Thursday, November 21, 2024

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Natural Treatments For Diabetes – Herbs

Diabetes type 2 is on the increase. As diabetes is becoming more prevalent, the quest of the people to treat it is also increasing. It is strongly advocated to change the diet as well as lifestyle for controlling this chronic medial condition.

Lifestyle change means adopting healthy exercising routine as well as changing eating habits. Changing eating habits incorporates close monitoring of the food types; specifically carbohydrates and fatty foods. It is strongly recommended that diabetics must work closely with their dietitians to make out their meal plans. With the passage of time people are getting more involved in their diabetic meal plans. Some diabetics are more interested for finding the herbs and supplements that are helpful for diabetics.

The given list of herbs can be used for supplementing diabetic cooking:

Fenugreek: The leaves of fenugreek are used as herb and its seeds are used as spice. They are generally taken either as supplement or used in cooking. The clinical tests conducted on human have revealed that fenugreek has the ability to stimulate secretion of insulin. This insulin production by pancreas helps to reduce the level of blood sugar.

Cinnamon: It is also termed Cassia. It is a spice that is obtained from the bark of cinnamon tree. It is a popular ingredient of Chinese foods. Researches conducted on Cassia have shown a significant decline in the level of blood glucose in the individuals that took the higher dosage of cinnamon.

Banaba: It is a tree that is found in South East Asia. Leaves of this tree are extensively used as conventional medicine in Philippines and Indonesia. Researches conducted in USA and Japan has revealed that active ingredients found in this herb are Corosolic acid. This ingredient gives a strong sugar controlling effect.

Asian Ginseng: It is an herb that can be easily added in the daily cooking. It can also be taken as a supplement. Chines medicines have adorned the ginseng power as booster and general cure of immunity system. It has been suggested that it helps to lower down the level of glucose as well as blood pressure.

Turmeric: It is a member of the family of ginger. The active ingredient found in this herb is Curcumin. The clinical studies conducted in rats have revealed that curcumin helps to lower down the level of glucose. Turmeric is extensively used in Indian cuisines.

Stevia: It is generally known as Sugar leaf. It is a shrub that is found in Central and South America. As the name indicates its taste is sweet. The extract of stevia is strongly used as substitute of sweetener in Japan.

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Eating Too Much Sugar Causes Diabetes – Fact Or Fiction?

Like most diseases, there is plenty of fact and fiction and often the two become intertwined and diabetes is no exception. Most people think that eating too much sugar cause diabetes, this is not true.

Diabetes is not caused by eating sugar. Diabetes is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. However, eating a diet high in fat and sugar can cause you to become overweight.

It is being overweight that radically increases your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, so if you have a history of diabetes in your family, I would recommend a healthy diet and regular exercise.

Actually, I remember a story about an ex-patient of mine, let’s call her ‘Patricia’.

We spoke at length about all her risk factors, but she stopped me when I asked her if she had any relatives with diabetes. I couldn’t hold back the laughter, when she informed me that she wasn’t too worried as she didn’t like her relatives and had no contact with them!

Yo can catch diabetes from someone else – Fact or fiction?

This brings me nicely to another common myth about diabetes, that it can be passed from person to person by everyday contact (SOURCE: Diabetes UK). Although we don’t know exactly why some people get diabetes, we know that it is not contagious – it can’t be caught like a cold or flu. There seems to be some genetic link involved particularly Type 2 diabetes. But environmental factors also play a part.

That’s enough Diabetes Fiction now for some fact

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder characterised by abnormally high blood sugar levels due either to lower production of insulin or abnormal resistance to insulin’s effects.

The major symptoms are excessive thirst, frequent urination, muscle cramps, poor healing of wounds, impaired vision and itching.

Heart disease and stroke – caused by diseased coronary arteries supplying blood to brain- are also common complications associated with diabetes.

As people age, insulin production may diminish and/or insulin resistance may increase. If the consumption of food, especially food that causes rapid surges in blood sugar levels, remains high, blood sugar levels may become and remain abnormally high, which is the condition known as diabetes.

The serious consequences of this are collapse, a diabetic fit followed by diabetic coma and if not treated quickly, death can occur.

So diabetes is a killer disease!

