off and change the very behavior that’s caused their illness. Although eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia have gotten more coverage, chronic overeating is also an eating disorder. (source, source, and source)

You might be saying, I know person __ who is thin, and she has type 2 diabetes. Absolutely. There are two categories of patients who are not overweight but who still have this autoimmune disease.

The first person, while not overweight, still has an unhealthy diet, perhaps poor sleep, perhaps sits too much. In other words, she still struggles with many of the same causes, even if she doesn’t overeat or overeat as much as an obese patient.

The second thin patient who has type 2 diabetes had a genetic predisposition to the disease, and then she fits the profile that many of the rest of us with autoimmune diseases have: She has leaky gut (intestinal permeability), stress, inflammation, poor liver health, and environmental triggers are present. (source and source)

In both cases, there’s a level of toxicity that’s usually unknown by the patient, but that’s evident in how the liver functions — or its dysfunction — showing up as gallbladder symptoms, thyroid disease, cardiovascular disease — or sometimes silently causing damage.

We’ve established cause to some extent. The solution is often up to the patient. If the patient is determined to get well and understands the long-term dangers associated with medical treatments (read about these here), the solution can be sought out with whatever emotional support may be needed to maintain the dietary changes.

Long term goals to improve or prevent type 2 diabetes

• Sit less.
• Exercise more.
• Get 7 to 8 hours sleep nightly.
• Eat a low toxin anti-inflammatory diet (not high in fat or sugar). This includes less vitamin A. (source and more below on this topic)
• Choose organic produce and use a good water filter for clean water. Glyphosate (pesticide) causes diabetes: 35% lower risk of T2D for those who eat organic produce.
• Reduce stress.
• Reduce overall toxins. (Examples include: oral calcium pills, oral vitamin D, conventional foods, high EMF exposure, non-filtered water, a high vitamin A diet, copper sources, stress)
• Heal the gut and liver (here’s the best resource for how).

High intensity gentle training and/or frequent walks

When we say, “exercise more” we don’t mean more cardio, especially where goals of weight loss are concerned. Rather, read about high-intensity strength training (and how to exercise in a more effective way). Take to heart the full article, including how to prevent injury and be gentle with high-intensity strength training, how to be more active in general and how to change eating habits associated with heavy cardio workouts.

One of my favorite methods for weight loss is to go on a long (or multiple shorter) and preferably pleasurable walk(s) after meals (instead of doing a big cardio workout followed by a big meal). Regular walking (two miles or more five to seven days per week) reduces body fat and stimulates glucose metabolism. I have seen this in my own life! Walking is also gentle and reduces stress. (source)

One study reports, “Walking for at least 30 min per day was shown to reduce the risk of T2D by approximately 50%.” Another shares, “A brief 10-min walk immediately after a meal appears to be an effective and feasible approach for the management of hyperglycemia.”

Effective exercise isn’t about getting to the gym a few days a week. It’s about regular daily activity, preferably before or after meals, and throughout the day.

10 Best Supplements for Diabetes

Lifestyle choices, including diet, are the most important step for controlling diabetes.

Supplements are the next step. They provide key minerals and binders the body needs for wellness.

One tip for taking fewer pills is to find reliable supplement companies that create combination supplements designed to meet your needs. Numbers 4, 5 and 6 below are a great example. One supplement saves time, money and energy by combining three key nutrients most diabetics need. 

1.Magnesium

Most Americans are deficient in magnesium. In regard to diabetes specifically, the more magnesium you have in your body, the less likelihood of getting diabetes!

Low blood sugar and diuretic drugs cause the body to excrete magnesium which affects the body’s ability to produce insulin. Low magnesium levels also affect bone health, sleep quality and good bowel health, to name a few.

This study clearly states, “… oral Mg supplementation reduces insulin resistance and improves the glycemic control indicators among T2D patients”!

Dosage is 300 to 400 mg daily, for most. Different magnesiums have different effects on each person, so we each need to find the one that works best for us.

I like these two best, for helping prevent constipation, as well as their overall benefits:

1. Magnesium Malate pills
2. Magnesium Calm powder

2. and 3. Vitamin D from light + MK4-K2

Healthy bones, cellular health, immune system function, heart health: Vitamin D + K2 + Magnesium — they’re all co-factors, needed by one another for optimum health and wellness. Most Americans need more Vitamin D, but not from a pill. While it’s convenient, Vitamin D in pill form pulls calcium from bones and depletes potassium. We need to get vitamin D from light sources — either sunshine in the summer, or through light therapy.

Read about how to use tanning beds and other light sources for Vitamin D here.

Regarding Vitamin K, choose MK-4. It aids the body in detox better than MK-7. My doctor makes a good one, which you can find on this page.

If you’ve been eating a conventional diet, instead of organic, glyphosate depletes Vitamin K. Vitamin K deficiency leads to liver dysfunction, leaky gut and ongoing diabetes triggers.

4. Potassium

Lower levels of potassium are associated with higher risk of diabetes in studies.

Diabetes creates a higher risk for heart disease. But despite what we’ve been told, fatty acids aren’t the key to lowering levels of triglycerides, reducing inflammation, improving irregular heartbeats and reducing arterial clogging. Reducing vitamin A is a key, and supplementing with vital electrolytes like potassium.

