Cloves for Blood Sugar at 71: What Two Cloves Before Bed Did to My Morning Glucose
Every night, right before bed, I chew up two whole cloves and swallow them. Yes, the spice from the back of the cupboard.
It costs about a penny a night, and so far my wake-up blood sugar is the lowest I have seen since I started tracking it.
Why Cloves for Blood Sugar?
Cloves are packed with polyphenols, the same family of plant compounds that make berries, green tea and olive oil interesting to longevity researchers.
In a 2019 pilot study published in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, volunteers took a water-soluble clove extract once a day for 30 days. Their after-meal blood sugar came down by roughly 13 to 17 points, and their fasting numbers improved too.
Now the honest part. That study had only 13 people, there was no placebo group, and they used a concentrated extract, not whole cloves. That makes it a reason to experiment, not proof that cloves work.
How I’m Testing It
For about a month I’ve been wearing a continuous glucose monitor and logging my wake-up number every morning. That gave me a clean baseline before I changed anything.
The routine is simple:
- Two whole cloves
- Chewed up and swallowed right before bed
- Wake-up glucose logged first thing every morning
My Wake-Up Glucose Before and After Cloves
Before the cloves, my wake-up glucose averaged about 92 mg/dL.
Since I started, my first three mornings have been 76, 80 and 78. That’s about 14 points lower.
Why a Lower Morning Glucose Matters for Longevity
Most people hear “under 100 is normal” and stop paying attention. The research suggests normal is not the same as optimal.
A study of more than 13,000 young men published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that even inside the normal range, the risk of type 2 diabetes rose steadily once fasting glucose reached about 87 mg/dL. Blood sugar control is one of the biggest levers we have for heart, brain and metabolic health as we age.
Is It Really the Cloves?
Too early to say. Three mornings is not a trend, and I’ve also been walking more and sleeping better, both of which lower blood sugar on their own.
So I’m going to keep going and keep reporting the numbers. If my average holds in the high 70s for a month, that’s worth talking about. If it drifts back to 92, I’ll tell you that too.
Should You Try Cloves Before Bed?
If you want to try it, two whole cloves is a small kitchen-spice amount. They are strong, a little numbing, and you’ll taste them for a few minutes. Whole cloves are cheap at any grocery store.
What I wouldn’t do is jump to concentrated clove oil or high-dose supplements. Clove oil in particular is potent and can be harmful in larger amounts.
Watch the cloves experiment and my morning readings on YouTube: Cloves Before Bed Lowered My Morning Blood Sugar.
Live long and prosper,
Gary
A note from Gary: I am not a doctor, and I am definitely not your doctor. I’m a 71-year-old running a public experiment on myself, and one person’s glucose readings over a few mornings prove nothing for you. Cloves can affect blood clotting and blood sugar, so if you take blood thinners or diabetes medication, talk to your physician before trying this.
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