Could Your Pantry Be More Powerful Than Your Pharmacy?

Brenda
Apr, Wed, 2026

Could Your Pantry Be More Powerful Than Your Pharmacy?

Last Updated on April 22, 2026 by Brenda

Dr Tina was kind enough to share her notes for Hacks for Managing Diabetes, so we are sharing them with you. Be sure to listen to this great podcast as she expands more on some of these tips. I went home and immediately implemented some to improve my diet too.

If you have Pre-diabetes (slightly higher than normal blood sugar with impaired glucose tolerance), this is the perfect time to make minor changes to your lifestyle for major impact and prevent moving into full diabetes.

Prevent moving into diabetes:

Exercise regularly – aerobic, resistance and flexibility – daily or every other day
Maintain a healthy weight or even try to lose 5% of your weight.
Eat as nutritious food as you can
Stop Smoking – the FDA allows 599 chemicals to be added to cigarettes; this has been going on since the 1970’s. This makes smoking more addictive and can interfere with blood sugar. This includes vaping as well because many more chemicals are allowed in vapes and even more nicotine than cigarettes.

Foods that increase the risk of diabetes:

Trans Fats – these are oils that have been processed to become a solid
Sugary Drinks – include many juice beverages that are not 100% juice and sodas
Sugary Sweets
Processed Foods – no more than 1 meal for every 5 meals per week. Process meals are things like frozen dinners, sausages, and hotdogs with lots of additives like flavorings or coloring
Fried Foods

Foods that reduce Prediabetes:

Broccoli and Broccoli sprouts or other high fiber vegetables
Seafood (fatty fish) 2x 6oz/week
Pumpkin and Pumpkin Seeds (2oz) drops blood sugar by 35%
Nuts and Nut butters
Okra
Flaxseed (1oz) daily
Beans and Lentils added to rice meals
Kimchi and sauerkraut
Chia Seeds (1oz) per day drops blood sugar 39%
Kale
Berries (2 cups) each day
Avocados
Citrus Fruits
Kefir and Yogurt (20oz) made with whole milk and no sweetner
Eggs 1/day drops blood sugar 4.4%
Apple eat 30min before a rice /carb meal

Other natural remedies for all diabetes:

Guggul Resin Extract 70mg – Lowers glucose and bad cholesterol and raises the good HDL cholesterol (Journal of Ag & Food Research Volume 18, Dec 2024)
Oral Magnesium 300-500mg daily improves Glycemic control and lipid profile with all Diabetes but specifically Type 1 Diabetes (Medicine 2017 March24; 96(11);e6352) – Children 300mg and Adults 500mg can drop cholesterol by 30%
Magnesium rich diets decreased Type 1 DM (Nutrition Journal Vol 38, June 2017 pg 54-60)
Selenium 200mcg taken daily dropped Blood Glucose, HbA1c, cholesterol and LDL; HDL improved after 6mths (Pharmacological Research Vol 195 Sept 2023)
D3 plus K2 – Combination of 5,000IU of D with 50mcg of K2 BMC 18Aug2020 Diabetology and Metabolic Syndrome 12, Article #73 (2020) – Decreases glucose levels
Eat foods in this order of veggies (fiber), protein, and fat before carbs. As fiber, protein and fat slow down sugar absorption
Eat a Protein/fat rich breakfast
Drink 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar diluted in water with meals
Chromium 200mcg – 1,000mcg per day for 4 months
1. 200mcg or more showed improved blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity (J Nutr 2015Oct7;145(12))
1. 1,000mcg /day for 4 months lowered fasting blood glucose by 15-19% (Linus Pauling Institute – Oregon State University)
Cinnamon (Ceylon) – 1tsp daily or 1-6grams
Berberine 600-1,000mg daily
Fenugreek – 10g of seeds soaked or 5g of powder 2x/day
Gymnema – 200-600mg per day divided into 2 doses
Nopales 300g or 1.75-2cups per day

Cleveland Clinic lists drugs that can increase blood sugars that you should be aware of. Be sure to visit with your health care provider about options before stopping any of these medications