In general, blood glucose levels have been increasing rapidly in the population, most likely because of diets high in sugar and other high-glycemic foods and drinks.

This translates into a growing number of people, including children, suffering from prediabetes, a condition in which blood sugar is high, but not high enough to constitute Type 2 diabetes.

Some 70 percent of those with prediabetes will eventually develop full-blown Type 2 diabetes.

Related to the increase in prediabetes is the rise of insulin resistance, which is intimately linked to metabolic syndrome — a collection of symptoms characterized by hypertension, elevated blood lipids, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

In previous writing, I have recommended many different types of plant extracts called phytochemicals, in particular a class known as flavonoids — such as hesperidin, baicalein, naringenin, ginger, quercetin, curcumin, ellagic acid, kaempferol, silymarin, and resveratrol.

All of these compounds lower high blood sugar levels and improve insulin resistance. Some are more powerful than others.

For example, ginger, quercetin, silymarin, and resveratrol have the greatest effect for lowering blood sugar.

When taking several of these, you have a very good chance of controlling blood sugar.

The mechanism by which these plant extracts lower blood sugar and correct insulin resistance is not fully understood.

But in most cases, it involves correcting biochemical defects at the level of the cell membrane, where insulin resistance occurs.

Recent research has also shown that changing your diet can rapidly change the mix of probiotics within the colon; this affects a person’s craving for high-sugar foods and high-glycemic carbohydrates.

Certain colon bacteria protect against wild fluctuations in blood glucose following a high carbohydrate meal. Unfortunately, those bacteria are not commercially available.

However, we do know that diets high in fiber enhance the growth of glucose-controlling bacteria.