Diabetes or diabetes mellitus is a disease tormenting many these days. The advent of modern technology and craze for high profile life style is the root of several serious ailments including diabetes. The patient suffering from diabetes has an increased glucose level in blood. Our food intake supplies us with carbohydrates which get converted in to glucose. The hormone insulin secreted by pancreas breaks down the glucose and aids the metabolic process by making the glucose enter in to body cells and energizing the body as a whole.
When the cells of the pancreas become incapable of producing sufficient insulin or when body cells become resistant to insulin, glucose collects in blood and soon the level shoots up resulting in diabetes. There are three major types of diabetes: Type1, Type2 and Gestational diabetes. Type1 diabetes occurs when the amount of insulin produced by pancreas falls short of the body’s requirement of insulin. Type2 diabetes occurs when body cells become non-responsive to insulin or do not take in insulin in the amount they should have taken in.
Gestational diabetes is the result of pregnancy. Glucose levels in blood rise during pregnancy in some women. Heredity, obesity, stress, over-intake of carbohydrates, nutritional deficiencies, and any other disease causing damage to pancreas are diabetes-triggering factors. Diabetes needs timely diagnosis and treatment, or else it may cause serious damage to heart, kidney, eyes, liver and nervous system.
Symptoms
1. Frequent urination2. Increased hunger3. Increased thirst4. Fatigue5. Loss of weight6. Blurry vision7. Palpitation8. Constipation9. Yellowish urine with a sweet acidic odor10. Itching around genitals
Herbal treatment for diabetes
Nature gives us a wide range of herbs that may be used to treat diabetes the natural ways. Some of the herbs may be listed as follows.
1. Onion and garlic have excellent sugar-reducing properties.
2. Bitter melon or balsam pear juice supplies the body with insulin like polypeptide-p and thereby lowers blood sugar.
3. Fenugreek seeds, rich in nicotinic acids and alkaloid trigoneline, prove very effective in treating diabetes.
4. The holy basil is a highly beneficial herb in treating diabetes.
5. Ivy gourd leaf extracts are quite effective in treating retinal disorders due to diabetes.
6. Fully grown curry leaves are an effective cure for congenital diabetes and obesity.
7. Indian gooseberry juice is a pancreas stimulating drink. It stimulates the pancreas to produce more insulin.
8. Butea leaf extracts are useful in lowering sugar levels in blood.
9. Cinnamon is an effective herb for managing diabetes.
10. Powdered, dry mango leaves may be taken in empty stomach for controlling diabetes.
11. Indian plum seeds regulate the metabolic process and also stimulate pancreas.…
Tag: diabetes
Eating Healthy When You Have Diabetes
It is always important to eat a healthy diet, but for those who have such medical conditions as diabetes, it is even more important. There are certain foods that are not good for diabetics and certain foods that they should be getting more of in their diets. Obviously, it is important to make sure that the foods that diabetics eat are not high in sugar and fat, and it also helps to eat foods that will help diabetics maintain a healthy weight.
What Is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease that causes the body to either not produce enough insulin, which is necessary for breaking down the foods we eat, or not using the insulin it does produce properly. If you have been diagnosed as having diabetes, it is more important than ever to make sure that you are eating right. There are three types of diabetes: Type 1 diabetes, or juvenile diabetes; Type 2 diabetes; and gestational diabetes. When a person has diabetes, it means that they have extremely high sugar counts in their blood and this must be controlled. Depending on which type of diabetes you have, controlling your sugars could be as easy as making some dietary changes-or you may need to take insulin to keep your sugars regulated.
Type 1 Diabetes – People who have Type 1 diabetes do not have enough insulin coming from the pancreas and must rely on insulin shots to make sure that they have enough. At one time, this involved taking needles, sometimes several times daily. Today, there is a device called an insulin pump, which is attached to the stomach and will supply insulin to the body as it needs it. Often, Type 1 diabetes is caused by an autoimmune disorder, and the person with this type of diabetes has an immune system that actually destroys the pancreas cells, making the organ unable to produce enough insulin.
Type 2 Diabetes – When the body does not properly use the insulin created by the pancreas, it is known as Type 2 diabetes. Often, this is a condition that is caused, or at least worsened, by being overweight. It is thought that excess body weight will inhibit the body’s ability to absorb and use insulin, and one way to alleviate this is by losing weight. This can be done by eating a healthy weight loss diet that is meant for diabetics. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the disease, affecting between 90 and 95% of all diabetics.
