I regret to say that there appears to be some ignorance on this matter.
Metformin is an analogue of Galega officinalis ( goat’s rule )
All it does is encourage the uptake of circulating glucose into the tissues thus saturing the tissues. The extra molecule on the compound which is not found in nature inhibits B12. Rather like aspirin derived from Filipendula Ulmaria but with an extra molecule which irreversibly thins the blood. Neither property is found in either plant in its natural state.
IT DOES INHIBIT THE LEVEL OF ABSORPTION OF B12 – which is why it is partly not a very effective drug. Please see your BNF as it is explicitly stated – or at least in mine.2013. It is essential to maintain a high level of B12 if you have diabetes or indeed Cancer
It is not an ancient herbal remedy. It is a very modern herb in use to treat several conditions including diabetes. It has been used in ancient times but that does not diminish its efficacy.
Medical herbalists very rarely give simple doses of anything ( ie 1 plant ) – they compound to provide a unique effective formula for that patient including plants with B12 if prescribing Galega officinalis.
I both help to manage and reverse diabetes with plant medicine in my patients but that plant medicine like Metformin is not available over the counter as it is a plant based liquid made with sound scientific and pharmaceutical principles and tested under same and properly evidenced.

IN OTHER WORDS THEY ARE NOT FOODS WITH THE TOXIC BITS THROWN OUT. THEY ARE PLANT DRUGS. OFTEN THE STARTING FORMULATION FROM WHICH BIG PHARMA GO ON TO MAKE MILLIONS BUT WITH PLANTS YOU CANNOT PATENT THEM.
PLEASE BE DISABUSED OF YOUR MISCONCEPTION THAT PLANT MEDICINE AS PRESCRIBED BY A PROFESSIONAL IS JUST A FOOD
On another note although there have been several trials some inconclusive regarding the use of metformin cancer patients this will never be of ultimate benefit for the simple reason excess circulating glucose is the prime cause of cancer at the cellular level ( see Warburg 1925 for starters ) that is the preferred substrate for cancer thru the NFKB inflammatory pathway . Its like giving a bonfire fuel and keeping storage tanks nearby of fuel when the original tumour either expands or is removed thus upregulating the CTC’s and the neurological signalling pathways. This is also why so many cancer patients are either diabetics or insulin resistant, initially caused by lifestyle in most cases.

Yeah, there is a link between it: metformin dramatically reduces cancer rates [link]. Morwenna got it backarsewards.

More.

Yet more.

Morwenna, what you say about B12 is well taken, which is why I am talking about low-dose metformin vs. high-dose metformin. Also, I have no reason to believe goat’s rue doesn’t have the same problem, even though few studies have been done on it. It is believed to be at least somewhat toxic.

Your statements about metformin increasing cancers are simply wrong. Metformin has been shown to be a potent cancer-preventative agent. I don’t believe you understand how metformin works either (hint: in a similar way to goat’s rue).

That said, if a person wished to try goat’s rue, I wouldn’t think that would necessarily be a bad idea, but I’d probably again opt for low dose. I’m not saying goat’s rue isn’t useful—it’s been used for a long time—however, the balance of the evidence is that metformin is useful.

Metformin is a drug which isn’t under patent protection and there’d be little point in promoting it. It’s derived from an ancient herbal remedy for diabetes and while it isn’t without risk, it saves far more lives than it costs.

Low-dose metformin therapy is even safer as both lactic acidosis and vitamin B-12 deficiency risk are commensurately reduced.

The Drug Virtually Everyone Should Ask their Doctor About in Life Extension Magazine

It isn’t a panacea, but it does seem to reduce all-cause mortality and especially pre-diabetes, diabetes, and cancer. To say that because it’s a drug it has no place in a human body is simplistic. It derives from a herbal remedy, a food if you will, with the more toxic bits stripped out.

See http://nigeepoo.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Diabetes

Cheers, Nige

I know of many movements, organisations and individual medical professionals who so far still work separately and are thus less powerful in effecting transformation than they could be if they networked more closely and expressed solidarity for the sake of the whole.

Just a few examples:
http://www.heartsinhealthcare.com/welcome
http://www.collegeofmedicine.org.uk/education-our-philosophy
http://www.phmovement.org/en/node/7572
http://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/
Rethinking Health: a developmental perspective http://youtu.be/h9jHBikSD5g

in solidarity
Anna

Your comment really got me thinking.

Rather than answer your ‘fly paper’ question here, I think I’d like to write about it in the context of a post, where I’ll include your comment as context. Thanks for stimulating me to think about this because, somehow, I think it would help us all to understand what might motivate a ‘good’ doctor to do ‘dumb’ things.

http://justmeint1health.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/even-with-the-data-they-still-push-low-fat/

These two RANTS are dealing with the fat/carbohydrate/obesity/diabetic situation that is being discussed by Tracey and Scott. MAY/perhaps shed some light.

In my (not so) humble estimation the entire low fat fiasco was politically and NOT scientifically motivated.

The food industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the government…they’re 3 heads of the same beast. All striving for the same cause: consumerism (equals profits).

This is what I have been *shouting* about for years.

It is my (non-learn-ed) opinion that diabetes is most often the effect of some kind of eating disorder and/or lifestyle choices (with a bit of genetics/DNA thrown in, and quite possibly something to do with food companies tinkering with ingredients – but that’s another topic altogether!). Many people with Type 2 diabetes also are obese. All the general medical advice is that if you are overweight, you are at increased risk of T2 diabetes. But what if it was (or is) the opposite? What if it was your DIET and LIFESTYLE that led to increased risk of T2 diabetes? And that obesity was a SYMPTOM, but NOT a CAUSE of insulin-resistance and T2 diabetes?

Don’t assume these are the same disease, just the symptoms are much alike..

HH