Blood Sugar Nutraceuticals: A Systems-Level Metabolic Overhaul

Dietary supplements for glucose management are shifting from a category that’s adjacent to prediabetes and metabolic syndrome to one that captures the bigger picture with metabolism, weight management, appetite control, energy, and longevity in mind.

The global market size for dietary supplements with blood sugar benefits reached $10.6 billion this year, according to Persistence Market Research. Established ingredients like berberine, chromium, cinnamon extract, and alpha-lipoic acid have continued to gain traction, but a new wave of plant-based ingredients, probiotics, and other specialty products is poised to disrupt the market. North America represented 46.7% of global sales of glucose support supplements.

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Consumer and Market Trends

Consumers view blood sugar balance as foundational to how they feel throughout the day, said Loïck Fenaux, vice president of Americas sales at Phynova. “It can show up as the 3 pm crash, feeling ‘hangry,’ needing another snack, poor sleep after a heavy evening meal, or struggling to manage appetite.”

Continuous glucose monitors have increased the visibility of blood sugar balance, making consumers curious about their unique responses to different foods.

Entrants to the category today include: proactive, optimization-focused shoppers with a propensity for wearables; people with a family history of blood glucose issues looking for prevention; pregnant women with insulin sensitivity changes; current and former users of GLP-1 drugs; and, finally, a “CGM-curious” consumer interested in glucose data to personalize their diet choices.

“Metabolic health is still understood in extremes, either as something only relevant when there is a diagnosed condition, or through overly simplified messages around blood sugar, weight, or diet,” said Jewell Blackwell, director of marketing at Phynova, which has launched an educational podcast, “Take It with a Grain of Sugar.”

Consumers’ strong appetite for information on blood glucose suggests they want to be proactive and get objective data on how lifestyle choices are affecting their long-term physiology, said Shaheen Majeed, global CEO and managing director of Sabinsa. When it comes to the evidence backing products, “the threshold has risen. A proprietary blend with a vague claim no longer satisfies the informed buyer.”

Younger people in particular are drawn to blood sugar supplements because they’re motivated by metabolic health and body composition goals, said Cosimo Palumbo, COO of Indena USA. Supplementation is part of a lifestyle approach to energy, metabolic health, and weight management, he noted. “Supplements play a significant role, but are more effective when combined with a healthy lifestyle.”

Catherine Kwik-Uribe, PhD, chief science officer at Everwell Health, said consumers better understand the connection between blood sugar management, body composition, and inflammation, but the average person’s understanding is relatively simplistic. “In reality, it is about total carbohydrate intake, fat, and protein intake, and is also affected by insulin sensitivity, body composition, stress, and even sleep quality.”

Everwell Health emphasizes the wider metabolic benefits of ingredients like Chromax chromium picolinate and DeltaGold, highlighting “muscle mass retention, craving control, nutritional support, and more” as interconnected aspects of metabolic health and weight management.

Proactive interventions are being taken more seriously in mainstream medicine. In June, the Coalition for Metabolic Health joined the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines National Strategic Partnership to shape future nutrition guidance; the nonprofit advocates for a focus on early markers of metabolic dysfunction for the prevention of metabolic diseases. “We’re proud to join as a strategic partner and look forward to translating evidence-based nutrition guidance into practical education that advances metabolic health,” said Maya Maroto, executive director of the coalition.

Common Misconceptions

There’s a misconception today that blood sugar management must involve significant carbohydrate restriction, Fenaux said. People also tend to overestimate the degree of efficacy a supplement can have on its own, and sometimes mistakenly think all products in the category work the same way. For that reason, ingredient manufacturers should work to define the mechanism of action for their ingredients. Phynova’s Reducose, for instance, is defined by its bioactive DNJ, which slows carbohydrate breakdown in the upper digestive tract to moderate glucose absorption after meals.

“There is a greater need for education around the full spectrum of tools available to support metabolic health,” Blackwell said, enabling consumers to make more informed decisions and have productive conversations with healthcare providers.

