Hello,
For more than a year now, I have been testing a variety of supplements, to see which on them reduce the level of fasting insulin. This parameter is believe to be one of the longevity biomarkers [1,2,3]. General assumptions of these tests where that the particular supplement will be taken for 2-3 months and after this time I was measuring fasting insulin level (and often other blood parameters). Then when I decided that a supplement is working I add another supplement for another 2-3 months. I also check my fasting glucose during that time using ordinary glucometer.
I divide all result into stages to make it more clear. I am putting all blood parameters I measured, but the most important thing for me is fasting insulin.
By the way, these results may also be useful for diabetics, because it suggests which supplements would enable them to use lower doses of insulin, I think.
Stage 0: no supplementation
Blood results (06.07.2015):
Insulin 11.3 (ulU/ml)
Triglycerides: 137
Total Cholesterol: 216
HDL Cholesterol: 44
LDL Cholesterol: 161
ALT: 13
BUN : 17.3
Creatinine: 0.83
Blood morphology: all parameters normal
Stage 1: 250mg of resveratrol (Swanson)
Additional supplements: none
I checked resveratrol first. After 2-months supplementation I did blood tests again (04.09.2015)
Insulin 9.9 (- 1.4)
Triglycerides: 167 (+ 30)
Total cholesterol: 223 (+ 7)
HDL cholesterol: 46.4 (+ 2.4)
LDL 158 (- 3)
ALT: 16 (- 3)
BUN: 15.5 (- 1.8)
Creatinine: 1 (+ 0.17)
Blood morphology: all parameters normal
Result: 250mg of resveratrol resulted in a decrease in fasting insulin by 12%.
Stage 2: 250mg of resveratrol (Swanson) + 10-15ml linseed oil (Boflax)
Additional supplements: none
Because there has been a decrease in fasting insulin in the next stage I add linseed oil to my supplementation. I started with 10mL and after some time I increased it to 15mL. Unfortunately, I do not remember exactly how long I have been taking linseed oil (it was about 3 months). Then I performed blood tests (15.01.2017):
Insulin 8.2 (- 1.7)
Triglycerides: 100 (- 67)
Total cholesterol: 198 (- 25)
HDL cholesterol: 45.8 (- 0.6)
LDL Cholesterol: 143 (- 15)
ALT: 15 (- 1)
Blood morphology: all parameters normal except MPV (Mean platelet volume) (below normal)
Result: 15 ml of linseed oil resulted in 17% decrease of fasting insulin. Also significant reduction in triglycerides could be observed.
Stage 3: 250mg of resveratrol (Swanson) + 15mL linseed oil (Boflax) + 2g of beta-alanine (Activlab)
Additional supplements: none
At the end of stage 2 I started to exercise for about 2-3 days per week. It was a 30-60 minutes of fitness, which in the following months turned into a weight lifting during the weekend. I decided to start taking beta-alanine. To see if it can affect the fasting insulin I check my blood after 2 months (23.03.2016).
Insulin: 8.2 (no change)
Triglycerides: 107 (+ 7)
Result: Both beta-alanine and moderate exercise did not affect insulin level.
Stage 4
Morning: 250mg of resveratrol (Swanson) + 2g of beta-alanine (Activlab)
Lunch: 400 mg berberine (Swanson) + 500 mg silymarin (625mg of milk thistle extract, Bulk Powders) in 15 ml of linseed oil (Boflax).
Additional supplements: 10g of hydrolyzed Collagen everyday at the beginning, later every 2-3 days, vitamin C (flat teaspoon or less), MSM, every couple of days. 5mL of cod liver oil in the last months of stage 4 supplementation.
Research suggests that berberine can significantly reduce fasting insulin in doses:
- 500mg 3 times a day - decrease by 17.5% after 13 weeks of supplementation [4],
- 500mg 2 times a day - decrease by 28% after 2 months of supplementation [5],
- 300mg 3 times a day - decrease by 26% after 12 weeks [6],
- 2 times a day (500 mg berberine 63 mg silymarin) [7].
Due to the high price of berberine I decided to use lower doses, but increase the bioavailability using silymarin, which inhibit P-glycoprotein (same as in the study [7]). Silymarin itself have low bioavailability, so I figured I would dissolved/suspend it in linseed oil. I use this supplementation for 3 months. In the first month I gradually increase amount of silymarin until I reach 500mg.
