Glucose, one of the most common dietary sugars, is a vital compound that the body uses to create energy (via aerobic and anaerobic respiration). As with many other nutrients, glucose is transported through the blood to reach areas where it’s required. But, high blood glucose levels, deemed hyperglycemia, can lead to complications that damage your eyes, kidneys, heart and more (Mouri & Badireddy, 2023).
Whilst there’s no substitute for maintaining a healthy diet and regular exercise routine, blood sugar supplements can provide extra assistance to help your body regulate blood glucose levels and decrease the chances of developing hyperglycemia-related conditions.
What are Glucose Disposal Agents (GDAs)?
Many blood sugar supplements fall into the category of GDAs, which stands for Glucose Disposal Agents. As the name suggests, GDAs are designed to help your body process out and remove excess glucose from the bloodstream; either by assisting in converting it into glycogen which is stored to meet later energy demands, or filtered out by the kidneys and passed during urination.
GDAs may also be known as ‘insulin mimics’, as they’re non-hormonal chemicals that can help your body break down and process glucose (as insulin does).
Ingredients to look for in the best blood glucose supplements
Insulin is the primary hormone in the body that is designed to regulate and maintain blood glucose levels. However, there are also a range of GDAs and blood sugar supplements that can assist with healthy blood glucose management. When you’re choosing the best blood glucose supplements, make sure you look for the following potential ingredients.
Benfotiamine
Benfotiamine is a ‘unique, lipid-soluble derivative of thiamine’ (Allowitz et al, 2022) that has been highly researched with regards to its antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and glucose metabolising properties.
Thiamine, or Vitamin B1 as you may know it, is a water-soluble B vitamin that plays a key role in glycolysis and the oxidative decarboxylation of carbohydrates, via the active form called TPP (Martel et al, 2024). These are both vital processes that use glucose to produce energy for your body. Benfotiamine, as a thiamine derivative, shares these qualities – but is significantly improved by a better bioavailability. Benfotiamine is structurally different, and has a higher ability to penetrate tissues in the body (Bozic & Lavrnja, 2023).
Research suggests that not only does Benfotiamine have a higher ability to protect the body from oxidative stress, but has also been shown to be more effective at preventing and/or reversing complications related to high blood sugar (Bozic & Lavrnja, 2023) – which is largely attributed to ‘Benfotiamine’s ability to increase intracellular levels of thiamine pyrophosphate, a coenzyme involved in glucose metabolism’.
Effectively, Benfotiamine can provide the body with useful compounds that break down sugars from the blood and convert them into energy.
Note - Supplement Needs GlucOx contains Benfotiamine (at 1,050 mg per six capsule serving).
TetraSOD®
A particularly unique, but highly efficacious ingredient to look for in blood sugar supplements is TetraSOD®.
But, what exactly is it?
It’s a novel, non-generic coordinated blend of primary antioxidant enzymes - SOD (Superoxide Dismutases), GPx (Glutathione Peroxidase), and CAT (Catalase). Put another way, its manufacturer claims it is ‘the most powerful antioxidant ingredient of natural origin on the market’.
Of these enzymes, TetraSOD® is particularly renowned for the high levels of SOD it contains. And, the reason it contains such high levels of SOD is that TetraSOD® is primarily composed of Tetraselmis chuii - a type of marine microalgae that is grown under patented-protected technology. As a result, Tetraselmis chuii develops 30 times more SOD activity than any other phytoplankton strain on the market.
With SOD being the first essential enzyme in the antioxidant pathway - providing a potent defence against oxidative stress within the body.
Aside from providing a comprehensive defence against oxidative stress, TetraSOD® has also been demonstrated (Gil-Cardoso, et. al. 2022) to decrease plasma glucose - thus helping to support the healthy regulation of blood sugar levels.
It’s primarily for this latter reason that you’ll find TetraSOD® in Supplement Needs GlucOX (at 25 mg per six capsule serving).
