Glucose disposal agents (GDAs) are a class of supplements that activate key enzymes in the liver and muscle tissue to help your body process carbohydrates. People with diabetes and blood sugar control issues often use them, but they also have benefits for people who don’t have glucose control problems or diabetes. In this article, we’ll look at what GDAs are, how they work, and whether or not they could be right for you.
What Is A Glucose Disposal Agent?
A glucose disposal agent is a nutritional supplement that helps reduce blood sugar levels. It does not contain insulin and can be used by people with Type 2 diabetes who do not produce enough insulin or cannot use the insulin they produce effectively. Glucose disposal agents do not replace diet and exercise in managing your diabetes, but they may help you achieve better results when combined with good self-management practices.
The Ingredients Necessary For A (Good) Glucose Disposal Agent and Their Synergistic Effect On Insulin Sensitivity
When it comes to glucose disposal agents, the ingredients are key. Glucose disposal agents can play an important role with insulin sensitivity and the management of blood glucose levels. They help your body to take up more glucose (a type of sugar) from your blood by increasing the number of insulin receptors in your cells.
To do this effectively, there are three main ingredients that must be present: alpha lipoic acid, chromium picolinate, and vanadium. The first two ingredients synergize to increase insulin sensitivity by promoting cellular glucose uptake and insulin receptor signaling. Vanadium works independently to increase cellular glucose uptake as well.
When all three ingredients are combined into a single serving package, they have been shown to promote increased insulin sensitivity by up to 50%. This means that if you’re looking for an effective way to manage your blood sugar levels without taking synthetic drugs such as metformin or Glucophage (which come with side effects), then using a glucose disposal agent is one option for you!
How Do Glucose Disposal Agents Work?
Glucose disposal agents (GDAs) increase the amount of insulin your body produces, making your body more sensitive to insulin or delaying the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream. The last method is accomplished by binding the carbohydrates in food and slowing down their digestion. By doing this, GDAs provide an alternate source for glucose disposal other than insulin and help prevent low blood sugar levels.
Do Glucose Disposal Agents Work?
As with any nutritional supplement, the answer is “it depends.” Some people take a glucose disposal agent and find it invaluable to their diabetes management plan. Others don’t notice a difference.
Glucose disposal agents may be more effective for people on insulin, but they can be used by anyone with type 1 or 2 diabetes.
Glucose disposal agents, or GDAs, are a group of supplements that are supposed to help your body dispose of excess glucose after you eat a meal. They’re often used to treat people with diabetes. But do they work?
We first need to discuss what happens when you eat food to answer that question. When you consume carbohydrates (starches and sugars), your body breaks them down into glucose and stores them as glycogen in the liver for later use. When you need more energy, your body releases this stored glucose into the bloodstream for use by cells throughout your body. This process is controlled by insulin—the hormone that tells cells how much glucose they need at any given time.
When someone with diabetes eats too much carbohydrate-rich food, their bodies can’t keep up with processing all that glucose because they don’t have enough insulin to tell their cells how much glucose needs processing at any given time. This leads to high blood sugar levels and symptoms like thirstiness, frequent urination, and thirstiness, blurred vision, or headaches—all of which are signs that your body has too much sugar.
Claims and Evidence
GDAs assert that they can make muscle tissue the preferred destination for the transportation of glucose rather than adipose tissue or other locations. They essentially assert that they will enhance “nutrient partitioning,” which means that the nutrients ingested will be utilized to fuel muscle growth and recovery instead of boosting fat accumulation.
GDAs, according to its proponents, are helpful supplements during hypercaloric stages (bulking, gaining, etc.) or when taking a lot of carbs at once since they let you utilize the extra calories for building muscle rather than fat. The best GDA supplements don’t only include one active component; they combine many active compounds.
An organic substance known as alpha lipoic acid functions as a potent antioxidant in the body. Individuals who consumed alpha-lipoic acid lost on average 2.8 pounds (1.27 kg) more weight than those who took a placebo, according to a meta-analysis of 12 research.
