HealthDiseases.org

Understand your health. Make better-informed decisions.

Clear, evidence-informed guides covering health conditions, symptoms, nutrition, supplement ingredients and everyday wellness — written for people, not for doctors.

Browse conditions Ingredient A–Z Common questions

Explore health topics

Blood sugarType 2 diabetes, prediabetes, insulin resistance and how glucose is regulated in the body.Heart healthBlood pressure, cholesterol, circulation and the arteries that carry blood around the body.Brain healthMemory, focus, age-related cognitive change and what keeps the brain working well.Digestive healthIBS, reflux, constipation, bloating and the microbiome.Men's healthTestosterone, sexual function, and health conditions that affect men differently.Women's healthMenopause, PCOS, thyroid, urinary health and conditions that affect women differently.Joint healthOsteoarthritis, joint pain, stiffness and staying mobile.SleepInsomnia, sleep apnea, circadian rhythm and how sleep affects everything else.Healthy agingWhat changes with age and what the evidence says about aging well.

All 29 health topics

Popular health guides

Symptoms & conditions

Start with what you are noticing, or with a diagnosis you have been given.

Ingredient encyclopedia

Explore the evidence behind commonly used supplement ingredients — what each one is, what human studies show for specific uses, typical amounts studied, and safety considerations.

Alpha-lipoic acid Benfotiamine Berberine Beta-sitosterol Chromium Cinnamon Gymnema sylvestre Magnesium Saw palmetto Browse all

Health questions, answered directly

  • Can stress raise blood sugar?

    Yes. Cortisol and adrenaline tell the liver to release glucose and make cells less responsive to insulin. The effect is small in most healthy people and larger in diabetes.

  • Can supplements lower blood sugar?

    A few ingredients — berberine most convincingly — lower glucose modestly in trials. The effect is small next to medication or weight loss, and several interact with diabetes drugs.

  • Does saw palmetto work for an enlarged prostate?

    Not according to the largest, best-designed trials. Symptom improvement averaged below the level a man can notice, even at three times the usual dose.

  • Is an A1C of 5.8 bad?

    It is in the prediabetes range (5.7–6.4%), at the lower end. It is not diabetes, and with modest weight loss and regular activity it often returns to normal.

  • What is a normal blood sugar level?

    Fasting, below 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L); two hours after eating, below 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L). Targets are wider for people already being treated for diabetes.

All health questions

Supplement research

We examine supplement formulas, ingredient evidence, label transparency, pricing and safety considerations. Our reviews distinguish between evidence for a finished product, evidence for its individual ingredients, and claims made by the manufacturer — and say plainly when we found no clinical studies of a product itself.

Supplements are not medicines. Nothing we publish should replace prescribed treatment, medical monitoring or a conversation with your own doctor or pharmacist.

How we evaluate supplements

How we research

Research

We start from government health agencies, systematic reviews and clinical trials.

Review

An editor checks every claim against its source and removes anything unsupported.

Verify

Product facts are checked against the manufacturer’s label and marked when we cannot confirm them.

Update

Pages carry a review date and are re-checked on a rolling schedule.

Our full research process

Latest guides