Alpha-Lipoic Acid
Frequently included in GDAs and blood sugar supplements, Alpha-Lipoic Acid (APA) is a natural antioxidant that has shown promising positive results in supporting a healthy glucose metabolism (Nguyen, Pellegrini & Gupta, 2024).
This compound has been the subject of continuous research, particularly as a Glucose Disposal Agent to alleviate symptoms of insulin resistance, and increase glucose uptake (removing it from the blood and into the cells where it can be used or stored).
ALA has been shown to activate the insulin receptor cascade, eventually resulting in the translocation of GLUT4. GLUT4 is a key protein that helps to transfer glucose from the blood into fat and muscle cells that is typically insulin-regulated. As part of this process, ALA has been referenced as an insulin-mimic to help reduce total blood glucose levels (Capece et al, 2022).
To put this in simpler terms, Alpha-Lipoic Acid has been likened to insulin, as it mimics the functions of this hormone by encouraging the body to uptake more sugars from the blood.
Bitter melon
Unlike the name would suggest, Bitter Melon, or Momordica charantia, is actually a member of the cucumber family found across Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. In traditional Chinese medicine, Bitter Melon has been used for the treatment of diabetes-related conditions, coughs, and sore throats.
The primary active ingredient of interest within Bitter Melon for blood sugar regulation is a compound called cucurbitacin B (CuB). CuB has been shown to reduce blood glucose concentration, and glucose levels in mice. According to preliminary studies, these hypoglycemic effects could potentially be due to the regulation of AMPK in the intestines, but more research is required to fully understand the mechanism of action (Dai et al, 2023). Additional research has demonstrated the positive effects of Bitter Melon as a blood sugar supplement for people with prediabetes, as it was able to suppress glucagon levels (Kim et al, 2022).
The bottom line is that Bitter Melon, and cucurbitacin B, have demonstrated a positive impact on elevated blood glucose levels.
Tip - want to supplement your diet with Bitter Melon? Then pick up Supplement Needs GlucOx. It contains Bitter Melon extract at a 4:1 ratio (500 mg per six capsule serving).
Cinnamon Extract
Whilst more research is still required, there are positive initial findings which support the inclusion of Cinnamon Extract into the ingredients list of the best blood sugar supplements.
For one, research has shown that Cinnamon Extract has effective anti-hyperglycemic properties, helping to lower fasting blood glucose levels and improve insulin resistance (Silva et al, 2022). It has been shown that Cinnamon Extract acts as an insulin mimic by triggering the translocation of GLUT4, making it a useful Glucose Disposal Agent to remove excess sugar molecules from the blood.
Note - Supplement Needs GlucOx contains Cinnamon Extract as CinnulinPF® - a patented and highly-bioavailable form of Cinnamon Extract.
African Mango Extract
Irvingia gabonensis, or African Mango, is a fruit native to West Africa that’s been used in traditional folk medicine for centuries.
Whilst the bark has been used as a treatment for various skin conditions, the seeds have been connected with weight-loss, and are popular as blood thinners or anti-diabetics and blood sugar supplements (Hassan et al, 2024).
One mechanism of action that could explain this latter use is the presence of high amounts of terminalin. This compound has been found to have an inhibitory effect on certain protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), which can disrupt insulin signalling (Yoon et al, 2022).
To put this another way, African Mango Extract has been shown to have active compounds that can prevent insulin from being blocked. By allowing insulin to work effectively, the body is thus able to reduce overall blood sugar levels.
Supplement Needs GlucOx has been formulated to contain 300 mg (per six capsule serving) of African Mango Extract. Note that our extract is derived directly from the fruit.
Coffee Bean Extract
We all know that coffee is a stimulant, but there is much more to this little bean than first meets the eye. According to collective research reviews, Coffee Bean Extract is rich in antioxidants, and has been linked with the reduction of cholesterol and fasting blood glucose levels (Pourmasoumi et al, 2021).