Alpha lipoic acid supplementation enhanced lipid profiles and blood glucose control, according to another meta-analysis.
What Does A Glucose Disposal Agent Affect?
Glucose disposal agents, also called GDAs, help lower blood sugar levels. They work by stimulating the pancreas to produce more insulin and attaching that extra insulin directly to your cells. This allows the excess glucose in your blood to be taken up by those cells without using or storing it as fat.
In addition to lowering blood sugar levels, GDAs can lower insulin levels after eating a meal. This means they can increase the amount of fat burned for energy instead of stored as body fat. This makes them an excellent option for people seeking additional weight loss benefits beyond just cutting carbs from their diet! Finally, GDAs may also help maintain lean muscle mass during periods when you’re restricting carbohydrates (which usually leads to rapid muscle breakdown).
How Can I Use A Glucose Disposal Agent As Part Of My Diet?
Generally, you should use glucose disposal agents with meals containing carbohydrates. This will help to increase insulin sensitivity and lower your blood sugar levels. If you’re following a ketogenic diet, it would be best to avoid these supplements (or at least not use them as often) since they’ll likely increase insulin sensitivity and lower your ketone production.
There are also several situations where these supplements may not be appropriate:
- When using medications that affect blood sugar levels, such as Metformin or Glucophage
- If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding
- If you have diabetes
Are There Any Side Effects To Taking A Glucose Disposal Agent?
There are no known side effects to taking a glucose disposal agent. They do not cause any harm or damage, and they are not addictive in any way.
Glucose disposal agents can be taken safely, even by people with diabetes. There are no toxic side effects from taking these drugs, and they don’t pose any risk to your health or well-being if you take them at recommended doses for short periods.
Glucose disposal agents help control blood sugar levels and maintain lean muscle mass. They make carbohydrates less “fattening” or less likely for any excess carbohydrates to be stored as body fat.
Glucose disposal agents work by increasing the amount of glucose that gets into muscle cells. This helps control blood sugar levels, which reduces the risk of diabetes and other health problems associated with high blood sugar levels. They also make carbohydrates less fattening by reducing their conversion to fat.
These products should not be used as a substitute for proper nutrition or exercise. They are intended only to help patients whose weight loss efforts have been unsuccessful using diet and exercise alone manage their weight loss successfully.
While there are no side effects to taking a glucose disposal agent, there are some precautions. The most common problem is hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), which can be caused by too much medication. Because the drug increases blood sugar levels, it should not be taken with insulin or other diabetes medications that lower blood sugar levels.
Conclusion
We understand your concern about being able to maintain your blood glucose levels between meals. It can be a challenge for many people with diabetes, but there are some products that may help. Glucose disposal agents (GDAs) are one option that may work well for you. These medications slow down how fast your body absorbs food sugars into the bloodstream. This helps keep your blood glucose levels from rising too quickly after meals, so they don’t drop too low later in the day when you need them most!
You can also check out and compare some of the most popular glucose disposal agent supplements here.
References
- Ussing, D. E. (2021, July 23). Glucose Disposal Agents: What, when, why, and how? Retrieved October 21, 2022, from https://www.only-approved.com/blog/glucose-disposal-agents-what-when-why-and-how/
- Havel P. J. (2004). A scientific review: the role of chromium in insulin resistance. The Diabetes educator, Suppl, 2–14.
- Kucukgoncu, S., Zhou, E., Lucas, K. B., & Tek, C. (2017). Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) as a supplementation for weight loss: results from a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Obesity reviews: an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 18(5), 594–601. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12528
- Akbari, M., Ostadmohammadi, V., Lankarani, K. B., Tabrizi, R., Kolahdooz, F., Khatibi, S. R., & Asemi, Z. (2018). The effects of alpha-lipoic acid supplementation on glucose control and lipid profiles among patients with metabolic diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Metabolism: clinical and experimental, 87, 56–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2018.07.002