If you feel tired after meals, that’s one symptom of potassium deficiency.

Low blood potassium is present in over 50% of trauma patients. When stress goes away and we have normal potassium levels, we see improvements in most areas of our health: sleep, digestion, bowel movements, blood pressure, heart health and many other issues that affect diabetes.

Potassium can be a hard mineral to supplement, because people respond differently to forms of potassium and doses. Most people do well with potassium chloride, and a good starting dose is 1/8th teaspoon. This dose can be increased slowly over time, as needed. You can also try other forms of potassium if chloride doesn’t agree with you (headaches, for example).

One study on diabetes and potassium recommends 2900 mg a day, but that’s not for everyone. Go slowly to find the right dose for you.

One other note: If you eat a lot of salt, you probably need more potassium. Sodium status is associated with type 2 diabetes.

Learn more about potassium here.

5., 6. and 7. Key Minerals: Zinc, Selenium and Molybdenum

In addition to potassium and magnesium, the body needs three key minerals to detox effectively: zinc, selenium and molybdenum. A conventional diet depletes these.

Find my doctor’s Keystone Minerals here.

Find the minerals separately here: zinc, selenium and molybdenum.

In regard to zinc specifically, it’s a vitamin A and a copper antagonist, and we know that both vitamin A and copper are causal factors in diabetes. This study, among others, shows us the benefits of zinc for type 2 diabetes. Similarly, molybdenum is a copper antagonist, has therapeutic effects on diabetes and aids detox. Selenium supports the thyroid. Given this relationship, and its role in preventing oxidative stress, selenium deficiency has recently been identified as a factor that may influence the development and progression of type 2 diabetes.

8. Nicotinic acid

Supporting healthy blood sugar levels starts with diet, but this unique form of niacin can also be life-changing. Many studies show the unique benefits of a specific kind of niacin called: nicotinic acid. One such study shares: With their over 2000 patients with type 2 diabetes, “The patients’ niacin supplementation was associated with lower levels of total cholesterol …  triglyceride … and low-density lipoprotein … Moreover, the level of high-density lipoprotein was significantly increased when niacin supplementation … was provided.”

Studies on niacin are often confusing because they often use different forms of the B vitamin interchangeably, lumping them together when they draw conclusions. (Don’t use any form of niacin, including sustained release, than nicotinic acid. When studies show niacin not working well for diabetes, if you look closely, it’s because the study used either sustained release [which is toxic to the liver], another form of niacin than nicotinic acid or the dose was too high.)

But nicotinic acid, which can also be labeled niacin or flush-niacin (look at the ingredients to be sure if it’s nicotinic acid or not), is actually not a vitamin but an essential amino acid. 

Find a great low dose nicotinic acid here. Gradually increasing one’s dose is appropriate for some people. The key to using this supplement is also reducing toxins and having a clean diet.

This product can cause flushing, which is a detox through the skin. Read about it first so you know you’re fine with it. It is harmless, but some patients get anxious about it. I personally like the feeling. One study describes it thus: “Flushing is characterised by cutaneous vasodilatation and manifests itself as redness or warmth of the skin, sometimes accompanied by tingling or itching. The onset of flushing can occur rapidly and usually lasts about 1 h. It is a transient, non-allergic response, but it may result in patient discomfort.”

Some articles try to provide means of avoiding the flush, but this also nullifies the effectiveness of the supplement.

9. Activated Charcoal

One of the best ways to reduce inflammation in the GI tract is to take an inexpensive and powerful binder — which protects the gut lining and helps to usher toxins from the body.

Here’s the activated charcoal I take daily.

Learn more about activated charcoal here.

10. Zeolite

My favorite binder is zeolite. It uniquely grabs onto copper, which is one of the most dangerous ingredients in bile (what our liver detoxes). It’s a heavy metal that causes anxiety, wakefulness and raises estrogen levels. Copper toxicity is linked to diabetes in many studies. Zeolite grabs onto other heavy metals also, and pulls toxins not just from the GI tract, but from anywhere in the body, one by one, allowing the body to give up the toxins as the body becomes less toxic over time.

Here’s the zeolite I use daily and love. Use code MEGANSTEVENS for 10% off your purchase. See the website’s FAQs or this article to learn more about zeolite and dosing.

Why we avoid antioxidants and vA on this diet

Anti-oxidants are compounds that usher toxins to the liver, to protect us from them. If you choose to detox your liver, that’s a different process that’s pro-oxidant. By taking anti-oxidant supplements like Vitamin C, or eating a lot of blueberries, you’d be working against that pro-oxidant process. You can slow the detox process if you ever need to with these examples, but ideally, we support the detox process best with the diet outlined here or here, and the supplements in this article.

Why avoid high vitamin A supplements and foods? Many studies link vitamin A (unseen but common vitamin A toxicity) with diabetes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 are just a few of many more. When you read these studies, keep in mind that what they sometimes find is low vitamin A in the blood, but more vitamin A in the liver — which is what causes toxicity. A toxic liver is the cause of arguably most diseases.