The following facts are from the World Health Organization (WHO):
• 346 Million People worldwide have diabetes
• 2004, an estimated 3.4 million people died from consequences of high blood sugar
• Deaths from diabetes will double between 2005 and 2030
• Healthy diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a normal body weight, and avoiding tobacco use can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes
The last fact says so much because tests that indicate high blood sugar do not mean that type 2 diabetes will surely follow. Although some risk factors for this disease cannot be changed, such as family history, ethnicity, aging, or a history of pre-diabetes, the above lifestyle changes can reduce your risk. You can also take supplemental steps to reduce high blood sugar (glucose) levels, and AIM has just what you need to do so.
AIM GlucoChrom™
At the top of the list is AIM GlucoChrom™—a synergistic combination of two trace minerals chromium and vanadium—and two herbs—Gymnema sylvestre leaf extract and bitter melon fruit. All four ingredients work together to maintain healthy blood sugar levelsby increasing the effective action of insulin.
Insulin is secreted by the pancreas when the body detects a rise in blood sugar. After insulin attaches to the surface of a cell, blood sugar can be absorbed into the cell and used for, energy. Type 2 diabetes is a disease that occurs,when the body cannot effectively use insulin, so high levels of sugar remain in the blood, causing chronic inflammation.
Insulin simply does not work without the presence of chromium, the trace mineral that gives GlucoChrom its name. The requirement of chromium for insulin was discovered by accident in the 1970s when hospital patients developed high blood sugar from being fed intravenously.
Since chromium was already known to be required for insulin action in animals, it was added to the patients’ feeding solutions, correcting their blood sugar issues.
Believed to activate insulin receptors, vanadium—the second trace mineral in GlucoChrom—improves systemic responsiveness to glucose (insulin sensitivity), so it helps to promote a healthy reduction of blood sugar levels.
Gymnema has been used in India as a natural, Ayurvedic remedy to treat diabetes for nearly 2,000 years. In fact, one of the many names of this woody, climbing plant is gurmar, which translates from Hindi as the destroyer of sugar.Chewing on gymnema leaves can reduce sugar cravings. This herb is noted for lowering blood sugar levels and stimulating insulin secretion, so it is an ideal leaf extract for the GlucoChrom formula.
The second herb in GlucoChrom comes from the fruit of the bitter melon (Momordica Charantia), which has been shown to lower high levels of blood sugar (hypoglycemic properties). “The advantage of bitter melon is that there are no known side effects,” stated Dr. Jiming Ye, a scientist at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia. “Practitioners of Chinesemedicine have used it for hundreds of years to good effect.”