The United States contains some 17 million people that are challenged by Diabetes. The vast suffer with Type II or adult onset, typically after age 45, which can be addressed with exercise, diet and weight management.
Diabetes occurs where the Beta cells in the pancreas produce less or almost no insulin.
What is insulin and what does it do?
Insulin is a hormone opens the doorway into our cells for glucose or sugar. This is then used to produce and store energy in the form of ATP.
Well, what’s ATP?
ATP is likened to the battery in our car and is comprised of a triple phosphate molecule (the TP portion of ATP). ATP is the energy carrying molecule found in the cells of all living things. ATP captures chemical energy obtained from the breakdown of food molecules and releases it to fuel other cellular processes.
When glucose cannot get into the cell, our blood sugar level rises, and this is referred to as diabetes.
Serious complications normally occur with diabetics such as:
- neuropathy which is the sensation of numbness and sometimes burning pain.
- clogged arteries which trend towards high blood pressure, heart attack and even stroke.
- the retina can become damaged and there can be an increased tendency towards cataracts.
- Kidneys can also receive challenges such as nephropathy.
- Pregnant women can be more at risk of miscarriages.
- limited or weakened immune response resulting in frequent or serious infections.
So how can IP6 help diabetics?
In the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism a review of the role played by phosphorylated inositols to insulin secretion it stated:
"Inputs from glucose and cell surface receptors act together to initiate the beta cell stimulus-response coupling that ultimately leads to the release of insulin. Phosphorylated inositol compounds {found in IP6} have recently emerged as key players at all levels of the stimulus-secretion coupling process."
The authors went on to mention that IP6 in particular, is now known to have new roles in this process.
So what does this mean?
It means that IP6 is necessary for the process to take place. It is not saying that IP6 leads to insulin secretion though. So, Inositol metabolism is directly affected in those with diabetes.
I bet you didn’t know that Inositol comes from glucose by the kidneys as well as within the cells. So, diabetics getting glucose into the cells is the challenge due to a lack of insulin. Inositol deficiency within the cells arises from a shortage of glucose entering the cells.
In animal testing, it was found that inositol may benefit and be useful in treating and preventing nerve problems experienced by diabetics. Inositol, unlike glucose, doesn’t need insulin to enter into the cell but rather they enter the cells very quickly.
As an antioxidant, supplementing with IP6 will inhibit cataract formation potentially. The Immune system can also benefit from this supplementation.
IP6 also offers several mechanisms with which to support the cardiovascular health of diabetics which will be discussed in another posting.
Lastly, Diabetic complications can be prevented or at least delayed by supplementation of IP6.
Stay tuned for the which IP6 to use per Dr Shamsuddin’s preference