Diabetes (Type 2), Insulin resistance, Diet, Fiber, Sugar, Hintonia latifiora

Diabetes Is Optional!

by Jacob Teitelbaum, MD

Diabetes is an increasingly common problem worldwide – especially for anyone eating a Western-style diet. It bears noting that in countries with non-Westernized diets, diabetes is essentially unheard of—until the diet changes to high sugar and low fiber. Processed foods and refined carbohydrates have essentially caused a condition that, shockingly, could affect one-third of adults.

However, the very fact that type 2 diabetes was once rare also provides a reason for hope. It shows that diabetes is optional, and that we have a choice as practitioners to help decide whether it continues unabated or becomes an unpleasant memory. In fact, there is compelling research on a little-known botanical that may be an effective answer to diabetes. But first, let’s better understand the problem.

What Is Diabetes?

Though as health practitioners we have a fair understanding of diabetes’ mechanism, sometimes it helps to take a quick look at the basics again, using simple language that the people we treat can understand.

Our bodies make sugar as a fuel for our cells’ energy furnaces. For most of human history, we have had a high-fiber diet. Carbohydrates and sugars in our diets were released very slowly and steadily into the bloodstream over many hours. But these days, our diet includes almost 140 pounds of sugar per person, per year. That’s 18 percent of our overall calories, and not surprisingly, it causes massive spikes in blood sugar. The effect is that it forces our bodies to prevent this sugar from entering the cells too quickly. This change is called “insulin resistance.”

Insulin is an important key that opens our cell furnaces so the sugar can get in to be burned for energy. But when the body’s cells become deaf to the insulin, the sugar builds up in the bloodstream instead. Meanwhile, the sugar can’t get into the cell to be burned for fuel and the cells are, as unlikely as it seems, starving.

As a result, cells send out the message that they are energy starved, causing the body to make more sugar and more insulin. These high insulin levels then proceeded to turn the sugar into fat, causing people to pack on the pounds and become even more insulin resistant (thus the abdominal ‘spare tire’). The cycle continues until the body can no longer compensate and the blood sugar goes up. At that point, most physicians will usually offer patients whatever the newest, most profitable, and sadly, most often toxic medication the drug companies are marketing to them.

Why the Diabetes Epidemic?

Several factors have created the perfect storm of diabetes. They include the following:

• Excess sugar, white flour, and low-fiber in the diet

• Vitamin D deficiency, especially from the misguided advice to avoid sunshine. Low vitamin D is associated with not only diabetes, but also markedly increased risk for autoimmune illness, pain, hypertension, and other problems.

• High rates of obesity

• Decreased exercise and sedentary lifestyles

• Magnesium deficiency is also associated with a significantly increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Over half of the magnesium that would otherwise be present in our diets is often lost in food processing.

• Numerous chemicals in the environment that block testosterone in men and increase testosterone in women.

Inadequate testosterone levels in men (in my opinion, anything under 500 ng/dL – research shows the “normal range” to be an absurdity) have been shown to cause metabolic syndrome, a combination of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and either diabetes or prediabetes. When you see a ‘spare tire’ developing on a gentleman’s abdomen, this is often the culprit.

In women, the opposite occurs. An elevated testosterone is often associated increased risk of diabetes, with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), acne, facial hair growth, and even infertility. Because of this, although testosterone can be helpful in women as well as men, it is important not to over-treat women because it can increase diabetes risk.

Testing

To screen for prediabetes, I will check a fasting insulin level. Ignore the normal range. If the fasting insulin is over 100 mmol/L, I take measures now for prevention. The same applies if the glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) is over 5.8 percent.

Diabetes Is Optional

When I say “diabetes is optional,” that’s because it is true. It also happens to be the title of my newest book (now available on Amazon; see Sidebar). I examine, in detail, recommendations and treatments, including the following:

• Direct your patients to take a readily-utilized multivitamin high in magnesium and vitamin D, and B vitamins. My favorites are the Daily Energy Enfusion vitamin powder or Bio Active Essentials.

• Remind them to cut back on sugar intake. This doesn’t mean the person can’t indulge their sweet tooth occasionally. In fact, dark chocolate in moderation is a health food. But cutting cut out sodas and fruit juices is a great start. Both have ¾ teaspoon of sugar per ounce, or 36 spoonfuls of sugar in a typical 48-ounce “Big Burp” soda. Encourage patients to enjoy whole fruit instead. Meanwhile, look at the nutritional label, and divide grams of sugar by four to see how many teaspoons of sugar are in a serving.

• Recommend walks in the sunshine. Or find other exercise, preferably outside, that they love.

