I walked into my local Whole Foods Body store with the best of intentions. I wanted just one item. I didn't know what brand to buy, but I had a general idea of what I was looking for. When the salesperson said the magic words, "What can I help you find today," I should have run far away. Instead, we started a dialog that left me leaving the store with a full bag and an empty wallet.

Let me back track for a moment. I took my son to Florida earlier this month with another Diabetic Mommy friend of mine. While we were there, I visited with my Great Aunt Lyn. At any age, Lyn is stunningly beautiful, with elegant taste and impeccible posture. To look at her, you would never know that she's in her 70s or that she's been living with a nearly debilitating illness for more than half of her life. I'm not sure exactly what is wrong with her, something about a yeast imbalance and an environmental allergy. Her sickness has always kind of gone over my head. It's her cures that has me amazed.

If I ever think I'm on a restrictive diet due to my diabetes, I need only to think of her. Pretty much all that she can eat is organic chicken and steamed veggies. And if she cheats, she suffers the consequnces for days. The bulk of her nutrition comes from supplements. She drinks protein shakes and green drinks. After observing her for a few days, I decided that I needed to try some of what she's doing. She convinced me the green drink was a good place to start.

I didn't want to buy a big container, because what if I didn't like it. I'm ready to commit to it, but honestly, I don't know how much of a commitment I can really make. I have enough vitamins and supplements in my cabinet that I don't take already. So when the salesman asked if I needed help, I just wanted to know which green drink tasted the best.

After a while of examining the different boxes, I went with Green Vibrance, primarily because it's a supposedly reputable company (according to the salesman) and because it came in individual serving pouches so I could try it once and see if I like it. As I was ready to purchase it, the man commented about how important nutritional supplements are. "I was able to get my mother off of insulin," he told me.

My ears perked up. "Really, how?" I asked. He started spewing off a bunch of stuff, like getting rid of white flour and balancing her yin and yang or something like that. I confessed that I was diabetic too, that I was familiar with supplements, but not taking any right now. Frankly, I hate the way vitamins repeat on me. I hate the way they smell and I hate the way they taste. And I often feel they just make for very expensive urine.

Yet somehow, he sold me on a bunch of stuff. The one that I am taking that I think is helping RLA. He explained that RLA is similar to ALA, alpha lipoic acid, but ALA is synthetic and RLA is natural. I have no idea if this is true or not. I tried to do some quick research, but all I could find was supplement company materials and who knows where their info came from. It all said studies show, but I couldn't quickly or easily find studies.

Regardless, once I started taking RLA (along with biotin, so it works properly) I needed to decrease my diabetes meds, because I was running lower. The supplement is also supposed to help with liver health and that's important to me too.

I also got suckered into buying a new multivitamin that comes from whole food and is supposedly easier to digest. The box says to take it three times a day, but I'm starting with once a day. I do have to go back for more of the green drinks. I don't know if they do anything more than make me feel virtuous, but I'm willing to give it a try.