Beer to Fight Diabetes

You might be wondering where brewer's yeast comes from and if its name has any significance. Brewer's yeast is a natural ingredient that is traditionally produced by washing, recovering and drying the spent yeast grown during the production of beer. And if you're thinking, "Great --  taking brewer's yeast will be like having a beer," the connection to its alcoholic cousin ends there. The yeast is dried using a temperature that stops biological activity. This "baking" of the yeast does not, however, destroy its nutritional properties.

Brewer's yeast is truly wonderful stuff -- one of the few complete foods out there that you can easily store and add to meals to boost your nutrient intake. As you know, the quality of a lot of our foods is poor, plus the toxins and stresses in today's world are greater than ever before.

Combine this with the fact that your enzyme systems become less effective as you age....and that's a lot of strikes against absorbing healthy, nutritious food. Brewer's yeast may make an ideal supplement to your diet, because it has a lot of nutrients packed into a small, simple portion of food. Brewer's yeast also has the benefit of being pre-digested, in case your digestive system isn't breaking down foods well. Brewer's yeast could be said to be similar to spirulina, chlorella, green barley extract, and blue-green algae -- all of which are being touted as "superfoods" by nutritional experts.

There are a number of clinical trials involving brewer's yeast in the treatment of various conditions. Most of the trials, so far, are animal studies. More research needs to be done about the potential health benefits of brewer's yeast. One trial  involving mice proved that brewer's yeast was an effective anti-cancer agent. In another trial, patients with type II diabetes were given chromium and brewer's yeast to see what effect it had on glucose tolerance. The researchers found that the patients had better control of their glucose levels and lipids when supplementing with chromium and brewer's yeast. The patients were also able to lower the amount of medication they needed to manage their diabetes.

Chromium supplements are available in several forms: chromium chloride; chromium nicotinate; chromium picolinate; and high-chromium yeast. Chromium picolinate is the most easily absorbed form. The daily recommended intake for chromium is 120 micrograms, though different individuals will have different needs. Chromium deficiency is quite common, because high quantities of sugar cause a loss of chromium in your body, combined with not enough chromium-containing foods being consumed in the first place.

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