Blood Sugar Support – For Healthy Glucose Metabolism | 60 Capsules

Blood Sugar Support is a 60-capsule mealtime formula. Each 2-capsule serving combines 200 mg berberine (from berberine HCl), 200 mg magnesium, 75 mcg chromium, 300 mg psyllium husk, 200 mg apple cider vinegar powder, fenugreek, cinnamon and bitter melon extracts, and 100 mg R-alpha lipoic acid to support healthy blood sugar levels already within the normal range.†

This one is for adults whose blood sugar is already in the normal range and who'd like to keep it there as the decades stack up. Maybe you're in your 30s or 40s, you walk after dinner, you read the carb line on labels, and you want a mealtime supplement that backs up those habits. Aging isn't optional. Getting old is.

It isn't a stand-in for food, movement or sleep. It's one more mealtime habit. If a practitioner already keeps an eye on your blood sugar, check with them before you start.

Why people take Blood Sugar Support

• Supports healthy blood sugar levels already within the normal range.†
• Built around mealtime: taken before meals as the label directs, it pairs ingredients studied for the normal post-meal glucose response.†
• Provides berberine and R-alpha lipoic acid, two compounds studied for their role in how cells take up and use glucose for energy.†
• Provides 200 mg of magnesium and 75 mcg of chromium per serving, two minerals involved in normal carbohydrate metabolism.†

What's in each serving

*Daily Value not established.

Serving size: 2 capsules. Servings per container: 30. Other ingredients: Vegetable cellulose (preservative-free, from capsule shell), magnesium stearate, and silica. The label states: "NO corn, soy, salt, yeast, gluten, milk & egg products, sugar, starch, or preservatives."

How Blood Sugar Support works

Nine ingredients, not all pulling equal weight. Here's what each does, and where our amounts are smaller than the studies.

Berberine (200 mg from berberine HCl)

Berberine is a bright yellow compound found in barberry, goldenseal and Oregon grape (yes, our state flower). The panel lists 200 mg of berberine, from berberine HCl, a salt form commonly used in supplements. Its best-known trick is switching on AMPK, an enzyme that acts like a cell's fuel gauge: when it reads low, cells pull in more glucose and burn it. In a 2006 study in rat muscle cells, berberine raised glucose uptake through AMPK, by a route separate from insulin's usual signal. That's cells in a dish, not people.

The evidence in healthy adults is thinner than berberine's reputation. In a 2021 pilot trial in five healthy young men, blood berberine stayed low after 500 mg doses, and glucose and insulin didn't change over the short protocol. The authors note berberine is poorly absorbed and tied to more stomach upset at higher doses. Larger trials exist, but they studied different groups than the healthy adults this product is for, so we don't make promises from them.

Apple cider vinegar powder (200 mg) and psyllium husk (300 mg)

In a 2005 crossover trial in 12 healthy volunteers, adding vinegar to a white bread breakfast lowered the 30-minute blood glucose and insulin responses and raised fullness ratings, and more vinegar meant a bigger effect. The honest limit: that was liquid vinegar in amounts far larger than the 200 mg of powder here, so it shows the direction, not a promise about this dose.

Psyllium husk, from the seed coat of Plantago ovata, is a soluble fiber that thickens into a gel in water, which can slow how a meal moves through digestion. Fiber research uses several grams a day, so at 300 mg psyllium is a supporting player, not your fiber for the day.

Fenugreek, cinnamon and bitter melon extracts

Fenugreek seed 10:1 extract (150 mg). In a 2015 trial in 10 healthy adults, swapping 10% of the flour in buns and flatbreads for fenugreek seed powder lowered the post-meal glucose response and dropped the buns' glycemic index from 82 to 51. That was whole seed powder baked into the food, not an extract. Our 150 mg of 10:1 extract starts from roughly 1.5 g of seed, and no trial we know of tested this exact amount.

Cinnamon bark 10:1 water extract (100 mg). Cinnamon is a lesson in dose. An earlier trial in healthy adults found 6 g of cinnamon in rice pudding lowered post-meal glucose. Then a 2009 follow-up in 15 healthy adults tried 1 g and 3 g: neither changed post-meal glucose significantly, though 3 g lowered the insulin response. Our extract starts from about 1 g of bark, so cinnamon is a team player here, not the star.

Bitter melon fruit 4:1 extract (70 mg). A gourd cooked across South and East Asia, and it earns its name. Researchers have studied its plant compounds for glucose metabolism, but trials in healthy adults are few, so we don't hang any promises on it.

R-alpha lipoic acid (100 mg)

Alpha lipoic acid works inside your mitochondria as a helper (a cofactor) for enzymes involved in turning food into usable energy. It comes in two mirror-image forms, R and S, and this label lists the R form, which a 2016 study in six healthy volunteers describes as a cofactor of mitochondrial enzymes. That same study is a useful reality check: a single dose of R-lipoic acid didn't change blood glucose, and no side effects were seen. So R-alpha lipoic acid is a supporting player here, not a promise.

