What Can I Take to Lower My Blood Sugar Levels?

Prescription medications, particularly metformin, remain the most reliably effective way to lower blood sugar, but they are far from the only option. Exercise, dietary changes, certain supplements, and newer drug classes all play roles depending on whether you have type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, or are simply trying to keep your glucose in a healthy range. The honest picture involves a mix of interventions with very different levels of evidence behind them, and some popular “natural” options that don’t hold up under scrutiny at all.

Metformin and Why It Is Still the Starting Point

If you have type 2 diabetes and your doctor prescribes one drug, it will almost certainly be metformin. It has been in clinical use for decades and works through several overlapping mechanisms. The most established effect is reducing the amount of glucose your liver releases into the bloodstream. But researchers have increasingly found that metformin also acts on the gut, alters energy-sensing pathways inside cells, and even changes the composition of gut bacteria in ways that improve glucose tolerance.¹ A double-blind trial showed that transferring fecal samples from metformin-treated donors to germ-free mice improved the mice’s glucose tolerance, suggesting the drug’s reshaping of gut bacteria is itself part of the therapeutic effect.²

One reason metformin dominates first-line treatment is its safety profile. Unlike some older diabetes drugs, it rarely causes dangerously low blood sugar on its own. The most common complaints are gastrointestinal: nausea, diarrhea, and stomach cramps, which often ease after the first few weeks or with an extended-release formulation. For people with prediabetes, metformin has been shown to reduce the progression to full diabetes, and participants in the Diabetes Prevention Program who returned to normal glucose levels had a roughly 56% lower risk of later developing diabetes compared to those who stayed in the prediabetes range.³

Newer Prescription Drug Classes

Metformin is the foundation, but several newer drug classes work through entirely different pathways and are often added when metformin alone isn’t enough.

SGLT2 Inhibitors

Drugs like empagliflozin, dapagliflozin, and canagliflozin belong to a class called SGLT2 inhibitors. They work in the kidneys rather than the liver or pancreas. Normally, your kidneys filter glucose out of the blood and then reabsorb most of it back. SGLT2 inhibitors block that reabsorption by about 50–60%, so the excess glucose leaves your body in urine.⁴ They also increase sodium excretion and have broader effects on kidney function, which is why they have shown benefits for heart failure and kidney disease beyond just glucose control.⁵

Because these drugs cause you to urinate more glucose, they can lead to urinary tract infections and genital yeast infections, particularly in women. They also cause mild dehydration in some people, so staying well-hydrated matters. But for many people with type 2 diabetes who also have cardiovascular risk, SGLT2 inhibitors have become a go-to second medication.

GLP-1 Receptor Agonists

This class includes semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy), liraglutide, and dulaglutide. They mimic a gut hormone called GLP-1 that your body normally releases after eating. The effects are wide-ranging: they stimulate insulin release (but only when blood sugar is elevated, reducing the risk of lows), slow gastric emptying so food enters the bloodstream more gradually, and reduce appetite.⁶ The appetite suppression is why these drugs have gained attention for weight loss alongside blood sugar management. Nausea is the most common side effect, especially in the first weeks as the dose ramps up.

Sulfonylureas

Older and cheaper, sulfonylureas like glipizide and glyburide stimulate your pancreas to release more insulin regardless of whether your blood sugar is high or low. That’s the key downside: they carry a real risk of hypoglycemia, which can cause dizziness, confusion, and in serious cases, loss of consciousness.⁷ They also tend to promote weight gain. These drugs are still widely used around the world because of their low cost and decades of familiarity, but they are generally not a first choice when alternatives are affordable.

Exercise as a Blood-Sugar-Lowering Tool

You don’t need a prescription for one of the most potent glucose-lowering interventions available. When your muscles contract during exercise, they pull glucose out of the blood through a pathway that works independently of insulin. Contracting muscle fibers move glucose transporter proteins (called GLUT4) to the cell surface, opening a door for glucose to enter. Studies in humans have confirmed that moderate-intensity exercise increases these transporters at the muscle surface by about 35%, and when combined with insulin (say, after a meal), the effect rises to roughly 44%.⁸

This is why a 15- to 30-minute walk after a meal can visibly blunt a blood sugar spike if you’re tracking with a glucose monitor. The signaling pathway behind this effect involves calcium release and energy-sensing enzymes activated by the muscle itself.⁹ Because this mechanism doesn’t require insulin, exercise is helpful even for people whose cells have become resistant to insulin’s signals. The effect isn’t just acute: regular exercise over weeks and months improves baseline insulin sensitivity, meaning your body handles glucose better around the clock, not only during workouts.

