STORY UPDATED: check for updates below.
Should consumers drink the mixture in this video to put an end to diabetes? No, that's not true: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said consumers should be cautious about what they put into their body. An active ingredient in a mixture like this could have the opposite effect and interact with their body or other medication in a harmful way. A senior clinical adviser from the organization Diabetes UK told Lead Stories it could be "extremely dangerous and even life-threatening" to replace prescribed medicine with something that has not been vetted by professionals.
The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on February 8, 2022. The video opens:
Make this mixture to stop diabetes, cleanse your kidneys, and regulate blood pressure
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
The video lists the purported positive qualities of each ingredient of this mixture. But experts don't think it should replace prescribed medication and/or talking to a health care professional.
Lead Stories reached out to the FDA to ask about this claim. They emailed on February 11, 2022, saying:
... The FDA laboratory analysis has found 'all-natural' products for diabetes to contain undeclared active ingredients found in approved prescription drugs intended for treatment of diabetes. Undeclared active ingredients can cause serious harm. If consumers and their health care professionals are unaware of the actual active ingredients in the products they are taking, these products may interact in dangerous ways with other medications. One possible complication: Patients may end up taking a larger combined dose of the diabetic drugs than they intended. This may cause a significant and unsafe drop in blood sugar levels, a condition known as hypoglycemia ...
The FDA representative provided a webpage that warns consumers of illegally marketed diabetes treatments.
Emma Elvin, a senior clinical adviser at Diabetes UK, wrote in a February 16, 2022, email:
Many people with diabetes rely on insulin to manage their condition, which means they need to take it as medication to help manage their blood sugar levels. It can be extremely dangerous and even life-threatening to replace prescribed medication with anything that has not been scientifically proven to be safe or effective. Always -- always -- take medications and treatments as prescribed and check with your healthcare team before making any changes to your treatment.
Dr. Scott Isaacs, a board-certified endocrinologist in Atlanta, told us via phone the claim was "completely bogus" and "there's absolutely no basis" to the claims this Facebook post makes.
A representative from the Endocrine Society told Lead Stories, "I'm not aware of any evidence backing this claim from our journals," in a February 16, 2022, email.
Lead Stories also reached out to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology for a comment on the claims made in this Facebook post. We will update this story if they respond.
Updates:
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2022-02-16T22:06:36Z 2022-02-16T22:06:36Z Adds quotes from Endocrine Society and Atlanta endocrinologist.
