The only thing more controversial in treating diabetes than alternative methods is a specific alternative method. If you are looking for attention and don't care that it is totally negative, just try posting a message to one of the major diabetes newsgroups suggesting that any new alternative product will do anything more than separate you from your money. Several people will be sure to let you know that you are just a snake oil salesman or worse. Alternative diabetes treatments means those treatments not accepted by Western medicine. One reason they aren't accepted is that most, if not all, of these alternative therapies are not supported by good scientific studies.
Scientific support is the hallmark of Western medicine.
The standards of these studies keep rising, and to be well accepted they must be randomized, placebo controlled, and double blind. Some studies of alternative therapies in Asian countries including China, India, and Thailand seem to meet these standards. These studies are suspect, however, because analysis of their findings show that they get positive results essentially all the time, according to Dr. Steven Bratman, the medical director and senior editor of The Natural Pharmacist . That doesn't happen in real science. A few good studies support alternative therapies.