How to lower your blood sugar without drugs!

If you have type 2 diabetes, no doubt it rules your life.

Every day there are so many choices that come down to that one looming question: Am I controlling my blood sugar?

But now, researchers (who were actually looking at ways to lower blood pressure!) have made an amazing discovery.

And it’s one you can take advantage of right now – no doctor’s visit required!

A walk in the park

For years I’ve been telling you how important beneficial bacteria are for keeping your digestive system on track and your immune system working well.

And over the past decade, new research has turned up one key connection after another linking good gut health to good body health. Just a few days ago an amazing new study showed that 12 weeks of probiotic supplement use helped Alzheimer’s patients regain some of their cognitive abilities.

And this past spring I told you how probiotic supplements can have a remarkable healing effect on rheumatoid arthritis.

Now, some brand-new evidence has found how beneficial gut bacteria can help if you’re struggling with controlling your blood sugar as well.

Canadian heart researchers asked 80 volunteers with high blood pressure to follow the DASH diet (which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), a way of eating designed to lower blood pressure with a balance of fruits, vegetables, fiber, and high-quality proteins.

And for half of this group, probiotic-rich foods were added to their DASH meals.

Three months later, nearly every volunteer had lower blood pressure. And although the added probiotics didn’t have any effect on blood pressure readings, they had a stunning effect on blood sugar readings.

Blood tests showed that A1c levels were almost 3.5 percent lower in the DASH diet group.

Now that alone is pretty impressive. But in the group that also got the probiotics, their A1c numbers dropped like a boat anchor — more than twice as much as the other group! Plus that, fasting blood sugar numbers were on average close to 11 percent lower for those taking the probiotics.

The researchers said they plan to go forward with similar studies — and that’s great. But we’ve already got some solid evidence that backs up these findings.

Earlier this year, a meta-analysis of 11 studies showed that probiotic supplement use resulted in significant reductions of A1c, glucose, insulin, and insulin resistance in diabetics.

And the reason for all this may be the result of a special compound certain gut bacteria can produce called butyrate, which has a lot to do with maintaining insulin sensitivity.

It all adds up to one rock-solid benefit: better blood sugar control.

But before you start thinking about ways to load up on probiotics, here are four tips to help get you started.

Tip #1: Yogurt is a good source of probiotics, but only if it includes live and active cultures of lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacterium. And make sure any yogurt you select doesn’t contain aspartame or other fake sweeteners. Studies have found that artificial sweeteners can actually raise your blood sugar more than sucrose (sugar) can, as it causes changes in your gut bacteria.

Tip #2: The food you eat also feeds the bacteria in your gut. In general, fiber makes probiotic organisms flourish, while sugar can help bad bacteria thrive.

Tip #3: Chlorine is added to tap water to kill bacteria, good or bad. So if you take a probiotic supplement, be sure to wash it down with chlorine-filtered water or spring water.

Tip #4: If you’ve recently been (or frequently are) prescribed antibiotics, you need more than just little tubs of yogurt. Do some research and make sure you’re getting a high-quality supplement that contains probiotic microorganisms in the billions.

And even if you haven’t taken antibiotics in years, a good probiotic supplement is an excellent way to keep your immune system strong and — now we know — your blood sugar under control!

“Probiotics may help reduce blood sugar levels” Sara G. Miller, November 14, 2016, LiveScience, livescience.com