My son has had type 1diabetes for three months. During the summer holidays, along with insulin, I gave him some food supplements with ivy gourd (plus bitter melon, fenugreek) and noticed that his glucose levels became better controlled with less insulin intake and less hypoglycemia. In addition, his A1c went from 13.0 to 7.0 in two months. Every time I suspended the herbal supplements, the hyperglycemia increased, along with the insulin intake. The problem is that I can’t find any medical assistance here in Portugal to help me with the traditional insulin intake and nutritional supplements that might help control my son’s diabetes. Do you know of any doctors who are familiar with such nutritional supplements?

Sorry, but there is actually rather little research about such products. It is also difficult research since the products produced commercially are often not reliable from one to another batch, but claims of improvement are anecdotal. Most research does not support their use and so you would have to take it upon yourself to figure out if there were side effects that outweighed the potential benefits. If the supplements had fiber in them, then it would likely be high fiber intake slowing down stomach absorption of food that help to lower glucose levels. If this is only a honeymoon phase of his newly diagnosed diabetes, then it would have nothing at all to do with the supplements. Highly scientific research studies which are well designed and include placebo and control groups would be needed to answer such questions and the nutriceutical industry does not often pay to get such well designed studies completed.

SB