Scams that Prey on People with Diabetes

It's time to hand out the lumps of coal. Here in no particular order are a list of scams that readers of this blog have asked me about.

1. Stem Cell "Cure" for Diabetes.

The weasels who run this one understand that most people know a lot more about Britney Spears' marriage than they do about science. They also know that you've heard dumbed down reports on TV about how stem cells might someday be able to cure diabetes. The result: an expensive scam that is 100% phony.

There is no technology available right now that will turn any stem cell into a beta cell. Just infusing a solution of stem cells into your body will NOT cause them to turn into beta cells, any more than swallowing a fertilized embryo would let you have a baby. End of story.

2. Herbal Substitutes for Oral Drugs or Insulin.

I get a lot of letters from people convinced that there must be some "natural" herb out there that will control their blood sugars and keep them from having to use oral drugs or insulin. Unfortunately, there isn't.

The oral drugs leave a lot to be desired, but at least when you take one of them you know what is in the pill and you can read peer-reviewed studies exploring what these drugs do. Herbs, in contrast, are completely unregulated and what little "research" there may be into the effectiveness of one of these herbs is almost always a tiny study funded by someone with a financial interest in the product that has been published in a vanity "Journal" which exists only to lend bogus credibility to what is actually an untested advertising claim.

Because there is no regulation of herbs and supplements most of the expensive bottles of supplements you buy--no matter who manufactures them--are full of mystery ingredients from from China and/or India including, at times, the toxins that notoriously pollute these countries' rivers and water supplies.

When these supplements are taken to the lab and tested, they frequently contain ingredients other than what are on the labels. More significantly, several "effective" herbal mixtures for diabetes sold in vitamin and "health food" stores have been found to be effective because they contain cheap first generation sulfonylurea drugs, which will lower your blood sugar dramatically--but which have been also found to cause heart attacks.

If you want to take a sulf drug, take a much safer second generation sulfonylurea drug like Amaryl. It is available as a generic for $4 at Wal-Mart. Why pay $30 for a bottle of chopped leaves and mystery sulf from China?

3. Sugar Free "Diabetic Foods"

Most of my readers know what a farce these are, but there are always new victims coming into the diabetes community who don't, to say nothing of their family and friends. I saw so many of these for sale this past Christmas season that I've concluded we can't warn people enough what a waste of money these are.

It isn't just "sugar" that harms people with diabetes, it is all carbohydrates. But almost all "Sugar free" and "Diabetic" products are full of flour and other starches. Most also contain maltitol or glycerine, which are not technically "sugar" but which break down into carbohydrates on digestion and can raise raise blood to surprising heights. If a "sugar free" food contains Lacitol, another sugar alcohol, it may not raise blood sugar that high, but it may give you a case of the runs that will ensure that your first experiment with "sugar free" products is your last.

If you are considering eating a "sugar free" or diabetic food, examine the nutritional panel closely and ignore any claim that the carbohydrates you see listed on it have somehow been magically relieved of their ability to raise blood sugar. It isn't true.

The one sugar alcohol that doesn't raise blood sugar is erythritol. Sadly, it can no longer be found in sugar free or "low carb" candies, probably because it was much more expensive than cheap maltitol. And even more unfortunately, though you can buy Erythritol at great expense in health food stores or by mail order, I have yet to find any recipe where the stuff you can buy is able to substitute effectively for sugar. It appears to need industrial food science techniques to work properly in candies.

This is only a start. What scams perpetrated on people with diabetes have you observed lately?