
Diabetes and Dietary Supplements: In Depth
What’s the Bottom Line?
How much do we know about dietary supplements for diabetes?
Many studies have investigated dietary supplements, including vitamins, for preventing or treating type 2 diabetes (the focus of this fact sheet).
What do we know about the effectiveness of dietary supplements for diabetes?
Most of the supplements studied aren’t effective and some may worsen symptoms of diabetes. For example, using omega-3 supplements, such as fish oil, or cinnamon doesn’t appear to help with diabetes. A number of small studies have looked at whether magnesium or chromium supplements help with diabetes, but the results aren’t definitive.
What do we know about the safety of dietary supplements for diabetes?
Some dietary supplements have side effects, including interacting with diabetes treatments or increasing the risk of kidney problems.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to buy illegally marketed, potentially dangerous products claiming to prevent, treat, or cure diabetes.
It’s very important not to replace proven conventional medical treatment for diabetes with an unproven health product or practice.
About Diabetes
Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. It can lead to serious health problems if it’s not managed well.
Between 12 and 14 percent of U.S. adults have diabetes, but more than 25 percent of people with it are undiagnosed.
Taking insulin or other diabetes medicine is often key to treating diabetes, along with making healthy food choices and being physically activ
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