[willie4004]

I have had many friends tell me different things about how effective a herbal strategy to BS control is over meds. I also have heard that a Dr. will not tell you about herbal remedies b/c its "bad for business" Any body have suggestions?

[viranth]

IntraMax works very well for me, not sure if it's taking active control over my BG, but it seems to be very steady ever since I started taking it.

[Gary_W]

If you are T1, you need insulin not herbs. Your body lacks this hormone because it doesn't make it. Herbs will not cause your body to make it. Full stop. With T2, you have insulin resistance. Oral meds can help with this (as well as giving the pancreas a kick up the backside). I guess certain herbs could help with this, but there are perfectly good conventional medicines that help millions of people worldwide. They are tested, regulated and audited. They are produced in controlled conditions. If something better comes along, it will become available and the older meds will tend to be prescribed less. Over time, the new meds will rule the roost until something even better comes out. With herbs, the same old thing is used year in year out with no testing, regulation or reliable feedback as to their effectiveness.

I've seen many claimed products mentioned on here and elsewhere on the web that apparantly regulate blood glucose. If they reliably worked in the majority of cases, your doctor would find a way to sell them to you as they would benefit his patients and his pocket.... It is well within the interests of the alternative remedies community to tell you that your doctor is 'keeping something from you'. Most people love a consipracy theory, and if you can in some way cast doubts about therapy A then therapy B (no matter how crazy) will naturally start to look more attractive. Especially when therapy A (the conventional doctor's way) tends to involve meds and lifestyle changes whereas therapy B is a magic bullet which those nasty medics don't want us to have because they'd all be ruined...

Gary

[Subby]

Originally Posted by Gary_W

If you are T1, you need insulin not herbs. Your body lacks this hormone because it doesn't make it. Herbs will not cause your body to make it. Full stop.

True, but because you are type one does not magically mean you don't have insulin resistance issues. And if you happen to have those problems to some degree, they are going to be interwoven with insulin therapy. The issue is further clouded by the fact that if you have resistance issues, you will not present clinically the same as "normal" insulin-producing-insulin-resistant people, so it can go ignored/undetected/not dealt with, lost in the project of "getting dosages right". My doctors used to have this attitude that one's should ignore those issues and stick within the narrow confines of insulin dosage and a little lifestyle moderation to address any insulin resistance problems. Increasingly these days they agree that type ones can have resistance problems, but tend to shrug their shoulders as far as aiding those problems. Is this commonsense, wise scientific rigor, or narrow, rigid conservatism and/or lack of knowledge? Myself, I tend to think that along with tending towards being conservative (which can be very wise but can also preclude useful factors), most doctors have not been trained for and do not have the time to sort out the bogus from the potentially useful supplements or alternatives to complement insulin usage.

I for one have big, variable insulin resistance factors. The action of insulin, whether native to the body or introduced, is influenced by the way the body deals with stress, hormone release, cortisol levels, etc etc, which in a type one may of course indeed be factors as well. As for the efficacy of certain herbal/supplements/remedies etc, _if_ they indeed do improve certain bodily functions that impact on insulin usage, then yes of course they could be a positive component of a type 1's therapy.

As for herbal remedies I don't really know myself. I tried something from Blackmores I think a while back and it did seem to help keep things in a narrower range, not sure why I stopped. You might find some ideas in the "medications" forums.

[Jill-O]

As a type 1 diabetic (and even "my kind" of type 2), there is not any herb that can take the place of insulin. No way, no how.

[Alice]

Yeah...I don't buy that supplement business. They aren't regulated and can make all the claims they want...although the claims tend to use words such as "may help", "many have seen"...and other unquantitative claims.

A type 1 wouldn't be able to give up insulin...nor should anyone make that claim. Not saying you are...but just tired of the "cures" people throw my way.

I'm not flaming anyone one this forum who believes they help but am simply stating my personal opinion.

[xMenace]

Originally Posted by willie4004

I have had many friends tell me different things about how effective a herbal strategy to BS control is over meds. I also have heard that a Dr. will not tell you about herbal remedies b/c its "bad for business" Any body have suggestions?

The other side of this story is that herbalists want you to believe this story so they can sell you their wares.

Herbs are for adding taste to food. If you want to buy pills from ww.buythisoverpriceduselesscrapfrommeyoustupididio t.com then go right ahead and be separated from both your money and your health. I buy my herbs at the grocery or grow them myself.