Modulators of inflammation and oxidative status are overlooked, Majeed said. “Published research on Curcumin C3 Complex, combined with BioPerine, for example, demonstrated improvements in oxidative stress markers in individuals with type 2 diabetes, illustrating that addressing inflammation and oxidative burden is as important to long-term cardiometabolic health as managing glucose levels directly.”

Poor sleep, chronic stress, and a sedentary lifestyle are perhaps the most overlooked factors hurting glucose regulation and reducing insulin sensitivity, said Lauren Clardy, senior director of scientific affairs at Maypro. And while some consumers expect supplements to do the heavy lifting, “they can be valuable tools, but they’re not substitutes for the fundamentals … Finally, I think the conversation is shifting from ‘how do I lower my blood sugar’ to ‘how do I improve my overall metabolic health.’ Consumers are finally making the connection.”

New Clinical Approaches

Post-meal blood glucose spikes are a common target in clinical studies and support a strong commercial positioning for healthy consumers. CGM results can also help to account for inter-individual variability across different meal types.

Decentralized blood sugar intervention studies are growing quickly as a result, noted Lisa Offringa, scientific affairs manager at Phynova. “Participants are recruited and monitored remotely rather than brought into a unit for every blood draw.”

Finger-prick glucose meters, which were used for decades, required multiple daily needle sticks; HbA1c tests, which are an important clinical marker, provide a look at changes that occurred in the past three months. Neither measurement captures dynamic changes, or the impact of lifestyle factors, Clardy noted. “As access to CGMs expands and insurance coverage increases for at-risk populations, more individuals are becoming proactive about optimizing metabolic function before disease develops,” she said.

Expect future studies to compare CGM data (post-meal glucose excursions, time-in-range metrics, glucose variability) with data from wearable devices like activity, sleep, heart rate, and other health metrics. This co-integration will continue to shape the future of nutrition research and product development, Clardy said.

Many studies in the blood sugar category overlook the basics, Offringa said. A 2026 analysis published in STAT set out to understand why branded nutraceutical trials are often underpowered or uninterpretable, from weak blinding to poorly characterized products. “The correct response is not to lower expectations, but better design.” Ingredients that have clearly defined bioactives and modes of action withstand scrutiny, Offringa said.

“Ingredients with multi-mechanism profiles, such as the alpha-glucosidase and DPP-4 inhibition demonstrated by Saberry, or the AMPK activation and insulin receptor activity associated with Rebersa berberine, are genuinely differentiated,” said Majeed. “Perhaps the most significant change has been the shift away from focusing on a single biomarker to evaluating broader physiological outcomes.”

Combining data on insulin sensitivity, lipid metabolism, vascular function, inflammation, and more provides a complete picture.

A single glucose value doesn’t explain how a product works, why it works for some people but not others, or what other downstream effects might occur, said Preeti Jethwa, scientific affairs EMEA manager at Phynova. Some other deeper endpoints may include combined looks at insulin dynamics/demand, carbohydrate digestion rate, incretin signaling, alpha-glucosidase activity, gut transit, microbiome fermentation, and more.

The number of studies taking this more comprehensive, multi-endpoint approach to metabolism is few and far between, said Majeed. “There is also a meaningful gap in long-term data. Most clinical studies in this category run 90 days or fewer.” For those looking for lifelong nutritional support, “that represents a significant evidentiary blind spot.”

Clardy said the growth of decentralized and virtual trials represents an important turning point for research in this category, where many real-world factors have a big impact on glucose.

“Organizations such as People Science and Radicle Science have demonstrated that large-scale, digitally-enabled studies can efficiently collect meaningful health outcomes from diverse populations in real-world environments,” rather than highly controlled lab settings. “It brings us closer to understanding how consumers actually eat, exercise, sleep, and manage stress in the real world. In many cases, that is where nutritional interventions either succeed or fail.”

