Diabetes and Vitamin B

[chiang mai]

I mentioned this subject in another thread some time ago but I think it's sufficiently important to repeat it with improved visibility:

For people with Type II Diabetes life in Thailand is a never ending learning process about what steps to take, what to avoid and how to manage the disease, without access to a skilled dietician there's a lot of hit and miss that takes place, case in point:

I've been on a low carb low glyecmic diet for a year now and my blood sugar is nicely controlled, the thought has always plagued me however that because my diet is so restrictive I may not be getting all the nutrition required. The reality of this was brought home to me recently by a trip to the dentist where the state of my tongue became the center of attention, I explained that it seemed to go through three or four week cycles where the top (white) layer would peel off exposing the pink skin underneath. At the end of the cycle the white layer would return and when complete it would start to peel again - it would always peel from front to back starting at the very tip.

I explained that I am diabetic and the dentist immediately made the connection, you're deficient in vitamin B she said, many diabetics are. I'd never heard that before and my endocrinologist had never mentioned it but following some research on the web it was confirmed pretty much as fact from a number of sources. So i bought a bottle of Blackmores B Complex vitamin and began taking it daily, within three days my tongue started to improve, the white coating returned and stayed from that point on. Unexpectedly my gastric problems started to improve quite dramatically, motility became near perfect and the distention disappeared, most significantly my blood glucose levels started to drop by about 15%. Whereas I had previously been reporting daily fasting levels of around 105 and some times up to 115, my readings subsequently have dropped to an average 94 and have stayed there.

So, there you have it, the take aways from this piece are that many diabetics are deficient in vitamin B and the condition of your tongue will tell the story, it's easily cured with vitamin B Complex - I knew the doctors from my child hood were looking for something every time they told me to stick out my tongue, now I know what it was!

[Sheryl]

Glossitis (red and swollen tongue) is a sign if riboflavin deficiency (B2). Milk and organ meats are a good source. Deficiciency is not unusual in people on restricted diets as well as people with chronic GI problems. Certain chronic diseases, including diabetes, also increase the odds of deficiency. For some reason diabetes increases riboflavin excretion.

It is not stored in the body so daily intake is necessary to avoid deficiency.