My 14 year old son has been Type 1 diabetic for 3 1/2 years now. He is very good at following all the advice of his doctor, except when it comes to eating more vegetables and drinking more milk. Is there a multi-vitamin or a particular single vitamin he can take to supplement his diet and help maintain his blood sugar? I have read the labels on “diabetic” vitamins but frankly, they resemble a lot of “non-diabetic” vitamins at less the cost. I’m not really sure what he needs the most to maintain.

Have you met with a registered dietitian to review your child’s food intake? If not, this would be helpful. It may be that his food is fine, or it could be that a multivitamin may be helpful. For adults with diabetes, some recent information may suggest that certain vitamins (especially with antioxidants) may be helpful. Talking to your son’s physician and dietitian for individual advice would be the best way to go.

LM
Additional comments from The Editor:

A recent study demonstrated the importance of vitamin E. See High-Dose Vitamin E Supplementation Normalizes Retinal Blood Flow and Creatinine Clearance in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes.

JSH