Distinguishing the Target Consumer

“In prediabetes or metabolic syndrome, there is a measurable baseline abnormality to work against,” said Offringa. “A generally healthy consumer usually has glucose values within a normal range, so chasing a reduction in a diagnostic marker is challenging.”

For products intended for healthy consumers, postprandial glucose is more important to look at than fasting status, as changes “can be demonstrated in normoglycemic people without claiming to treat a disease state.”

For prediabetes or metabolic syndrome, she said, “physician awareness, longer evaluation against clinical markers, and positioning as complementary to medical care” are warranted. “The practical separation is one of claim and context,” and brands should avoid “blurring a healthspan and everyday-resilience message into something that sounds like disease management.”

Extrapolating results from studies on disease management outcomes in diabetic people for a healthy population is another common mistake, Kwik-Uribe said. “Studies that are done well use the appropriate populations for the right duration with validated research measures.”

Measures of insulin sensitivity, glycemic variability, post-meal glucose responses, and fasting insulin can all be meaningful “without pathologizing normal physiology,” Majeed said. Meanwhile, for prediabetes or metabolic syndrome, a wide panel of factors ranging from fasting glucose to lipids, waist circumference, blood pressure, and inflammatory markers is warranted.

Scientific communication matters as much as the evidence gathered. Telling the same story and making the same promise to every consumer doesn’t serve anyone well, Clardy said. “The future of metabolic health products will be more targeted.”

For example, “women represent an especially important area of growth,” Clardy said, citing research showing that conditions like PCOS are linked to metabolic dysfunction and insulin resistance. “Researchers and clinicians are beginning to adopt the broader concept of PMOS (Polymetabolic Ovarian Syndrome) which recognizes that metabolic abnormalities may be central drivers of the condition for many women.” The metabolic changes induced by perimenopause and menopause are another area of intrigue.

Herbs and Botanicals

Research continues to highlight certain species in the botanical world that can modulate glucose, among other metabolic effects. Berberine is one of the most popular botanical constituents in the blood sugar support category, with human clinical trials demonstrating a meaningful reduction of HbA1c in a head-to-head comparison against metformin, improvements in metabolic syndrome, and improvements across blood sugar and lipid panels in type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia. However, berberine presents bioavailability challenges for formulators.

Indena’s Berbevis Berberine Indena Phytosome is a berberine-containing complex designed to optimize its absorption and pharmacokinetic properties. It incorporates pea protein as a carrier in the Indena Phytosome matrix, a highly soluble Berberis aristata raw extract, and grape seed extract to improve GI tolerability. Clinical studies support its role in maintaining balanced blood sugar and lipid levels, body composition parameters, and hormonal regulation across different life stages, Palumbo said.

Majeed cited a recent clinical study that compared Sabinsa’s Saberry amla extract against metformin over 90 days in people with recent diagnoses of diabetes and dyslipidemia. Supplementation reduced fasting glucose by 21.8% and outperformed metformin on multiple lipid parameters.

“Consumers today are far more likely to appreciate those interconnected, multi-system benefits than they were just a few years ago,” he said. As more people compare supplements to pharmaceutical options, “that pressure is productive. It’s pushing the industry toward the randomized, controlled, peer-reviewed standards that build durable credibility with consumers and healthcare professionals.”

“Rebersa standardized berberine remains relevant not because of any GLP-1 mimicry claim,” but because the evidence backing blood sugar and lipid claims is strong, and its mechanism, direct enhancement of insulin receptor expression and function, is well-characterized, Majeed said. “GS4 Plus Gymnema sylvestre and Momordicin from bitter melon bring traditional Ayurvedic use reinforced by clinical investigation into carbohydrate metabolism and insulin sensitivity.”

The Microbiome

Recent evidence linking the gut microbiome to glucose regulation, insulin sensitivity, systemic inflammation, and body composition has been compelling, Majeed noted. A study published in Cell found that a diet modeled on non-industrialized eating patterns improved metabolic function and microbial balance.

