Vanadium for Type II Diabetes!? Beneficial Effect of Trace Element on Blood Glucose Management in Rat Model.
Some of you may remember that vanadium has once been hailed as nutrient repartitioner (it has been shown to increase glucose uptake into muscle tissue via GLUT4-receptors) in the fitness & bodybuilding community. After reports on possible toxicity issues, which were - at least in parts - based on reports of people who dosed according to the common "more helps more" mentality of our society, vanadium supplements, stand-alone or larger doses as part of micronutrient blends, have disappeared from the market. Science, on the other hand has not given up on this promising, yet non-benign "medication". A recent study ( Kurt. 2011 ) published in the journal Biometals underlines that the effects of vanadium, which was named after the Scandinavian goddess of beauty and fertility, Vanadis, do in fact border on those of a pharmaceutical drug. After treating rats with streptozotocin and thus inducing a metabolic profile that is generally considered an appropriate model f...