Last September, I had a comprehensive blood chemistry test. The package cost me a little more than I expected, but it’s okay. With the price, the medical clinic managed to throw in an ECG service along with it. The blood chem schedule was kind of overdue since I was admitted for elevated blood sugar almost three years ago.
After that revelation, I completely made an overall lifestyle change and started running and joining marathons aside from the other outdoor stuff I’ve been doing ever since. Surprisingly, it did not only improve my health bios, it also reduced my weight tremendously in a short span of time. Of course, this would not be possible without serious consideration of my daily food intake, so I made sure to control the calories that enter my body.
However, there were some unguarded moments when I tend to get carried away with eating a little bit too much. In order to counter the effects, I will just hit the road for a 16 kilometer run. That’s my own little way of punishing myself for eating too much.
Just recently, I discovered a food supplement that blocks the sugar even before it is absorbed by my body and to my bloodstream. It’s called F21 Sugar-Blocker by LUDAX. A friend of mine gave me the opportunity to give this relatively new product a test run. I was given the instruction to take two tablets a day, 20 minutes before eating. Since it’s a food supplement, dosage can vary depending on the amount of food one eats. One tablet can actually block at least 10 grams of sugar of whatever food I eat. So, if I take two tablets, 20 grams of sugar will just go straight to my colon and out of my body as waste.
But as a runner, I normally take caution when blocking too much sugar since it’s also where I get the energy needed for the activity, most especially when running long distances. Presently, the only medication that I take for diabetes is a daily 1mg dose of Glemiperide, the clinical action of which is hypoglycemia, which means it lowers my blood sugar systemically. Oral meds are very effective for most people but the downside of this is the effect on the kidney. So, I think the F21 really complements whatever diabetic meds one is taking already because it supplements the effect of low intake of sugar minus the risk of damaging the kidney.
I started taking F21 on the first week of November 2013. On the first two days, there weren’t any significant changes in my blood sugar level. However, in the next few weeks, I noticed a significant drop.
When I was diagnosed with diabetes, my endocrinologist prescribed me anti-diabetes maintenance drug, Glemiperide 1mg. The branded ones cost around 13 pesos to 15 pesos each, but the generic ones are just eight pesos to nine pesos. Some doctors say the dosage is so small, the effect is almost placebo. Nonetheless, I still take them because psychologically, I think it works for me. Unfortunately, the 1mg tabs are really hard to find, because not many are prescribed with that dose. The most common are 2mg and 4mg.
This January 2014, for whatever reason, the medicine I’m taking became out-of-stock for weeks. So I resorted to the F21 Sugar blocker to compensate of the Glemiperide’s absence. I made it a point to take two tabs everyday and, sometimes, take another two in the evening before eating dinner. For almost a month now, F21 Sugar blocker is the only supplementary drug I’m taking while I wait for my meds to become available in the pharmacies again.
Yesterday, I decided to make a random check of my sugar level. It’s a good thing that many drug stores in our area offer free check of blood pressure and blood sugar level. You only have to pay for the test strips that cost 25 pesos each. I asked for a blood pressure check up and blood sugar level check. To my surprise, despite almost a month of not taking Glemiperide 1mg, my blood sugar level is only 115. Now that’s amazing!
Okay, I think I need to put some disclaimer here. This blog post does not, in any way, insinuates that F21 Sugar blocker should be a substitute to any diabetes maintenance drug. I just want to make that clear. I would like to believe that the significant drop of my sugar level was a combination of a well balanced diet, F21 Sugar Blocker, and running.
The fact remains that in one month, my sugar level was reduced significantly. I’m not sure if this would apply to all diabetic people who may not be as active as I am though. Another significant change I noticed is the weight I lost over the past four weeks. I started at 145 lbs and now weigh 139 lbs. I believe that F21 Sugar Blocker is also a good weight loss supplement because those extra sugars that were being blocked were no longer stored as fat inside the body.
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