• Encourage patients to maintain a healthy weight. This will be easier once their insulin sensitivity improves with an improvement in diet and a guided supplement regimen. With adequate weight loss, diabetes disappears in 86 percent of patients.

• Optimize your patients’ testosterone levels. For men, I recommend bioidentical testosterone to bring the total testosterone up to about 900 ng/dL. In women, I recommend the treatments discussed in this article, along with the medications metformin and aldactone to lower elevated testosterone.

To receive one complimentary copy of the “Diabetes is Optional” book while supplies last, please email info@EuroMedicaUSA.com.

Treating Diabetes

For childhood diabetes, which is a totally different autoimmune illness, insulin is a lifesaving and necessary treatment. For adult diabetics, it is a loan shark which initially lowers blood sugar. But because it often causes massive weight gain, it can worsen the diabetes in the long-term. So, it may provide short-term effects, but it is a horrible overall solution for type 2 diabetes.

In my 40 years as a physician, I have found that most diabetes medications turn out to cause more harm and deaths than benefit. But routinely, physicians are not taught about the research on the drug’s toxicities until after the patent runs out and it is no longer profitable. Then the drug companies are off teaching them about the newest, most profitable, diabetes medication.

I don’t fault the drug companies for this. They are actually very nice people doing their job—which is to make money. It is the physician’s job to be able to distinguish between what is real and truthful as opposed to slick advertising masquerading as science. But sadly, though even exhorted to do so by two past editors of the New England Journal of Medicine, most physicians don’t realize the difference. Except for holistic physicians like you!

There is one medication that is an exception – metformin. It is a low-cost option that is effective, well-tolerated, and has stood the test of time. However, it can cause nausea or diarrhea (at which point I’d recommend lowering the dose) and will routinely cause vitamin B12 deficiency, so recommending a multivitamin is a good idea, too.

Hintonia latiflora to the Rescue

Hintonia is an extract of the bark of a shrubby tree that grows in the Sonoran desert. It has been used in folk medicine in Mexico and Central America to treat and even reverse high blood sugar, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome for over a century. It’s been studied in detail for its ability to reverse high blood sugars for the past 60 years.

After a number of case reports showing efficacy, ten studies have been published examining this herb’s effectiveness in treating diabetes.^1-10 Research has shown that it was so effective that many patients with type 2 diabetes could reduce or eliminate their need for insulin, especially those needing 25 units a day or less.¹ They were also routinely able to lower the dose or eliminate their oral hypoglycemic agents ^2-10

Both animal and in vitro studies also confirm this effect while demonstrating multiple underlying mechanisms of action ^11-13 To give an idea of its effectiveness, one Hintonia latiflora study followed 177 patients with prediabetes or mild type 2 diabetes for eight months.² Patients consumed capsules that included hintonia as the primary ingredient. During the study, patients were evaluated every two months on various parameters of diabetes, including A1C, fasting glucose, and postprandial blood sugar, as well as common symptoms associated with diabetes, such as neuropathy. At the end of eight months, researchers noted the following significant improvements:

• HbA1C improved by a significant average of 10.4 percent

• Fasting glucose improved an average of 23.3 percent

• Postprandial glucose decreased by an average of 24.9 percent

Improvements were also found in diabetic symptoms, as well as blood pressure, cholesterol, and liver enzyme values.

Hintonia latiflora is an incredibly safe herbal medicine. Researchers followed up with study participants for almost three years, and there were no side effects or any problems taking it in combination with blood sugar control medications.

Mechanisms of Action

Hintonia inhibits glucosidases, slowing the breakdown and absorption of sugar in the gut.¹² This delays the release of sugar into the bloodstream and keeps glucose levels low, instead of allowing them to spike, a main cause of excessive insulin release.

Coutareagenin, a polyphenol nutrient found in the bark extracts unique to hintonia, appears to be responsible for other blood-sugar controlling benefits of the botanical. This unique flavonoid has been shown to reduce insulin resistance and inflammation.^13-14

One of hintonia’s greatest benefits is that it maintains steady blood glucose throughout the day and night, contributing to long-term improvements in glucose control.

The president of the International Diabetes Foundation was the lead author on another study that strongly recommended the use of hintonia in treating and preventing type 2 diabetes, largely because of improved blood glucose control, but also because of its effectiveness in lowering cholesterol and triglycerides and increasing vasodilation ¹¹

What to Look for

The Hintonia latiflora you recommend should be standardized to contain 20 mg of polyphenols associated with coutareagenin and taken two to three times a day. Hintonia has only recently become available to the North American public in a product called Sucontral® D. No side effects or contraindications have been discovered in more than 60 years of research, and it has been used along with conventional medications.

