Citrus Supplement Helps to Lower Blood Glucose and Cholesterol Levels for People with Diabetes

11/04/08 Two new studies presented at the Experimental Biology Annual Meeting suggest that an all-natural dietary supplement made from citrus may help people with type 2 diabetes lower their blood glucose numbers after a meal and their LDL-cholesterol levels.

Mal Evans, DVM, MSc, PhD, KGK Synergize Inc.'s Scientific Director, said, "Our scientifically validated testing has consistently shown that Diabetinol improves blood glucose numbers. This time we saw a sizeable change in glucose intolerance in just a short time. This is good news for many of the 21 million Americans with diabetes. Tighter blood sugar control may mean less diabetic complications like nerve pain and kidney disease. And, that could mean less disability and expense from complications and associated medications and certainly less stress for the patient.

"Although there were no statistically significant changes in fasting blood glucose levels in either group, the Diabetinol-treated subjects demonstrated an excellent favorable downward trend in their hemoglobin A1C levels. These results suggest that when administered to people with type 2 diabetes over a longer treatment period, Diabetinol significantly improves glucose tolerance or the blood glucose numbers following a meal.

"Additionally, the Diabetinol-treated group showed improvements in LDL-cholesterol levels. An elevated LDL-cholesterol level is a risk factor for heart disease, and having type 2 diabetes increases an individual's risk for developing heart disease two to four times. In fact, sixty-five percent of deaths from diabetes are related to cardiovascular causes such as heart attack and stroke," said Evans.

Hemoglobin A1C is an indicator of average blood glucose control over two to three months and is correlated to an individual's risk of developing diabetic complications such as diseases of the eye, kidney and nerves.

In a pilot study, twenty adults with diabetes who were taking oral diabetes medications were randomly assigned to receive either Diabetinol or a placebo twice per day for three months. Each subject had mildly to moderately elevated cholesterol levels at the start of the study as well.

After 84 days, the group receiving Diabetinol showed a significant 19 percent reduction in glucose intolerance measured as peak changes in blood glucose over the four hours of a standard oral glucose challenge. The placebo group showed no significant improvements in glucose intolerance. A standard glucose challenge involves ingesting 100 grams of glucose and having blood glucose measurements after 30 minutes and hourly for four hours. Neither the investigators nor the volunteers knew who was receiving the Diabetinol or the placebo.

The number of Americans with diabetes has been increasing as obesity rates continue to rise. At least 90% of Americans with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, the body either produces too little insulin or the cells do not respond properly to the insulin and leave the cells starved for energy while raising the blood glucose level.

Earlier animal studies led researchers to test Diabetinol in humans. Twelve hamsters were treated with a special high-fructose diet to induce diabetes-like symptoms including increased blood glucose, insulin, cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Half of the animals were then given Diabetinol for 42 days. The other six hamsters were given no anti-diabetic treatment. At the end of the study, the Diabetinol-treated animals showed improvements in each blood glucose, insulin, and cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

Taken together, these studies suggest that Diabetinol may help lower blood glucose levels and be beneficial in lowering the risks of heart disease and diabetic complications in people with type 2 diabetes.

An additional six-month study is underway to evaluate Diabetinol treatment in a larger sample of people with type 2 diabetes.