Fortunately, along with changes in diet, certain herbs and supplements can help to control the blood sugar fluctuations of people with gestational diabetes. While these supplements are generally considered safe by the FDA, always talk to your doctor or midwife before adding any herb or supplement to your treatment plan.
Cinnamon
A study by the Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, a department of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, determined that cinnamon bark is a highly effective treatment for insulin resistance, capable of maintaining a healthy balance of blood sugar. One carefully controlled study even determined that insulin production increases sevenfold when people with diabetes are given cinnamon. It also helps to balance cholesterol and fatty acid absorption, which are critically important for pregnant women to manage.
There are no known negative effects of taking cinammon at any stage in life, although a few obstetricians believe that in very large doses, it might contribute to preterm labor. When consumed in food or within supplement guidelines, it is not known to cause any problems for pregnant women or fetuses.
Alpha-Lipoic Acid
Even clinics and physicians who do not ordinarily support complementary alternative therapies are turning to Alpha-Lipoic Acid (often abbreviated to ALA) for relief of many symptoms associated with all forms of diabetes. While its use had been previously backed by many studies, it was definitively determined to be safe and effective by an advanced, placebo-controlled study conducted by the Mayo Clinic in 2003. It has been found to be very useful at relieving the feelings of numbness and tingling known as diabetic neuropathy, and is capable of lowering blood-glucose levels after meals.
Alpha lipoic acid, which is one of the world's most powerful antioxidants, has never been shown to cause complications of any kind. There are no reports of it harming a pregnant woman or her fetus, but it is believed to control many of the harmful symptoms of gestational diabetes.
Chromium
Chromium is an important trace mineral involved in the transportation of insulin to all tissues in the body, including the brain and the uterus. A 2001 article published in the journal Biological Trace Element Research concluded, based on a series of double-blind studies, that chromium supplementation is very effective at enabling the body to transport insulin and control blood-glucose levels, and many previous studies have drawn similar conclusions.
Chromium is not believed to be toxic at any level in humans, including pregnant humans, and there have been no adverse effects of a mother or fetus reported. One study even found that most pregnant women have depleted levels of chromium in their blood streams, which may be a contributing cause of gestational diabetes.