#1

I just posted a new Substack article on blood glucose control as a longevity strategy. In addition to breaking down the science, I also shared some simple self experiments looking at various drugs and supplements that can blunt glucose peaks, like acarbose. Sharing the highlights of those experiments here for discussion.

In each case, I wore a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to follow my blood glucose levels in real time. Starting in the morning after an overnight fast, I consumed 50g of carbohydrate in the form of white bread, similar to the control condition that is used to determine the glycemic index of different foods. I then monitored glucose changes for two hours after the meal. For each of the graphs below, I normalized the starting glucose to my daily average of 92 mg/dL to make the data easier to visually digest.

In the control condition, where I consumed the bread without any drugs or supplements, my blood sugar levels quickly rose to a sharp peak of about 150 mg/dL at 30 minutes, before quickly returning to baseline at about 50 minutes. With acarbose, things look much, much different. There is really no peak to speak of. Instead, there is a small bump from about 40-70 minutes, followed by a gradual rise. Very effective.

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I also tested eight acarbose alternatives, since acarbose has the prescription-only barrier and can cause bad gas for a lot of people. They all worked, to varying extents, but a combination of grapeseed extract, white bean extract, and cinnamon outperformed everything else, even acarbose.

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This could be a nice alternative for those who donā€™t agree well with acarbose. My wife, who canā€™t tolerate acarbose, didnā€™t experience the same bloating and gas issues with this combo, perhaps because it caused less of a microbiota die off effect (acarbose is toxic to some bacteria).

I was also impressed with the standalone results for grapeseed extract, especially since it also exerts nice effects on arterial health. Moving forward, Iā€™ll probably use that once a day with acarbose at my other one or two meals.

Full results and discussion here, for anyone who is interested:

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#2

Looks good, but where is cinnamon + grapeseed extract without the white bean extract?

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#3

That would have been good to test, along with grapeseed + bean and cinnamon + bean, but I didnā€™t get that far. It is possible that one of those two supplement combos is just as good as the three put together.

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#4

So can you clarify the protocol. When did you take these supplements in terms of when you consumed the carbs? Right before the meal?

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#5

What kind of cinnamon did you use Ceylon or cassia?

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#6

Its an interesting experiment. I donā€™t personally take anything for glucose control specifically although I recognise the importance of keeping the peaks low. Perhaps the only thing I take which reduces glucose levels is alcohol, but I donā€™t drink it for that reason. My HbA1c, however, is normally under 5.

I am tempted to try a similar set of tests. I have 3 spare One+ CGMs available to use at some stage, but I am doing some complicated tests about combinations of substances at the moment and I would need first to stabilise my stack. I also want to take another high dose of rapamycin and that disrupts glucose handling in lots of directions at different times over a period of weeks.

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#7

Do you know how much White Bean Extract did you take? I have seen pills from 1000mg (8000 AI units/g) to 5x that amount.

Edit: I saw it in your article: 650mg. That is really low indeed! I usually take 2000mg.

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#8

I took the supplements with the first bite of bread, similar to what the label for acarbose instructs.

@desertshores, this was a Ceylon cinnamon supplement.

@Viracocha, I did also test a 1300 mg dose of white bean, and didnā€™t see much of an improvement vs. the 650 mg. The brand of extract could also make a difference. I used Nutricost, but there is pretty solid data for the Phase 2 brand. In hindsight, I wish I would have used that one.

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#9

Yes, Iā€™ve also been interested in what rapamycin does to CGM traces. If you do this, please share!

#10

Its in this forum in various threads

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#11

Great, because that is what I have on hand.
I am glad you did the experiment because I have been looking for a substitute for acarbose.

All of the supplements you used have additional benefits, so they are a nice substitute for acarbose. I will try some self-experiments to see how well I do with these supplements.

FWIW: ā€œCoumarin Content: Cassia cinnamon contains significantly higher levels of coumarin, a compound that can be harmful to the liver in high doses. Ceylon cinnamon has very low levels of coumarin and is considered safer for regular, long-term consumption. If you plan to use cinnamon regularly and in larger amounts, Ceylon might be a preferable choice for safety reasons, even if the immediate blood sugar effect in studies has been more pronounced with Cassia.ā€

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#12

Yes, several of these are appealing due to extra benefits. Grapeseed extract, in particular, is very effective for arterial health, and can actually decrease pulse wave velocity at the same doses used for blunting glucose spikes. Iā€™ve seen a -1.5 year reduction in my ā€œcardiovascular ageā€ on Oura since I started taking it 5 months ago.

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#13

I will look at grapeseed extract. I got a mild covid in February that bumped my Oura ā€œcardiovascular ageā€ by +5 years. Since then it has gone down by 2 but thatā€™s still +3 compared to pre-covid.

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#14

Very interesting. We know that COVID is hard on endothelial cells - it makes sense that you would see an increase in PWV like you are reporting. Hopefully you continue to see a decline. Grapeseed extract could be a nice addition.

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#15

@Jjazz, I presume the combination would be most effective for food high in complex carbohydrates, but have you tried it with simpler carbs, like bananas, fruits, and even drinks, Iā€™m thinking about healthy drinks like tea & honey, cacao and honey and so onā€¦

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#16

Iā€™ve tried it with success with several mixed meals, but not with things like juice etc. that are loaded with simple sugars. My expectation is that it wouldnā€™t do much for these, since the hypothesized mechanism is reduced conversion of complex carbs into simple sugars.

With that said, cinnamon, in particular, has several relevant mechanisms of action, like increasing GLP-1, which could blunt spikes from simple carbs.

Next time I wear a CGM, Iā€™ll give it a try.

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#17

Ground flaxseed or black cumin seeds are other non pharma options to try. They improve LDL too.

Flax:

Results: The peak glucose rise and the 2 h AUC glycemic response reduced in the flax group by 17% (p = 0.001) and 24% (p < 0.001), respectively. The glucose peak time, palatability, and taste parameters did not differ between the two groups. Conclusions: Ingestion of 15 g of ground raw golden flaxseed before breakfast decreases the 2 h postprandial glycemic response in men with T2DM.

Black cumin:

https://www.itjfs.com/index.php/ijfs/article/view/2564

The nigella meal resulted in significantly lower blood glucose concentration (31.25 mg/dL) at 30 min (p = 0.022), compared to the control meal (43.88 mg/dL)

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#18

Did you try Chinese bitter melon (ku gua) powder? There are capsules, or you can get it in bulk supplements and it tastes pretty good to me.
Personally I love the whole vegetable as well. ( I blanch it and then saute with a bit of parilla oil and fermented black bean sauce and maybe dried shrimpā€¦)

Also, speaking of the whole vegetable, isnā€™t eating any high fiber content before your bolus of carbohydrate going to help blunt glycemic response?

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#19

Great experiment. Thanks for sharing. What dose of Acarbose did you use?

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#20

Lots of great ideas here. Unfortunately, I didnā€™t try any of them.

I do wish I had tried a fiber-based option as that is a very different MOA. Fenugreek seed is another one in that realm.

The acarbose dose was 50mg. I was initially also planning on trying 100 and 150 mg to build a dose response, but the spike blunting effect was already nearly complete with only 50mg. Acarbose works wonders and is tough to beat if you are like me and donā€™t get bad gas from it. Plus, the Bayer brand comes in a nifty little foil pack of 10 pills that fits right in my wallet, making it easy to always have some with me.

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