A Simple Supplement Stack for Blood Glucose Control

Supplements
#1

I just posted a new Substack article on blood glucose control as a longevity strategy. In addition to breaking down the science, I also shared some simple self experiments looking at various drugs and supplements that can blunt glucose peaks, like acarbose. Sharing the highlights of those experiments here for discussion.

In each case, I wore a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to follow my blood glucose levels in real time. Starting in the morning after an overnight fast, I consumed 50g of carbohydrate in the form of white bread, similar to the control condition that is used to determine the glycemic index of different foods. I then monitored glucose changes for two hours after the meal. For each of the graphs below, I normalized the starting glucose to my daily average of 92 mg/dL to make the data easier to visually digest.

In the control condition, where I consumed the bread without any drugs or supplements, my blood sugar levels quickly rose to a sharp peak of about 150 mg/dL at 30 minutes, before quickly returning to baseline at about 50 minutes. With acarbose, things look much, much different. There is really no peak to speak of. Instead, there is a small bump from about 40-70 minutes, followed by a gradual rise. Very effective.

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I also tested eight acarbose alternatives, since acarbose has the prescription-only barrier and can cause bad gas for a lot of people. They all worked, to varying extents, but a combination of grapeseed extract, white bean extract, and cinnamon outperformed everything else, even acarbose.

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This could be a nice alternative for those who don’t agree well with acarbose. My wife, who can’t tolerate acarbose, didn’t experience the same bloating and gas issues with this combo, perhaps because it caused less of a microbiota die off effect (acarbose is toxic to some bacteria).

I was also impressed with the standalone results for grapeseed extract, especially since it also exerts nice effects on arterial health. Moving forward, I’ll probably use that once a day with acarbose at my other one or two meals.

Full results and discussion here, for anyone who is interested:

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#2

Looks good, but where is cinnamon + grapeseed extract without the white bean extract?

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#3

That would have been good to test, along with grapeseed + bean and cinnamon + bean, but I didn’t get that far. It is possible that one of those two supplement combos is just as good as the three put together.

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#4

So can you clarify the protocol. When did you take these supplements in terms of when you consumed the carbs? Right before the meal?

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#5

What kind of cinnamon did you use Ceylon or cassia?

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#6

Its an interesting experiment. I don’t personally take anything for glucose control specifically although I recognise the importance of keeping the peaks low. Perhaps the only thing I take which reduces glucose levels is alcohol, but I don’t drink it for that reason. My HbA1c, however, is normally under 5.

I am tempted to try a similar set of tests. I have 3 spare One+ CGMs available to use at some stage, but I am doing some complicated tests about combinations of substances at the moment and I would need first to stabilise my stack. I also want to take another high dose of rapamycin and that disrupts glucose handling in lots of directions at different times over a period of weeks.

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#7

Do you know how much White Bean Extract did you take? I have seen pills from 1000mg (8000 AI units/g) to 5x that amount.

Edit: I saw it in your article: 650mg. That is really low indeed! I usually take 2000mg.

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#8

I took the supplements with the first bite of bread, similar to what the label for acarbose instructs.

@desertshores, this was a Ceylon cinnamon supplement.

@Viracocha, I did also test a 1300 mg dose of white bean, and didn’t see much of an improvement vs. the 650 mg. The brand of extract could also make a difference. I used Nutricost, but there is pretty solid data for the Phase 2 brand. In hindsight, I wish I would have used that one.

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#9

Yes, I’ve also been interested in what rapamycin does to CGM traces. If you do this, please share!

#10

Its in this forum in various threads

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#11

Great, because that is what I have on hand.
I am glad you did the experiment because I have been looking for a substitute for acarbose.

All of the supplements you used have additional benefits, so they are a nice substitute for acarbose. I will try some self-experiments to see how well I do with these supplements.

FWIW: “Coumarin Content: Cassia cinnamon contains significantly higher levels of coumarin, a compound that can be harmful to the liver in high doses. Ceylon cinnamon has very low levels of coumarin and is considered safer for regular, long-term consumption. If you plan to use cinnamon regularly and in larger amounts, Ceylon might be a preferable choice for safety reasons, even if the immediate blood sugar effect in studies has been more pronounced with Cassia.”

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