“That convergence … is exactly the kind of systems-level finding that should be shaping product development strategy,” he said. Sabinsa has been positioning its probiotic LactoSpore for metabolic health formulations, “not as an adjunct benefit, but as a mechanistically relevant component of a comprehensive strategy.”

“This shift comes from much stronger evidence showing the gut ecosystem is not just correlated with glucose control; it actively shapes it,” said Jethwa. The microbiome controls how quickly carbs are broken down, tissue responsiveness to insulin, and post-meal inflammatory signaling. Microbe metabolites like SCFAs and bile acids are important signaling molecules interacting with GLP-1 release, appetite, hepatic glucose output, and energy expenditure, functioning like an “endocrine organ rather than a digestive accessory.” This interaction is bidirectional; slowing down carbohydrate breakdown with ingredients like Reducose ensures more substrate reaches the lower intestine, supporting beneficial microbes.

Pendulum was among the first to highlight the gut-glucose connection after it launched Glucose Control, reportedly the first probiotic to receive a medical food designation for the management of type 2 diabetes. In a 12-week study, the probiotic reduced post-meal glucose spikes by 33% and reduced A1C by 0.6% in diabetes patients.

Though difficult to work with because of oxygen sensitivity, commensal strains like Akkermansia muciniphila appear to have strong roles in regulating blood sugar balance. “We’ve seen growing interest in next-generation microbiome ingredients such as AKK-Probio (Akkermansia muciniphila) and CLB101 (Anaerostipes caccae),” said Clardy. “Clinical research on these new commensal strains continues to reinforce the important role the microbiome plays.”

Co-Existing with GLP-1 Drugs

“GLP-1 drugs may reduce appetite, but people still need help making the meals they do eat metabolically better,” said Fenaux, noting that Phynova isn’t trying to compete with GLP-1 drugs, but instead aims to “create products that support the biology around GLP-1 therapy: stable glucose, satiety, gut health, lean mass, sleep, and metabolic resilience.”

The industry needs to consider long-term metabolic health, Clardy concurred. Unmet needs like “maintaining healthy body composition, preserving muscle, supporting metabolic flexibility, and establishing sustainable habits may ultimately be more important.”

People who are concerned about GLP-1 drug usage might be interested in natural ingredients that modulate metabolism to help manage blood sugar and lipids while they consider pharmaceutical therapies, Palumbo noted.

During GLP-1 use, focus may shift to gastrointestinal health, dehydration, loss of lean body mass, mood, sleep disturbance, mental fatigue, and impaired skin integrity. “The role of natural dietary supplements after weight loss treatment is to maintain the relief provided in previous stages and to reduce the adverse events that could still manifest.”

Maeva launched earlier this year as a direct-to-consumer brand intended for GLP-1 medication users on low-calorie nutrition protocols. The initial products were launched in partnership with Ashley Koff, a registered dietitian specializing in weight loss, personalized nutrition, and metabolic health, to serve as a one-stop modular platform. The brand has a men’s and women’s nutritional shake, along with targeted Beauty, Energy, and Gut Health booster supplements, and a probiotic electrolyte mix designed to support hydration and gut wellness.

“The market is maturing past ‘natural GLP-1 alternative,’ and that is a healthy development,” Majeed said, and as focus shifts to cardiometabolic measures, body composition, nutrient replenishment, insulin sensitivity and more, the industry will achieve “a more scientifically honest and commercially sustainable position.”

Long-term winners will have a genuine history of strong evidence, rather than retrofitting their scientific messaging to capitalize on the GLP-1 wave.

“The best public health model is integrated,” Fenaux said. “Physicians prescribe and monitor therapy; dietitians and health coaches support behavior change; digital platforms track glucose, sleep, activity, and adherence; and ingredient suppliers provide clinically validated tools that fit into daily life.”

The strongest formulas in the future will combine blood sugar management tools with protein, fiber/prebiotics, muscle-support compounds, and behavior-tracking tools, with less focus on appetite suppression and more on comprehensive metabolic quality.