The blood results (17.08.2016):
Insulin: 8.3 (+ 0.1)
Triglycerides: 115 (+ 8)
Total Cholesterol: 219
ALT: 19
BUN: 15.9
Blood morphology: all parameters normal except MPV (Mean platelet volume) (below normal).
Result: slight increase in fasting insulin. In my opinion in the margin of error. No effect of additional supplements (Collagen, vitamin C, MSM, cod liver oil).
Based on this results I decided to remove berberine and sylimarin from the supplementation. For the next two weeks I did a "wash out" without these supplements, but keeping all supplements from previous (3) stage. After this time, I began stage 5.
Stage 5
Morning: 250mg of resveratrol (Swanson) + 1 g of beta-alanine (Activlab)
Lunch: 600mg ALA (alpha lipoic acid) (Swanson) + 15mL of linseed oil (Boflax).
Additional supplements: hydrolyzed collagen, vitamin C, MSM, fish oil. Every few days.
Blood test after 2-months supplementation (31.10.2016):
Insulin: 8.6 (+ 0.3)
Triglycerides: 130 (+ 15)
Total cholesterol: 250 (+ 31)
ALT: 20
Blood morphology: all parameters normal except MPV (Mean platelet volume) (below normal).
Result: slight increase in fasting insulin. Probably the margin of error or worst diet (?). ALA removed from further supplementation.
Stage 6
Morning: 10mg of piperine (Swanson) + 250mg of resveratrol (Swanson) + 1 g of beta-alanine (Activlab)
Lunch: 15mL of linseed oil (Boflax).
Additional supplements: hydrolyzed collagen, vitamin C, MSM, fish oil. Every few days.
There are research indicating that piperine can significantly increase the absorption of resveratrol [8]. Hence, in a further step I tested the addition of this compound to my supplementation. After 3 months I got result that I did not expected (01.02.2017):
Insulin 6.0 (- 2.6)
Triglycerides: 120 (- 10)
Total cholesterol: 215 (- 35)
ALT: 15
Blood morphology: all parameters normal except MPV (Mean platelet volume) (below normal).
Result: Addition of 10mg of piperine to 250mg of resveratrol allow to lower fasting insulin by 30%!
In addition, it also kind of lower fasting glucose at some level. Figure in the attachement.
SUMMARY
Supplements that reduced fasting insulin:
1. 250mg of resveratrol - a 12% decrease.
2. 15mL of linseed oil - a 17% decrease (when supplemented along with 250mg of resveratrol)
3. 10mg of piperine - a 30% decrease (when supplementated along with 250mg of resveratrol and 15ml of linseed oil)
I wonder if linseed oil in stage 2 did really influenced fasting insulin or maybe prolonged supplementation of resveratrol in stage 1 was necessary.
I add my blood results to this post as a kind of confirmation that I actually did all those tests. It's in Polish so I marked the insulin results. In the attachment there is also figure with fasting glucose results.
Do you have any suggestions which another supplements I could test? I was thinking about curcumin but it's too expensive for me for now.
Reference:
1. https://www.quora.co...-insulin-levels
2. Van Heemst, Diana. "Insulin, IGF-1 and longevity." Aging and disease 1.2 (2014): 147-157.
3. Heilbronn, Leonie K., et al. "Effect of 6-month calorie restriction on biomarkers of longevity, metabolic adaptation, and oxidative stress in overweight individuals: a randomized controlled trial." Jama 295.13 (2006): 1539-1548.
4. Yin, Jun, Huili Xing, and Jianping Ye. "Efficacy of berberine in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus." Metabolism 57.5 (2008): 712-717.
5. Zhang, Hao, et al. "Berberine lowers blood glucose in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients through increasing insulin receptor expression." Metabolism 59.2 (2010): 285-292.
6. Yang, Jing, et al. "Berberine improves insulin sensitivity by inhibiting fat store and adjusting adipokines profile in human preadipocytes and metabolic syndrome patients." Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2012 (2012).
7. Di Pierro, Francesco, et al. "Pilot study on the additive effects of berberine and oral type 2 diabetes agents for patients with suboptimal glycemic control." Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity: targets and therapy 5 (2012): 213.
8. Johnson, Jeremy J., et al. "Enhancing the bioavailability of resveratrol by combining it with piperine." Molecular nutrition & food research 55.8 (2011): 1169-1176.