Diabetics, Why You Need the B's

Why You Need the B’s

 B-complex vitamins are essential for your body to convert sugar and starches to energy, a chemical process called carbohydrate metabolism. A shortage of any one of them can cause problems. Vitamin B6 deficiency has been linked to glucose intolerance, which is an abnormally high rise in blood sugar after eating.

Shortages of B vitamins can also lead to nerve damage in the hands and feet. Some studies indicate that people with diabetes develop less of the numbness and tingling asociated with diabetes-related nerve damage if they take supplemental B vitamins.

People with diabetes tend to use up their B vitamins. Also, poorly controlled diabetes causes these nutrients to be excreted in the urine. A supplement that includes 50 to 100 milligrams of most of the B vitamins is recommended.

Keep an Eye on Niacinamide

One B vitamin in particular, a form of niacin know as niacinamide, may actually help keep type 1 diabetes from developing in high-risk people. 

Type 1 diabetes is distinctly different from type 2, the more common type. People with type 1 develop antibodies that attack and destroy the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.

Niacinamide seems to help protect insulin-producing cells from attack. Having enough on hand also helps your body produce more energy and facilitate chemical reactions.

Niacinamide is crucial in making a molecule that is central to the energy-production process. In large doses, niacinamide can also inhibit the formation of certain types of free radicals, the free-roaming, unstable molecules that set off destructive chain reactions in your cells.

Researchers from New Zealand did a two-year study using high doses of niacinamide. Among children with early signs of reduced insulin production, only 20 percent of those who took high doses of niacinamide progressed to type 1 diabetes. In contrast, 80 percent of a group of children with the same early signs of type 1 who did not take niacinamide did develop insulin dependence.

In a similar study with adults, only 15 percent of those taking niacinamide developed type 1 diabetes, compared with 40 percent of the adults in a group that didn’t take the vitamin.

Fabulous stuff, indeed. Vitamin B-6 has also been shown to help prevent heart disease, relieve morning sickness, provide relief from carpal tunnel syndrome and enhance brain function by assisting in neurotransmitter development.  If you’d like to include yourself in the group that has the highest intake of vitamin B-6, just add more bananas, spinach, avocado, poultry, fish, meat and beans to your diet. And it appears that an occasional cocktail or a glass of wine might help as well. Women in the Stockholm study who had plenty of B-6 in their diets and also drank two or more alcoholic beverages per week had an even greater reduced risk of colorectal cancer.

This information is bought to you as a free service from DNA Biopharm South Africa. The information herein is not intended to treat or diagnose any condition. Should you wish to try any herbal or natural remedy discussed in these pages, please consult with your healthcare practitioner. Should you require any information or advice on any topic related to diabetes, please visit our website at www.dna-biopharm and contact us or leave a comment.