Inevitably, each person finds many different treatments that help relieve their symptoms of and ultimately cure their type 2 diabetes. This section encompasses all energetically oriented treatments that have worked that do not fit into another categoryto do with intention, energy healing, prayer, and in some cases god. Let us know what other treatments have worked for you!
There is no question that keeping a healthy weight helps protect people from and even reverse a diagnosis of type-2 diabetes. Yoga is a wonderful want great way to exercise as you can start out with gentle poses and move into a more rigorous routine. But yoga is more than a set of physical poses, it also includes conscious breathing and mindful meditation practices as well, all of which can help treat myriad health conditions including diabetes.
There is no question that keeping a healthy weight helps protect people from and even reverse a diagnosis of type-2 diabetes. Yoga is a great way to exercise as you can start out with gentle poses and move into a more rigorous routine. But yoga is more than a set of physical poses, it also includes conscious breathing and mindful meditation practices as well, all of which can help treat myriad health conditions including diabetes.
Acupuncture seeks to remove any barriers in the body that are keeping it from functioning properly. In the case of diabetes, acupuncture can help to mitigate some of the symptoms and perhaps help treat some of the underlying causes as well.
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The epidemic rise in the prevalence of diabetes is associated with aging populations, cultural and social changes effecting dietary habits, physical activity levels and increasing urbanization. Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease. Early on in the disease process, the body no longer handles the amount of glucose eaten throughout the day. A combination of factors are involved:
Pre-diabetes is often referred to as borderline diabetes, “a touch of sugar”, impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome. A diagnosis of pre-diabetes is a sign that the body is not processing glucose well enough to have normal glucose levels and abnormal levels lead to some cell damage.
Type 2 diabetes generally occurs in adults but, due to the rise in obesity in all ages, is occurring in children as well. The increased incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in children may be due to the effect of High Fructose Corn Syrup, a engineered sweetener found prevalently in soft drinks. This form of diabetes begins with the individual exhibiting slightly higher than normal blood glucose levels after eating. It can be many years before the fasting blood glucose ever appears above normal. An abnormal fasting blood glucose level will result in a diagnosis of diabetes. However, at the time a person's fasting blood glucose level is found to be abnormal they have had years and years of silent toxic levels of glucose coarsing through their veins. As insulin levels drop the body is also resisting the action of the existing insulin, a state called insulin resistance. The combination of less than optimal insulin and it’s resistance at the cell level results in higher blood glucose levels. The high levels of glucose continue to be toxic throughout the body’s delicate cellular system.
Additionally, the anti-seizure medicine valporate (brand name: Depakote) used to treat mania in adults (and sometimes children) can cause obesity and diabetes along with PCOS.
Inevitably, each person finds many different treatments that help relieve their symptoms of and ultimately cure their type 2 diabetes. This section encompasses all energetically oriented treatments that have to do with intention, energy healing, prayer, and in some cases god. Let us know what other treatments have worked for you!
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Being diagnosed with diabetes can be a difficult message to receive. Diabetes requires a look at lifestyle, food choices, medications, blood glucose testing, and all that advice offered by well-meaning family and friends. It can be overwhelming to say the least. Learning how to live well with diabetes takes time and it takes lifestyle adjustments to do it well. Some people are just not up to it on their own. The best support a person with diabetes can get is from medical professionals who really know diabetes, family members who are willing to provide a healthy supportive environment including healthy food choices for everyone in the family, increased physical activity as a norm and a willingness to learn about diabetes together. It is often said “diabetes is a family disease” because it ends up effecting everyone.
Depression affects nearly 40% of those diagnosed with diabetes. It is unclear if depression is a result of high blood glucose levels or from the demand the disease has on the person living with it. Treating the depression becomes an integral part of treating the overall disease of diabetes.
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Inside each muscle cell, tiny agents called glucose transporters migrate to the cell wall to allow in glucose. During and after exercise, these transporters are highly active pulling glucose out of the blood stream at a remarkable rate. Whenever the large muscles in the body, such as the thigh or buttock muscles, are being used, these transporters are actively helping to clear excess glucose out of the blood stream.
The human body is designed to be active, to the tune of walking five miles each day. When our lifestyles have us sitting most of the day (computing, commuting, and watching TV), the glucose transporters get sluggish and lazy. Finding a way to add activity into daily life is an essential part of controlling diabetes. It is recommended to walk 30 minutes most days of the week for general health. To get started three sessions of 10 minutes walks is fine. The transporters respond to any and all activity.
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It was somewhat difficult for Susan to come up with a “typical day” of eating when asked by the dietitian at her first nutrition appointment.
