Ten simple home remedies for Diabetes

Ever since, my dad got diagnosed with diabetes, I've been trying to enlighten myself more with what the ailment exactly is, and how can it be treated by more natural means, than the medicines. Apart from specific yoga for diabetes, there are various herbal components such as fenugreek, bitter gourd, green tea, neem, turmeric, stevia and gymnema that can work a great deal in reducing the severity of diabetes amongst many patients. 

Diabetes is basically a health ailment which is a result of enhanced blood sugar contents. Our bodies basically need blood sugar (glucose) to energize our cells. Diabetes leads to an elevation in this sugar level, which can be quite harmful to our organs. Apart from enhanced levels of glucose in blood, diabetes can be characterized by the excretion of excess glucose in the urine as well. The improper supply of insulin can cause dysfunctional metabolism of body nutrients like carbohydrates, fat and proteins.

Below are some of the causes of diabetes:

- Diabetes can be caused by over consumption of sugar and carbohydrates This is followed by excessive intake of foods rich in proteins and fats, since these nutrients also get transformed to sugar when overly consumed.
- Excessive intake of such rich food items can effect pancreas and make it dysfunctional.
- Apart from eating problems, certain other factors like staying hyper tensed, sad and worried can also lead to improper functioning of body's sugar metabolism.
- Other critical diseases like tuberculosis, cancer and cerebral diseases can also cause diabetes.
- Diabetes is also a hereditary disease.

Types of Diabetes:

1) Type 1 Diabetes is the one which impact children.
2) Type 2 diabetes is usually the most prominent one and is also known as "Adult-Onset" or "Non-Insulin Dependent" diabetes. In this kind of diabetes, the body can produce insulin effectively, but is not able to transport the insulin and glucose to the cells.
3) Type 3 diabetes is the gestational diabetes, which can effect children during their mothers' pregnancy period.

Diabetes Symptoms:

It may not be easy to diagnose diabetes in its early stage, since there are no visible symptoms of the ailment on the effected patient. Some of the symptoms, which can help you in diagnosing whether a person is diabetic or not are:
   - Strong thirst
   - Over consumption of food.
   - General Fatigue and Irritation
   - Sudden Weight Loss
   - Frequent Urination: Urine may be of pale color, sweet odor and with acidic reaction.
   - Blurred Vision.
   - Pale skin color
   - Might start getting other ailments like anemia, palpitations, weakness, constipation and intense itching around the genital organs.

Herbal Remedies for Diabetes
1) Turmeric Therapy:
Add one teaspoon of turmeric to 2 teaspoons of gooseberry juice (amla) and then consume this mixture everyday. One can also take turmeric capsules alternatively. This treatment helps on normalizing the glucose levels of blood and reduces insulin resistance.

2) Fenugreek therapy:
Fenugreek is an excellent herb to lower the blood sugar levels. The best thing about this herb is that it comes extremely cheap and can be easily incorporated in your daily meals. It its anti-diabetic work on pancreas and other organs, it offers a high soluble fiber content and alkaloids that can cure delayed gastric emptying, slow glucose transport and carbohydrate absorption. Fenugreek can also work as an amazing stimulant for increasing the number of insulin receptors in red blood cells, and works on improving the utilization of glucose in the peripheral tissues. 

3) Onion and Garlic therapy:
Onions and garlic are hypoglycemic. They consist of chemicals like allicin and diallyl disulphide that can effectively lower the glucose levels by competing with insulin in the liver. Medical studies have shown that allicin in garlic when combined with Vitamin B1 can stimulate the pancreas to release more insulin. It also locks the chemical receptors that deactivate insulin. Onion and garlic, in addition to facilitating with insulin normalization, also offer other substantial cardiovascular benefits.

4) Neem therapy:
Neem can decrease the insulin requirements without modifying blood glucose levels. Consuming neem decoction or neem tablets regularly can effectively cure diabetes. 


5) Green Tea Therapy:
Green Tea has catechins and epicatechins and certain plant compounds that belong to the flavonol group. These are quite strong antioxidants and can prove to be quite beneficial for diabetes. One can consume green tea as a beverage, or ingest a decaffeinated version as capsules.

6) Cinnamon Therapy:
Cinnamon is quite helpful for healing Type 2 diabetes as it can effectively decrease the blood sugar levels and enhance the body's natural production of insulin. It can also help in improving the cholesterol metabolism and in removing artery-damaging free radicals from the blood. This facilitates in improving the functioning of the blood vessels.

For best results one should consume half a teaspoon of cinnamon before breakfast regularly for around 40 days. You can also add cinnamon in your diet by sprinkling it in your cereal, tea or entree.

