If you need further proof that the FDA puts its relationship with Big Pharma ahead of your well-being, read on…especially if you or someone you love has diabetes.
A few years ago, the agency in charge of protecting your health slapped a black box warning label on Johnson and Johnson’s diabetes drug Invokana. The agency’s most stringent warning is that medication can cause severe injury or death.
Invokana is intended to lower blood sugar in patients and help lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death.
Like many FDA-approved medications, this drug has a long list of dangerous side effects, including serious urinary tract infections, low blood sugar, low blood pressure, increased risk of broken bones, kidney damage, serious vaginal and penile yeast infections, and diabetic ketoacidosis.
But the drug got a black box warning because it doubles the risk of lower limb amputations.
After being on the market for several years, two independent clinical trials showed that amputations occurred TWICE as often in patients treated with the drug compared to patients treated with a placebo.1
Amputations of the toe and middle of the foot were the most common. But amputations of the leg, below and above the knee, also occurred. Some patients had more than one amputation. Some lost both legs.
And yet, in a sudden about-face, the FDA decided to ditch the black box warning a couple of years later. The agency agreed that the risk wasn’t so bad after all!2
Of course, this reversal comes right after the pharmaceutical giant saw profits shrink dramatically. Before the warning was enacted, Invokana pulled in over $1.4 billion sales. After the black box warning went into effect, the drug netted just $735 million.
The way the FDA puts its buddies at Big Pharma ahead of your health doesn’t surprise me. But it continues to anger and sadden me…
I advise you to do your best to avoid dangerous drugs like this.
I help my patients control their blood sugar levels and reverse diabetes naturally and safely. Here’s what I tell them…
The first step is to balance your blood sugar. And the best way to do that is to follow a very low-carb diet.
You see, every time you eat carbohydrates, your pancreas has to put out insulin to clear your blood of the sugar produced by those carbs. The insulin sends the sugar into your cells for energy. But over time, with too many carbs, your body becomes resistant to insulin.
Or your pancreas burns out, and you can’t produce anymore. Your cells get no energy, and sugar builds up in your bloodstream.
I help my patients keep their blood sugar low naturally by eating foods with a zero score on the Glycemic Index (GI).
The GI measures how quickly foods break down into sugar in your blood. Eating foods high on the glycemic index causes a higher blood sugar and insulin spike. But foods with a GI of zero keep your blood sugar low and stable.
Here’s a quick guide to eating this way…
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- Load up on good fats. Fats score a zero on the GI. Choose fats like olive oil, coconut oil, avocado, butter, ghee, and heavy cream. Strictly avoid trans fats and vegetable oils like corn, sunflower, safflower, soy, and canola.
- Choose the right kind of protein. Grass-fed organ meats and beef, salmon and other cold-water fish, and eggs are your best sources of protein. Nuts are another excellent source of protein as well as fat. Reach for almonds, pecans, walnuts, and macadamia nuts.
- Eliminate the carbage. The best advice I can give you is to avoid all carb-heavy processed foods. They’re full of fake flavorings, preservatives, refined sugar, and salt. Basically, if it comes in a package sold on shelves in the middle of the supermarket, don’t eat it.
- Choose vegetables with the lowest GI score. These include non-starchy veggies like leafy greens, broccoli, cabbage, celery, cauliflower, green beans, mushrooms, and spinach.
3 simple ways to get better blood sugar
But sometimes dieting isn’t enough. I recommend these natural blood sugar busters…
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- Cerasee. This warty green fruit is called bitter melon, gourd, or cucumber. Studies show that cerasee lowers blood sugar without the need for insulin.3 In fact, one study on 25 diabetic patients found that bitter melon is more effective than Big Pharma’s blockbuster diabetes drug Avandia.4 Take 500 mg to 1,000 mg three times a day after meals.
- Vanadium. This little-known trace mineral mimics the action of insulin. It helps move glucose from the blood into the cells, which can be used as energy. Vanadium also helps reduce damaging blood sugar and insulin spikes. In one study, people with diabetes took vanadium daily. After just three weeks, average blood sugar levels dropped by 10%.5 Take 500 mcg three times daily. Just don’t exceed 10 mg in a day.
- Gymnema. For over 2,000 years, people in India used Gymnema sylvestre as a diabetes treatment. The herb is also called “gurmar,” which means “destroyer of sugar” in Hindi. In one study, 22 patients struggling to maintain normal blood sugar levels took Gymnema sylvestre daily for 18 to 20 months.6 By the end of the study, 100% of the patients showed excellent blood sugar levels. Take 100 mg twice daily.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD, CNS
References:
1. FDA Drug Safety Communication: Interim clinical trial results find an increased risk of leg and foot amputations, mostly affecting the toes, with the diabetes medicine canagliflozin (Invokana, Invokamet). Phytother Res. 2019 Nov;33(11):2927-2937. doi: 10.1002/ptr.6482. Epub 2019.
2. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “FDA removes Boxed Warning about risk of leg and foot amputations for the diabetes medicine canagliflozin (Invokana, Invokamet, Invokamet XR).” Accessed April 3, 2022.
3. Ahmad N, et al. “Effect of Momordica charantia (Karolla) extracts on fasting and postprandial serum glucose levels in NIDDM patients.” Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull. 1999;25(1):11-13.
4. Inayat-ur-Rahman, et al. “Serum sialic acid changes in non-insulindependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients following bitter melon (Momordica charantia) and rosiglitazone (Avandia) treatment.” Phytomedicine. 2009;16(5):401-405.
5. Wallach JD and Lan M. Rare Earths: Forbidden Cures. Bonita, CA: Double Happiness Publishing, 1994.
6. Ahmad N, et al. “Effect of Momordica charantia (Karolla) extracts on fasting and postprandial serum glucose levels in NIDDM patients.” Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull. 1999;25(1):11-13.