Monday Oct 28, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- In the Journal of Biomedical Research, Cheolin Park from Daegu Health College and Jae-Sik Lee from Hyejeon College both in Korea published a review on dietary supplements Korean Food Drug Administration approved for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus, which gives readers some idea as to what dietary supplements can be used to help lower glucose levels in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

According to the report, Korean FDA has approved more than a dozen of dietary supplements/ingredients, which have anti-hyperglycemic properties to treat or manage type 2 diabetes mellitus including Banaba alcohol extract (50 to 100 mg/d), pinitol (1200 mg/d), extract of Rhodiola rosea and Cinnamonumu cassia (900 mg/d), Guava extract (123.5 mg/d), non-fat seed alcohol extract from Oenothera biennis or Evening primrose (200 to 300 mg/d), pine needle essence (1350 mg/d), soybean fermented extract (900 mg/d), nopal extract (430 mg/d), powder of lyophilized silkworms (2700 mg/d), mixed extract of Fructus Aurantii and Mulberry leaves 92800 mg/d), peptide complex from small beans (4500 mg/d), hydrolyzed concentrates of ginseng (960mg/d), tagatose (5000 to 7500 mg/d) and yam extract(900mg/d).

The authors also mentioned some common herbal supplements used worldwide to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus including "Momordica charantia (bitter melon), Trigonella foenum-gracum (fenugreek), Gymnema sylvestre (gurmar), Panax quinquefolius (ginseng), Opuntia streptacanthia (nopal cactus), Aloe barbadenesis (aloe), Vaccinium mytillus (bilberry), Silybum marianum, (milk thistle), allium  sativum and Allium cepa (garlic and onions) and Pterocarpus marsupium (vijayasar)." (JD)