7) Aloe Vera Therapy:
Aloe juice can work excellently in lowering the blood sugar levels for people having type 2 diabetes. Aloe has two important chemicals - mannose and glucomannon. Mannose helps in opening up the blood vessels and glucomannon helps in triglyceride production.

8) Gooseberry (Amla) Therapy:

Mix one teaspoon of gooseberry (amla) juice with a cup of bitter gourd juice. Regular consumption of this mixture can stimulate the pancreas and it will secrete enough insulin for reducing blood sugar. Gooseberry seeds or dried gooseberry can equally work in controlling Diabetes.           

9) Mango Leaves Therapy:

Usually mangoes are feared by all the diabetics, because of its high sugar content. But, mango leaves can help in normalizing the insulin levels in the blood.

How to use mango leaves for curing diabetes?

Usage 1:  Boil a few mango leaves in water and allow it to saturate through the night. Now, consume the filtered decoction in the morning for diabetic home remedy.

Usage 2: You can dry the mango leaves, make a powder of them and store. Add about a teaspoon and boil in water and consume the filtered decoction.

10) Bitter Gourd Therapy:

Bitter gourd (‘Karela’ in Hindi) or balsam pear is a vegetable usually grown in Asia, Africa and South America. It offers a hypoglycemic or insulin-like principle, also termed as "plant insulin". It has till date worked wonders in lowering blood and urine sugar levels. Bitter gourd constitutes a lectin, which can link together with insulin receptors and provide a way for controlling Type 2 diabetes.

Caution: Excessive intake of bitter gourd can cause diarrhea and abdominal discomfort. People with hypoglycemia or low sugar levels should not take this.

Disclaimer: The information provided above is for educational purpose only. I sincerely request my readers to please take doctor’s advice before following any of these tips.

Some effective herbal remedies medicines and books for diabetes available online:

Top Ten Healthy Cooking Tips

Nutritious cooking starts with the healthy, fresh and good ingredients that you use to prepare your meals. You simply need to know the very basic laws of nutritious cooking, and you can easily prepare healthy meals, without worrying too much about it. It can even make it easier to prepare meals quickly because you don't need to look for some real exotic ingredients.

Below are certain quick and easy tips that can help you in making your meals more nutritious.

1) Make it a habit to plan your menu in advance and serve the food that is freshly cooked to prevent reheating. Reheating destroys the nutritive value of foods and also changes the original taste of the food.

2) Cover the food with cling film (plastic wrap) before string in the refrigerator to prevent mixing of flavors. Food is to be used not only as a source of calories but also as nourishment to grow, maintain and repair tissues of the body and also prevent disease.

3) Never over-cook the vegetables. The more you cook them, the less nutrition they'll offer to you. Fresh and tender vegetables cook quickly and do not need a lot of seasoning and spices to taste good.

4) These days almost all the vegetables you buy from market are covered with fertilizers and pesticides. To remove them, wash the vegetables in a sink full of potassium permanganate. Then rinse them with plain water. Cut and cook.

5) If your space provides, try to have a little kitchen garden for some basic food ingredients like mint, basil, coriander, chilies etc.You don't need a full field space to have one. These days you can find easy portable pots to include in your kitchen. The greenery will definitely make your kitchen and home look good, along with providing natural and fresh source of ingredients to your meals.

6) Never cook green leafy vegetables in acids like lime or tamarind, as the olive green color of the green vegetables that comes because of these acids indicate that the nutrients from these vegetables wouldn't be absorbed easily by our bodies.

7) To make sure that the food is not overcooked in a pressure cooker, first boil the water without putting the lid on the cooker. Then when it is boiling add the ingredients and cover the lid tightly and cook on low flame for some time till you feel the food is cooked instead of pressure cooking on high flame with many whistles of the cooker.

Buy unpolished and small sized pulses and legumes as some of the vital nutrients get lost in polishing and processing them.

8) Onions are a rich source of quercetin, which is a very significant phytochemical and antioxidant. But the mistake we usually make is that we cut them immediately before having it. Onion should be cut and kept for at least 10 minutes before serving as oxidation helps quercetin to get activated.

9) Milk purchased from a dairy which is not pasteurized should be boiled for at least 10 - 15 minutes at boiling temperature to eliminate the effect of any bacteria or other germs.

10) It can be dangerous using wrong cookware. Never use painted and decorated pots and pans. Some are made of lead and silver toxin material. This can lead to severe digestive disorders. Using aluminum vessels for cooking can cause high levels of aluminum in the brain tissue, because it is tough to remove aluminum from the body. People suffering from Alzheimer's disease have high aluminum in brain tissue. Pyrex and stainless steel is the safest cookware.

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