One reason for the anti-hyperglycemic effects of coffee bean extract has been attributed to the high phenolic acid content. Phenolic acids have repeatedly shown an ability to reduce glucose levels by ‘providing antioxidant protection and inhibiting starch digestion’ (Deka, Choudhury & Dey, 2022). Many phenols have also been shown to help with the movement of glucose from your blood to the cell, which can help to prevent a build up of glucose in the bloodstream.
Naturally, being the leading GDA supplement on the market, Supplement Needs GlucOx contains Coffee Bean Extract (containing 50% phenolic acids) at 200 mg per six capsule serving.
Panax Ginseng
Ginseng is an incredibly valuable ingredient in a wide range of dietary supplements, including GDAs. Not only is Ginseng known for being rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatories, but Panax Ginseng may have the potential to ‘improve markers related to blood glucose, blood pressure, and blood lipids’ (Park et al, 2022).
Further studies have shown Ginseng to reduce fasting blood sugar levels, as well as levels after eating (Chen, Balan & Popovich, 2019) – which proves they can be a useful component of blood sugar supplements.
Magnesium
Another key component of the best blood sugar supplements, Magnesium has been shown to potentially improve glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity.
In various studies, Magnesium supplementation was seen to decrease insulin resistance, paving the way for insulin to effectively move glucose from blood into cells for use (Veronese et al, 2021). This improvement may also be attributed to Magnesium’s ability to reduce oxidative stress and the inflammatory response, both of which can contribute to increased insulin resistance.
For a premium blood sugar supplement containing Magnesium, and much more, choose Supplement Needs’ GluCox. It contains Magnesium in the form of Magnesium Citrate - which is one of the most bioavailable forms of Magnesium.
Banaba Leaf Extract
Banaba Leaf is another natural ingredient that has been used in folk medicine for the treatment of diabetes. From a scientific perspective, the efficacy of Banaba Extract for diabetic conditions has been attributed to the high concentration of corosolic acid and ellagitannins (Miura, Takagi & Ishida, 2012).
Whilst further research is required to understand the exact mechanism, corosolic acid has been shown to ‘improve glucose metabolism, especially postprandial insulin sensitivity, in health subjects with borderline hyperglycemia’ (Hibi et al, 2022).
Or, in simpler terms, the corosolic acid found in Banaba Leaf Extract is able to improve how the body processes sugars, especially after a meal where insulin is working hard to break down and transfer glucose to the cells.
You’ll find Banaba Leaf Extract in Supplement Needs GlucOx at 120 mg per six capsule serving (of which 20% is corosolic acid).
Picking the best GDAs
There are a lot of supplements on the market, but how can you know if you’re choosing the best? Well, there are certainly a few markers of true quality that you should look for.
Use of non-generic ingredients
When you’re adding things to your diet, like GDAs and other blood support supplements, you should always confirm the ingredient quality before you buy.
To wit, where possible and appropriate, we always use non-generic, well-researched ingredient sources. For example, the Supplement Needs’ GlucOx contains the proprietary form of cinnamon extract, called CinnulinPF®, to maximise quality and efficacy.
Ingredient transparency
Supporting and managing your health means knowing exactly what you’re putting in your body – whether as part of your diet, or in the form of supplements.
We believe in being fully transparent with our ingredients list. That’s why not only can you see what we use and how much, but also what form each ingredient is in. We’ll even tell you which part of the plant our organic extracts come from.
What other supplement brands can say the same?
Fully researched and expertly developed
Buying a supplement means you’re effectively buying the product of someone’s research and knowledge.
At Supplement Needs, Dr Dean St Mart PhD formulates and develops all of our supplements.
Dr Dean has a double first class honours degree in chemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry, and a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry and fluorescence spectroscopy. That’s a lot of experience and knowledge to draw from – all of which can benefit you when you buy from our range.
Protect your future health with Supplement Needs
Shop from amongst our Health supplements to find a broad range of expertly designed, evidence-based products.
With free shipping over £20, and worldwide delivery available, there’s never been a better time. Plus, order before 3pm Monday to Friday for same-day dispatch!