Both aerobic activity (walking, cycling, swimming) and resistance training (weights, bodyweight exercises) lower blood sugar, and combining the two appears to be better than either alone. You don’t need to train hard. Even light activity like gardening or taking the stairs counts, especially if timed after meals.

Dietary Strategies That Actually Move the Needle

What you eat, and how you eat it, directly shapes your blood sugar curve after a meal. A few dietary strategies have solid evidence behind them.

Fiber

Soluble fiber, the kind found in oats, beans, lentils, and certain fruits, forms a gel in your digestive tract that slows the absorption of sugar. It also promotes the production of short-chain fatty acids during fermentation in the gut, which in turn stimulate hormones like GLP-1 that slow gastric emptying and improve insulin release.¹⁰ This is one of the few dietary interventions where the mechanism is well understood and the effect is consistent across studies. Adding a serving of beans or lentils to a meal, or starting the meal with a salad, measurably flattens the post-meal glucose peak.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Vinegar, particularly apple cider vinegar, has become a popular home remedy for blood sugar. A meta-analysis of controlled trials in people with type 2 diabetes found that apple cider vinegar consumption was associated with lower glucose levels, potentially through slowing gastric emptying, reducing liver glucose production, and inhibiting enzymes that break down starches.¹¹ The typical dose studied is about one to two tablespoons diluted in water before a meal. The effects are modest, and vinegar is not a substitute for medication, but it’s cheap and low-risk for most people. Undiluted vinegar can damage tooth enamel and irritate the esophagus, so dilution matters.

Meal Order and Composition

Eating vegetables and protein before carbohydrates within the same meal can reduce the glucose spike compared to eating the carbs first. The mechanism is similar to fiber: protein and fat slow gastric emptying, giving insulin more time to handle the incoming glucose. This isn’t a dramatic intervention, but it’s free and easy to implement.

Supplements With Evidence, and Some Without

The supplement aisle is crowded with products claiming to support “healthy blood sugar.” The evidence varies enormously from one ingredient to the next.

Berberine

Berberine is a compound extracted from plants like goldenseal and barberry. It activates a cellular energy sensor called AMPK, the same pathway that metformin partially works through. Its glucose-lowering effect appears to involve inhibiting mitochondrial function, stimulating cells to burn glucose via a different energy pathway, and activating AMPK signaling.¹² Several clinical trials have found that berberine lowers fasting blood glucose and HbA1c in people with type 2 diabetes, with effect sizes that in some studies approach those of metformin. That said, it can cause gastrointestinal side effects and can interact with other medications. Anyone taking prescription diabetes drugs should talk to their doctor before adding berberine, because stacking two glucose-lowering agents raises the risk of blood sugar dropping too low.

Chromium

Chromium picolinate is one of the more studied trace minerals for blood sugar. A trial in people with type 2 diabetes who were also on sulfonylureas found that adding chromium picolinate improved insulin sensitivity and reduced HbA1c by about 1.16 percentage points over the study period, compared to minimal change with placebo.¹³ However, another randomized trial using 400 micrograms of chromium picolinate daily for eight weeks found no change in fasting blood glucose, though it did see improvements in insulin resistance and cholesterol markers.¹⁴ The evidence here is mixed. Chromium may help insulin work better without necessarily lowering glucose numbers directly, and the benefit seems to depend on the dose, the form of chromium used, and what other medications the person is on.

