My house was pretty packed this Thanksgiving. I had my sister, her two sons and their girlfriends over this year.
She always made her own Thanksgiving dinner for everybody and the boys are used to going over there. But the two of them are moving here to South Florida, so we had everyone everyone come to my house.
It is such a pleasure having such a big group of family and friends with me. I have a big free-range turkey delivered every year. And each of the girlfriends made a dish.
Like any meal that’s good for you, we center our meals around protein and try to keep the glycemic load low.
But hey, it’s a holiday… no one can blame you for not following the glycemic load chart too closely.
So if you haven’t paid too much attention to your blood sugar this season, here’s something I use in my practice that keeps blood sugar in check. It’s completely safe and naturally improves your body’s response to insulin.
I’m talking about fenugreek. It’s safe and effective, and has been used to treat high blood sugar in herbal medicine for thousands of years.
But today, we know why it works, and how to use it more effectively. The secret lies with two special nutrients found in only a few plants in the world.
The first is called galactomannan, a type of soluble fiber that slows down the rate sugar gets absorbed into your blood. Diabetics who took fenugreek for 8 weeks had their fasting blood sugar drop by 25%.1
Fenugreek also has a special amino acid called 4-hydroxyisoleucine which increases the production of and effects of insulin. This lets you process and remove blood sugar naturally. In one study, fenugreek helped drop urinary sugar levels by 54 percent.2
And in a recent review of studies on five food supplements used to lower blood sugar, researchers found that fenugreek was the most consistent at lowering fasting blood sugar and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), both essential for people who need help with lowering blood sugar levels.3
Fenugreek is heart healthy too. The seeds are 25% galactomannan, and this natural soluble fiber can help keep your heart healthy. In one study, a gram of fenugreek per day lowered triglyceride levels and boosted HDL.4
The whole herb fenugreek is available at specialty health food stores. You’ll usually find it dried because fresh fenugreek can be a bit bitter for some people.
You can soak the powdered seed in water or juice and drink it. Use as much as 10 grams.
There are two kinds of fenugreek supplements, whole herb and seed extract. Whole herb will contain both leaf and seed parts. If you want to use whole herb, make sure to look at the label because some say whole herb and only have seed extract. I recommend starting with 500 mg twice a day.
1. Kassaian N, Azadbakht L, Forghani B, Amini M. "Effect of fenugreek seeds on blood glucose and lipid profiles in type 2 diabetic patients." Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2009 Jan;79(1):34-9.
2. Gupta A, Gupta R, Lal B. "Effect of Trigonella foenum-graecum (fenugreek) seeds on glycaemic control and insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a double blind placebo controlled study." J Assoc Physicians India. 2001 Nov;49:1057-61.
3. Deng R. "A review of the hypoglycemic effects of five commonly used herbal food supplements." Recent Pat Food Nutr Agric. 2012 Apr 1;4(1):50-60.
4. Gupta A, Gupta R, et al. “Effect of Trigonella foenum-graecum (fenugreek) seeds on glycemic control and insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study." J Assoc Physicians India. 2001;49:1057-1061.