A study was recently published in the Journal of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology about the benefits of taking Vitamin E for a subgroup of diabetics with a special HP(haptoglobin) 2-2 Gene. Diabetics with this genetic marker are 2-3 times more likely to have a heart attack, presumably due to the gene’s inferior ability as an anti-oxidant.

Medical News Today is reporting a 50% decrease in heart attacks for people that have the HP 2-2 gene who supplement with Vitamin E. The actual research in the journal is here- Vitamin E Supplementation Reduces Cardiovascular Events in a Subgroup of Middle-Aged Individuals With Both Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and the Haptoglobin 2-2 Genotype. A Prospective Double-Blinded Clinical Trial.

About %40 of Type 2 Diabetics have the HP 2-2 gene and there is about a %50 reduction in heart attacks with that marker and with 400 IUs of Vitamin E a day. I would like to know specifically what kind of Vitamin E they used for the study, as there are several forms available on the market today. The Vitamin E family has several members- the Life Extension Foundation has a great article on Vitamin E in their report- Whats Wrong with Vitamin E. Remember that most supplements contain a narrow portion of the Vitamin E family which is not always accounted for in some studies.

A recent study done in July and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggested that a specie of plant found in India near Sri Lanka helps to lower glucose levels after a large meal. I have never heard of this plant before, so I decided to link to the research I found here and take a look at the overall study.

The study took a group of Type 2 Diabetics and gave them doses of Salacia Oblonga extract in either 0mg, 240mg or 480mg quantities. Then all patients had a control meal and blood glucose tests were taken. There was a reduction in glucose levels 180 minutes after the meal with the patients who took the extract over control. The findings point to a significant reduction in glucose after a big meal with the help of this herb. The entire study can be read here- Extract of Salacia oblonga lowers acute glycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Basically, this is yet another herb that has demonstrated some glucose lowering effects. I looked around on Pubmed and found another piece of research where some researchers used a cocktail of 8 Indian herbs on rats- Curcuma longa, Strychnos potatorum, Salacia oblonga, Tinospora cordifolia, Vetivelia zizanioides, Coscinium fenestratum, Andrographis paniculata and Mimosa pudica. While I have never heard of any of those, Salacia Oblonga is one of them! They fed this herbal combination to rats with induced Diabetes Mellitus and there was “significant lower levels of glucose” and that a larger dose brought back almost all the parameters to near normal levels. Please read this article as well, if your interested- Antihyperglycaemic effect of ‘Ilogen-Excel’, an ayurvedic herbal formulation in streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus.