Food and blood sugar
Yesterday I took a muffin and about 5 wheat thin crackers about two hours before dinner. Imagine my shock when I saw that my blood glucose showed a reading of 163 mg/dL! 
I postponed dinner by two hours and got on my exercise bicycle. There was no way I was going to eat anything till my blood glucose level had gone down further.
We went to Denny’s for dinner and I order grilled lemon tilapia on rice pilaf and my side dishes were corn and sliced tomatoes.
About two and half hours after dinner, I took another blood glucose reading. How relieved I was to see that it was at 89 mg/dL.
Today at dinner, we went to a Chinese restaurant. We order steamed oysters, crispy roasted chicken and salt and pepper shrimp. Two hours later my blood sugar reading was 80 mg/dL.
Both times I remembered to take my gymnema sylvestre tablets before dinner and my alpha lipoic tablets after dinner. I firmly believe they help in the lower absorption of glucose into my bloodstream.
No more wheat thin crackers before dinner! 
June 10th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Hi, I’d like to follow your advice to take gymnema sylvestre tablets before dinner and alpha lipoic tablets after dinner…. can you tell me how many tablets that you take a day. I’m taking metformin now.
Many thanks
[reply this comment]
Puteri reply on June 10, 2008:
Is metformin effective in controlling your blood sugar? I do not want you to experience hypoglycemia if you take gymnema sylvestre half an hour before your meal and alpha lipoic acid after your meal.
How about you try taking just the gymnema sylvester tablet before your meal first and test your blood sugar reading 2 hours after the meal? If you think that your blood sugar could do with further lowering, you may try adding the alpha lipoic acid after dinner in future. Monitor your blood sugar and adjust the consumption of these supplements accordingly. If these supplements greatly help with your blood sugar control you might want to consult your doctor about adjusting the dosage of your medication.
I prefer natural remedies to drugs! Drugs damage your kidneys in the long run.
Gymnema sylvester can be taken twice a day, at least 15 minutes before a meal.
Alpha lipoic acid can be taken up to 3 times a day with a meal.
I recommend you buy your gymnema sylvestre and alpha lipoic acid from wonderlabs.com. They have the best prices, far lower than retail.
There is one other product that I find effective. At wonderlabs.com the product is named GlucoFit. It’s main ingredient is Lagestroemia Speiciosa L. which is the leaf of a kind of myrtle. It is scientifically proven to lower blood sugar. I take GlucoFit if I don’t take alpha lipoic acid.
Let me know of your experience with these supplements. I’d like to write about it on my health blog which is healthandbeautynotes.com
All the best with managing your diabetes!