Conventional and Complimentary treatments.

One problem with conventional treatments is that they are sometimes cumbersome and, on their own, not always effective. They sometimes have unwanted side-effects and very occasionally serious side-effects have been reported.

This is not to say that oral medication should not be used. On the contrary, they may be life-enhancing and life-saving and they should certainly never be stopped or their dose changed without a doctor’s advice.

But the need for them – and indeed the need eventually for insulin injections – will be greatly reduced with a few simple changes to lifestyle. One of the best things you could do is follow the methods of Doctor Patrick Quillin in his International bestselling book The Diabetes Improvement Program.

I’ve reviewed this book before and it stirred up quite a lot of interest, so I think it’s well worth another mention.

The author, Doctor Patrick Quillin, is renowned in this field and I’ve been impressed with his theses in the past. He uses food and supplements to slow and even reverse all aspects and symptoms of diabetes.

The programme helps to eliminate ketones and provides an abundance of energy. It normalises blood sugar levels, and improves both eyesight and balance. Scratches and scrapes heal much quicker. It will also renew feeling and sensation in numb limbs.

It reverses neuropathy and helps to heal ulcers. All these fantastic benefits have great knock-on effects as well. They help with blood pressure, lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, reducing your risk of heart attack, stroke and kidney damage.

And for those of you that are quite handy around the kitchen, there is a second great book associated with the programme called the Diabetics Cookbook, that lists hundreds of great recipes from all around the world.

Due to the success of the Diabetes Improvement Program last time I mentioned it the publishers have agreed to supply my readers with both the Diabetes Improvement Program and the Diabetic Cookbook at a specially discounted rate. Basically, if you buy both books, you get the Cookbook for just a fiver! That’s half price and not a bad deal if you ask me. To read more about the Diabetes Improvement Program visit my website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1847477

 

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How Insulin Affects Us?

The glycemic index helps us to understand which foods are best and worst for controlling our blood glucose levels.

As we have seen, when blood glucose levels get too high, insulin is released into the bloodstream by the pancreas to help disperse the glucose. The insulin transports the glucose to cells needing extra energy. The cells have “insulin receptors” positioned so that insulin can bind to them, facilitating glucose entry and utilization in the cells. Once inside the…

The glycemic index helps us to understand which foods are best and worst for controlling our blood glucose levels.

As we have seen, when blood glucose levels get too high, insulin is released into the bloodstream by the pancreas to help disperse the glucose. The insulin transports the glucose to cells needing extra energy. The cells have “insulin receptors” positioned so that insulin can bind to them, facilitating glucose entry and utilization in the cells. Once inside the cells, the glucose is burned to produce heat and adenosine triphosyphate, (ATP) a molecule that stores and releases energy as required by the cell.

When cells become less sensitive to the effects of insulin, they accept less glucose, so more glucose than usual remains in the bloodstream. Result? The pancreas over-compensates by working harder and releasing even more insulin.

The combination of insulin-insensitivity and insulin over-production typically leads to one of two results:

Either, the pancreas gets worn out and insulin production slows down to abnormally low levels. Result? We develop type 2 diabetes. (About 30 percent of cases)

Or, the insulin-resistant patient doesn’t develop diabetes (because the pancreas continues to produce sufficient insulin) but, instead, contracts hyperinsulinism (abnormally high levels of insulin in the blood), which can cause chronic obesity as well as high blood pressure, high levels of triglycerides, low HDL (good) cholesterol, heart disease, and possibly some cancers.

Low GI Foods Cause Lower Insulin Levels

This is why experts are beginning to recognize the health advantages of following a low GI diet. Because lower GI foods are converted into glucose much more slowly, causing less insulin to be produced.

This is not the last word on this subject, by any means. Research into insulin insensitivity and the relationship between insulin levels and obesity is ongoing. However, the overconsumption of high-GI foods (and high-fat fast-food) is a major cause of concern.

The new carbohydrate-classification system known as the Glycemic Index rates the carbohydrate quality in foods according to its immediate effect on blood glucose level. Thus carbs that break down quickly into glucose during digestion, causing a rapid rise in glucose levels, have a High GI value. Those carbs that break down more slowly, are given an Intermediate or Low GI value.

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