Gestational Diabetes – This is the only type of diabetes that is a temporary one. It usually occurs when a woman is in the latter half of her pregnancy. It is always important to eat healthy when pregnant, but when gestational diabetes comes into play, it is even more important. When a woman has gestational diabetes, her pancreas is not able to produce enough insulin, and she will have to make some dietary changes, as well as monitor her blood sugar levels regularly. Fortunately, this form of diabetes usually goes away once the baby is born, and it is rare that it will cause the baby to be born with diabetes. It is important for women who are pregnant to be tested for gestational diabetes, so they can start making the dietary changes necessary to control the condition and have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.
What Are the Symptoms of Diabetes?
There are many different symptoms of diabetes and although many people experience many of the same symptoms, others may not, depending on the type of diabetes they have. Some of the most common symptoms associated with Type 1 diabetes include:
– Extreme thirst and hunger
– Frequent urination
– Loss of weight
– Blurred vision
– Extreme fatigue
The symptoms of Type 2 diabetes are often very similar to those of Type 1 diabetes, but they are not usually as severe and they come on more gradually. Weight is a huge factor and about 80% of people with Type 2 diabetes are overweight.
Risk Factors for Developing Diabetes
There are a number of risk factors for diabetes and if you find that you have some of these risk factors, you should have your physician test you for diabetes. The risk factors for diabetes include:
– If you have a family history of diabetes, you may be at risk of developing the disease yourself.
– Being overweight can greatly increase your risk of developing diabetes and the more overweight you are, the greater the risk.
– Certain ethnic groups are at a higher risk for developing diabetes, including Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanics, and Latinos.
Blood Sugar Levels
When a person has diabetes, it is essential that they monitor their blood sugar levels and take the appropriate steps to make sure …
The Benefits of Protein Supplements For Diabetes
The benefits of protein supplements for diabetes are well known in the medical world, although not universally agreed. What is universally agreed is that Type 2 diabetes is associated, to a large extent, with weight; the majority of those affected by the condition being overweight. However, this does not in any way suggest that only the obese or overweight are affected by diabetes.
There have been several studies that have suggested that diabetics can improve their conditions by increasing the amount of protein in their diets. One study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in October, 2003 reported that glycemic control was improved in subjects taking a diet high in protein for five weeks. Another article, published in Diabetes Care in 2002, found similar results. Even as recent as October, 2009, the results of studies were presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes Symposium by Dr. Astrup. The presentation indicated that weight loss by diabetics was more easily maintained by those taking a high protein diet.
Like any discussion on medical and supplement matters, not everybody agrees with this, but there is sufficient evidence available to confirm that the benefits of protein supplements for diabetes patients outweigh any disadvantages of a high protein diet. In addition the condition is more easily controlled by a protein rich diet.
Whether the protein should also be associated with carbohydrates or not is another matter. It would make sense if the high protein levels that result in a reduction in blood plasma glucose concentrations were associated with a lower carbohydrate intake. Carbs are converted to glucose by the body’s metabolism, and could act to aggravate the condition by creating a higher insulin demand.
In fact, the ‘Diabetes’ magazine reported in September, 2004 (vol 53, No 9) that a low carbohydrate with a high protein diet had a positive effect on glucose control in those with type 2 diabetes. The amount of glucose circulating in the blood of subjects undergoing the test was ‘dramatically reduced’, and this was hailed as a possible means of self-regulation of blood glucose levels by those with the condition.
All of these studies tend to indicate a high protein diet and protein supplements for diabetes patients is beneficial in controlling the levels of glucose in the blood or helping to maintain weight loss when dieting. Since both of these are known factors in Type 2 diabetes, then it makes sense for you to include more protein in your diet if you are diabetic. However, protein is available in many forms, and it is not always convenient to include more when cooking.
One of the simplest ways to achieve this is by using protein supplements with meals, particularly those supplements that contain high concentrations of protein in small volumes of supplement. That not only reduces the cost, but also the impact of the supplement on a normal diet. One might or might not combine that with a reduction in carbohydrates, but irrespective of that, it appears that protein supplements for diabetics have a beneficial effect on blood glucose levels.…