Maintaining muscle remains an important focus, said Kwik-Uribe. “Chromax has been studied extensively for its benefits relevant to consumers looking to maintain a healthy body composition while they lose weight … Even when using a GLP-1, health is more than weight. Good sleep, stress management, exercise, and a well-rounded diet are all important factors to consider while supporting metabolic health.”

A category-wide, evidence-based response to the challenge of muscle loss for GLP-1 drug users has yet to come, said Majeed. But perhaps the biggest unmet need is keeping people on a good long-term plan after they meet weight loss goals, which is where healthcare providers should also be stepping in.

Maypro noted more interest in Clonapure, its complex of creatine monohydrate, phosphate salts, and phosphocreatine from brands developing GLP-1 companions, along with fibers, probiotics, postbiotics, and next-generation microbiome ingredients.

“One of my predictions is that we’ll see increased use of full-spectrum mushroom ingredients in GLP-1 support formulations,” said Clardy. “Many mushrooms provide prebiotic fibers while offering benefits that extend into immune, cognitive, and metabolic health, making them attractive additions.”

Precision Nutrition

The best solutions will come when suppliers, manufacturers, and digital health platforms collaborate, said Kwik-Uribe.

“There is no single solution for healthy weight management or metabolism, but there is a network of available tools and ingredients that can provide what consumers need to be healthy. While maintaining healthy blood glucose levels is important, it should not be the only focus. Metabolic health is highly interconnected with other aspects of health.”

A Stanford University study from 2024 involving 55 individuals used continuous glucose monitoring and multi-omics profiling to identify several phenotypes that explain why some people have pronounced glucose spikes after eating potatoes, while others might respond more poorly to rice or other carbohydrates.

More effective dietary management will come when genetic subtypes are accounted for, the authors said. “Right now, the American Diabetes Association dietary guidelines do not work that well because they lump everyone together,” said Michael Snyder, PhD, co-lead author of the study and professor in genetics at Stanford Medicine.

Body composition, physical activity, sleep quality, stress, age, and microbiome composition have rarely been accounted for in mainstream research on blood glucose responses. “This complexity helps explain why population-level dietary recommendations often yield markedly different outcomes among individuals,” said Majeed.

CGMs are especially transformative for providing answers to more precise questions, said Fenaux, such as “How high did glucose rise? How quickly did it come down? How long did that person stay in range? Did the response affect energy, hunger, cravings, sleep, or next-day choices?”

Personalized use cases, like timing a supplement with meals or tracking responses over two weeks, make guidance more empowering, Fenaux said.

“Instead of telling everyone to avoid the same foods, we can help people identify their own metabolic triggers and build strategies around them.”

These fundamental shifts present “a level of accountability the industry has not historically faced,” noted Majeed. “It will reward ingredients with genuine, measurable mechanisms while exposing those without them.” The next challenge will be “building the educational infrastructure to help consumers and practitioners use that information in meaningful ways.”

Digital health platforms can help by providing personal insights, progress tracking, and behavioral support. Meanwhile, data generated from these tools “has scientific, commercial, and public health value … Historically, nutritional products have been purchased and consumed without meaningful follow-up on outcomes.” For now, science on ingredients is further along than the infrastructure of these digital health platforms, he noted.

The first precision health platforms that place blood sugar and metabolism at the center stage are beginning to emerge.

For example, Zoe offers an app that serves as a platform for personalized nutrition and supplementation, based on a cardiometabolic test using CGM data, a microbiome composite, and meal logs, to provide responsive, evidence-based feedback.

A 2024 study in Nature Medicine found that, across 347 participants between the ages of 41 and 70, Zoe app users had significantly better improvements in triglycerides, body weight, waist circumference, HbA1c, diet quality, and microbiome beta-diversity, compared to participants who received standard care dietary advice, check-ins, video lessons, and a leaflet.

Premium platforms like Viome offer at-home tests that use RNA sequencing and AI to analyze genetic activity related to blood sugar, metabolic health, the gut microbiome, and over 50 other health metrics.