Alpha-Lipoic Acid

Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is an antioxidant that has shown promise in some diabetes research. One trial found that ALA supplementation significantly decreased fasting blood glucose, post-meal glucose, and insulin resistance compared to placebo in people with type 2 diabetes.¹⁵ Animal research suggests its effects are tied to its antioxidant properties, particularly its ability to reduce oxidative stress in blood vessels and normalize enzyme activity involved in protecting against free radicals.¹⁶ ALA is generally well-tolerated, but the doses used in clinical trials (typically 600–1,200 mg per day) are much higher than what most over-the-counter supplements provide.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is probably the most widely discussed “natural blood sugar remedy,” and the evidence is genuinely conflicting. An early trial found that 1 to 6 grams of cinnamon per day reduced fasting blood glucose by 18–29% over 40 days.¹⁷ But a later randomized trial found no significant difference in fasting glucose or HbA1c between a cinnamon group and a control group after 60 days.¹⁸ The difference may come down to the type of cinnamon used (cassia versus Ceylon), baseline glucose levels of the participants, or how the extract was prepared. At this point, the evidence is too inconsistent to recommend cinnamon as a reliable glucose-lowering strategy, though sprinkling it on food is harmless for most people.

A Supplement Worth Knowing About for Post-Meal Spikes

Mulberry leaf extract is less famous than cinnamon or berberine but has a specific and interesting mechanism. It contains compounds that inhibit the enzymes responsible for breaking down complex sugars in your gut. When taken alongside a sugary food, mulberry leaf extract in one double-blind trial reduced the glucose spike by about 42% and the insulin spike by about 40% compared to placebo.¹⁹ That trial was in healthy subjects, not people with diabetes, so the effect in a diabetic population may differ. But the mechanism is solid and echoes how the prescription drug acarbose works. Mulberry leaf extract is available as a supplement and is worth discussing with a healthcare provider if post-meal spikes are your primary concern.

Safety Risks That Don’t Get Enough Attention

When people start combining supplements with prescription diabetes medications, the risk of interactions climbs. Many herbs with glucose-lowering properties can amplify the effect of diabetes drugs, potentially pushing blood sugar dangerously low. The reverse is also possible: some herbal products can interfere with how your body absorbs or metabolizes a prescription medication, making it less effective.²⁰ The bottom line is that “natural” does not mean “safe to combine with anything.” If you take metformin, an SGLT2 inhibitor, or insulin, tell your doctor about every supplement you use.

There’s an even more alarming issue with some herbal diabetes products sold online or in specialty markets. Laboratory analyses have found that certain “herbal” supplements marketed for blood sugar control were adulterated with undeclared synthetic drugs, including metformin itself, without any mention on the label.²¹ This means a person could unknowingly be taking a prescription drug at an unknown dose, with no medical supervision. Sticking to reputable supplement brands that undergo third-party testing is an important precaution.

When You Eat May Matter as Much as What You Take

There’s growing interest in how the timing of food intake interacts with your body’s internal clock. One area of research involves melatonin, the hormone that rises in the evening to promote sleep. When melatonin levels are elevated and you eat at the same time, your glucose tolerance drops, meaning your body handles sugar less efficiently. This has particular implications for shift workers, people who eat late at night, and anyone taking melatonin supplements close to meals.²² The practical takeaway: eating your largest and most carbohydrate-heavy meals earlier in the day, when melatonin is low, may help your body process glucose more effectively. If you take melatonin for sleep, taking it after your last meal rather than before or during it is a reasonable precaution.

Tracking Your Own Response

One of the challenges with blood-sugar management is that people respond differently to the same food, supplement, or medication. Two people can eat an identical meal and have very different glucose spikes. Continuous glucose monitors, small sensors worn on the arm that measure glucose every few minutes, have made it possible for individuals to see exactly how their bodies respond to specific foods, meal timing, exercise, and supplements in real time.²³ These devices were originally developed for people with diabetes but are increasingly used by people with prediabetes or even normal glucose levels who want to optimize their metabolic health.

If you’re experimenting with dietary changes or supplements to lower blood sugar, a CGM can show you whether what you’re doing actually works for your body. You might discover, for example, that white rice spikes your glucose dramatically but sweet potatoes barely move it, or that a walk after dinner blunts a spike more effectively than the supplement you’ve been buying. The data replaces guesswork with direct observation, which is particularly useful when the evidence base for a given intervention is mixed. That said, these devices cost money, and obsessing over every fluctuation can become counterproductive for some people. For most individuals without diabetes, checking fasting glucose and HbA1c through routine blood work is sufficient.