I ran across a thread by cajunboy while researching a supplement called berberine. He was taking it for something else and found that his blood glucose went way down.

I started taking berberine a week and a half ago. Unfortunately I'm not diabetic and don't measure my blood sugar, so I don't know if it's helped there. [Hmmm... just re-read this and can't believe I started a sentence with the words "Unfortunately I'm not diabetic..." ]

I picked up on berberine as being helpful in raising adiponectin, a hormone which is higher in the blood of lean people than obese. I seem to remember reading that obese rats given adiponectin for six weeks lost weight, but now I can't find that research.

Apparently berberine is helpful with a wide range of things, including inflammation and diabetes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berberine