You can help guide your patients toward a healthy path and away from diabetes. The bottom line? Diabetes truly is optional.

References

1. Kuhr R. Orale diabetestherapie mit einem Eupharbiazeenextrakt. Landarzt. 1953;29(23):542-549

2. Schmidt M, Hladikova M. Hintonia concentrate – for the dietary treatment of increased blood sugar values: Results of a multicentric, prospective, non-interventional study with a defined dry concentrate of hintonia latiflora. Naturheilpraxis. Feb. 2014. (Translated article).

3. Korecova M, Hladikova M. Treatment of mild and moderate type-2 diabetes: open prospective trial with Hintonia latiflora extract. European Journal of Medical Research. 2014;19(1):16

4. Korecova M, Hladicova M, Korec R. Hintonia latiflora bei Typ-2-Diabetes. Zeitschrift für Phytotherapie. 2006;27:272-278

5. Machens R. Therapieversuch mit Copalchi-Rinde bei pathologischer Glucosetoleranz. Erfahrungsheilkunde. 1996;45(9):605-608

6. Pellegrini A. Klinisches Gutachten über das Hintonia latiflora Produkt. Sonderdruck Fa. Sippel, Konstanz. 1951:1-7

7. Schmid P. Bericht über die Behandlung mit dem peroralen Antidiabetikum Hintonia latiflora. Sonderdruck Fa. Sippel, Konstanz. 1951: 1-4.

8. Vida F. Erfahrungsbericht mit dem peroralen Antidiabetikum Hintonia latiflora. Med Welt. 1951;20:1623-1624

9. Ritzmann H. Beitrag zur DiabetesBehandlung. Hippokrates. 1950;21(6):161-168

10. Cristians S, et al. Hypoglycemic activity of extracts and compounds from the leaves of Hintonia standleyana and H. Latiflora: potential alternatives to the use of stem bark of these species. Journal of Natural Products, 2009 Mr 27:72(3);4-08-13

11. Vierling, C, et al. The vasodilating effect of a Hintonia latiflora extract with anti-diabetic action. Phytomedicine 2014 Oct 12:21(12):1582-6.

12. Mata R, et al. Mexican antidiabetic herbs: valuable sources of inhibitors of α-glucosidases. J Nat Prod. 2013 Mar 22;76(3):468-83.

13. Korec R, et al. Effects of the neoflavonoid coutareagenin, one of the antidiabetic active substances of Hintonia latiflora, on streptozotocin-indicted diabetes mellitus in rats. Arzneimittelforschung. 2000 Feb;50(2):122-8.

14. Chen J, Mangelinckx S, Adams A, Wang ZT, Li WL, De Kimpe N. Natural flavonoids as potential herbal medication for the treatment of diabetes mellitus and its complications. Nat Prod Commun. 2015 Jan;10(1):187-200.

Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, is one of the most frequently quoted integrative medical authorities in the world. He is the author of 10 books, including the best-selling From Fatigued to Fantastic!, the Complete Guide Competing Sugar Addiction, Diabetes Is Optional and the popular free Smart Phone app Cures A-Z. Dr. Teitelbaum appears often as a guest on news and talk shows nationwide including Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, Oprah & Friends, CNN, and FoxNewsHealth. Learn more at Vitality101.com.

SIDEBAR

Book Notice

Diabetes Is Optional! by Jacob Teitelbaum, MD.

Paperback; 68 pp; 2018; $5.45 (US at Amazon)

Diabetes is an increasingly common problem. It bears noting that in countries with non-Westernized diets, diabetes is essentially unheard of—until the diet changes to high sugar and low fiber. Because of this, diabetes is largely a disease caused by our “modern” diet and lifestyle. Shockingly, it is now estimated that one-third of adults will get adult-onset diabetes. That it used to be exceedingly rare tells us that diabetes is optional.

Although this short book is written for the public, it also gives an excellent overview for physicians. It also includes over a dozen studies discussing the remarkable effectiveness of the herb Hintonia latiflora (available as Sucontral D).

Diabetes Is Optional reviews a comprehensive natural approach for treating diabetes. It also discusses the research on Hintonia latiflora (Sucontral D), which reduces glycosylated hemoglobin an average of about 1% (e.g. – from 7.5 to 6.5 percent). This results in many people no longer being diabetic.

This book, available on Amazon, is an excellent and simple tool for teaching the people you treat about diabetes. Health practitioners can receive one complimentary copy of Diabetes Is Optional while supplies last. To get your free copy, email info@EuroMedicaUSA.com.