Magnesium (200 mg) and chromium (75 mcg)

Magnesium is a cofactor in more than 300 enzyme systems, and NIH's magnesium fact sheet lists blood glucose control among them. A serving gives 200 mg (48% DV) from magnesium oxide, which is about 60% magnesium by weight. That's how 200 mg fits into two capsules beside eight other ingredients. The trade-off, per the same fact sheet: oxide is absorbed less completely than citrate or chloride forms and is among the forms most often linked to loose stools at higher intakes.

Chromium is a trace mineral. In 2001 the U.S. Food and Nutrition Board called it an essential nutrient based on its effects on insulin action, though later reviews have questioned that. Each serving gives 75 mcg from 600 mcg of chromium picolinate. Straight talk: NIH's chromium fact sheet describes inconsistent findings in chromium supplement studies and cites a review that found chromium doesn't help moderate glucose in healthy people. It's a supporting mineral for normal carbohydrate metabolism, not the reason to buy the bottle.†

How to take Blood Sugar Support

The label directions: "Take two capsules twenty minutes before each meal, as a dietary supplement." Each bottle holds 60 capsules, or 30 servings of 2 capsules.

Take the capsules with a full glass of water, since the formula contains psyllium. Berberine and magnesium oxide can each unsettle some stomachs, so notice how you feel in the first days.

Ask your healthcare practitioner before use if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition.

Don't take our word for it

• Verified by independent labs. ISO 17025-accredited labs check our test results.
• Every ingredient lot tested before use. Federal rules only require an identity test on incoming dietary ingredients. We test every incoming lot for identity, potency, heavy metals and microbes.
• If it misses spec, it doesn't go in a bottle. More than 99% of our tests pass, and the lots that don't are turned away.
• A certificate of analysis for every lot. Every lot of Blood Sugar Support gets one.

Made in the USA. Made and tested in Mt. Angel, Oregon. That's a farm town of about 3,500 in the Willamette Valley, and our UL-certified cGMP facility there is where this formula is made and tested. Formulators, makers and testers work under one roof, and the owners work in the building too. We've been making supplements in Oregon since 1974. That's 52 years, and we're not getting old either.

Frequently asked questions

How many capsules of Blood Sugar Support should I take?

Follow the label: "Take two capsules twenty minutes before each meal, as a dietary supplement." One serving is 2 capsules, and the bottle holds 30 servings.

Why take it before meals?

Because that's what the label directs: two capsules twenty minutes before each meal. The ingredients are there for the meal that follows, and the vinegar, fenugreek and cinnamon studies above all measured the response after a carbohydrate meal.

How soon will I notice a difference?

Probably not in a way you can feel, and that's normal. This isn't a stimulant, and the studies behind these ingredients measured blood values after a meal, not how people felt. If you'd like numbers, ask your practitioner how to check them.

Can I take Blood Sugar Support with my medication?

Ask your healthcare practitioner first, and bring the bottle so they can see all nine ingredients and their amounts. Our supplement and medication interaction checker is a good place to start that conversation, not finish it.

Can I take it with Good Magnesium or CoQ10 + Alpha Lipoic Acid?

Check the totals first. A serving already gives 200 mg of magnesium, so adding Good Magnesium chelate raises your total magnesium from supplements, and CoQ10 + Alpha Lipoic Acid adds more alpha lipoic acid. Your practitioner can help you decide whether the combination makes sense.

What does "from berberine HCl" mean on the label?

It means the berberine in each serving comes from berberine hydrochloride (HCl), a salt form commonly used in supplements. The panel lists 200 mg of berberine per 2-capsule serving.

Keep learning

• What "Single Bottle Solution" on our labels means
• How we source and test raw materials before they reach a capsule
• NMN + NR Cellular Wellness, our NAD+ formula, if cellular energy is next on your list

References

1. Cheng Z et al. Berberine-stimulated glucose uptake in L6 myotubes involves both AMPK and p38 MAPK. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2006. PubMed
2. Moon JM et al. Absorption Kinetics of Berberine and Dihydroberberine and Their Impact on Glycemia: A Randomized, Controlled, Crossover Pilot Trial. Nutrients. 2021. PubMed
3. Ostman E et al. Vinegar supplementation lowers glucose and insulin responses and increases satiety after a bread meal in healthy subjects. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2005. PubMed
4. Robert SD et al. Reduction of postprandial blood glucose in healthy subjects by buns and flatbreads incorporated with fenugreek seed powder. Eur J Nutr. 2015. PubMed
5. Hlebowicz J et al. Effects of 1 and 3 g cinnamon on gastric emptying, satiety, and postprandial blood glucose, insulin, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, glucagon-like peptide 1, and ghrelin concentrations in healthy subjects. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009. PubMed
6. Ikuta N et al. Bioavailability of an R-α-Lipoic Acid/γ-Cyclodextrin Complex in Healthy Volunteers. Int J Mol Sci. 2016. PubMed

†These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.