Before being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes Susan had not given a great deal of thought to what she would eat in a day except for planning dinner for her family. She often began the day with a cup of coffee running out the door to work. She never felt hungry for breakfast so not sitting down to the meal felt like a time saver. At work, the break room often had goodies brought in by coworkers. Break time found Susan hungry for something, and something was usually in a pink box on the staff table. Lunch time was 30 minutes of finding something quick to eat. Generally lunch was fast food, a deli combo meal or a Chinese takeout to eat at her desk. At mid afternoon Susan felt sluggish more often than not so a trip to Starbucks for a frappuccino was a common occurrence. Her drive home was long enough to warrant a stop at the vending machines to provide her with “something salty” on the ride home. Dinner time at Susan’s house was frequently fresh or frozen fast food in the form of pizza, fried chicken or hamburgers. Her husband liked to grill on the weekends. Susan used to enjoy cooking before the kids schedules became so full and they no longer sat at the table to eat as a family. Susan told the dietitian that she needed to be more organized to enjoy cooking for her family again.
After: One month later at her follow up nutrition appointment Susan told the dietitian that she had discovered that not only she but her family expressed a desire to eat less prepared and fast foods and begin eating more fresh cooked meals. Susan sat down with her husband and teenage daughter and made a list of all their favorite home cooked meals. Time was a real concern. Time to shop, prepare and cleanup after breakfast and dinner meals. Between Susan, her husband and daughter they had decided to divide and conquer the efforts in the kitchen. They made a list of food items to buy for the week to prepare the meals they decided on. They discovered the key was to stick to the list and to the planned meals so no food was wasted.
Susan learned from the dietitian that her entire family would benefit from eating the way she now wants to eat to help control her diabetes. Her focus is more fresh whole foods rather than processed prepared foods at meals and snacks. The focus is also on the amount of food eaten at meals and snacks especially the carbohydrates.
Susan found that she could figure out the portion size to eat by testing her blood sugar before and two hours after her meals. The dietitian was clear that avoiding foods, such as carbohydrates, was not necessary. But understanding how much to eat was the key. If Susan’s blood sugar increased by only 40 – 50 points then she knew the amount of carbohydrate was the correct amount for her body to handle. An increase much more than that told her to reduce the portion size next time. She experimented with different types of food and the amounts ( such as grapes, watermelon, ice cream, pasta, rice, cookies) and found that when she ate smaller portion sizes she could enjoy all her favorite foods as long as she got the portion size right for her glucose control.
Typical Day
Now Susan’s “typical day” of eating looks like this:
Breakfast – a cup of coffee and a yogurt because she finds it easy to eat. She now knows it helps her blood sugar control by “breaking the fast” and shutting off the liver’s need to dump glucose into her bloodstream during the fasting state.
Morning break – cheese stick and fresh fruit brought from home and occasionally a treat from the break room but usually she’ll split one.
Lunch – bringing lunch seems to be the best option for Susan but some days eating out is necessary. A packed lunch may have dinner leftovers or a sandwich with fruit and veggies. Lunch out maybe a fast food salad or fresh wrap.
Afternoon snack – crackers and peanut butter or a Starbucks Lite Frappuccino when she really wants it!
Dinner – the plate method helps Susan with portioning out her carbohydrates. Her plate is half full with vegetables and the other half divided between starch (rice, pasta, potato) and meat or fish. This helps keep her starch portion in check because of all the foods on her plate, it has the greatest effect on her blood sugar.
Susan has always had a sweet tooth but she has found that making healthier food choices all around has really changed her desire to eat sweets. But if she wants something she will eat a smaller amount and make sure to enjoy every morsel!
Apple cider vinegar taken at meals appears to help lower post meal blood sugar levels and is certainly a safe, albeit tangy, food to take. Studies have also shown that taking apple cider vinegar before bedtime may improve weight loss.
This much studied vitamin-like substance appears to minimize symptoms of nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy) as a result of high blood glucose levels. Long-term studies as still needed to determine if ALA can slow the progression of neuropathy.
Understanding how food works in the body is a cornerstone to controlling diabetes. Food turns to glucose through digestion, arrives in the blood stream and is transported into both muscle and fat cells to provide energy. Diabetes is the body’s inability to normally transport the glucose so much remains in the blood stream.
Foods that contain carbohydrate have the greatest effect on blood glucose levels. Protein sources have some effect, and fat very little effect at all. When focusing on blood glucose levels it’s important to have an understanding of carbohydrates in the diet. Today’s diet industry has painted an inaccurate picture of carbohydrates as though this one nutrient is responsible for diabetes, obesity, heart disease and other disorders. Human metabolism runs on carbohydrates therefore eating them is important. Carbohydrates are not to be avoid, but consuming an adequate portion size of the healthier carbohydrates can absolutely impact glucose control.
People with type 2 diabetes generally are overweight. Fat cells specifically in the abdomen area contribute to insulin resistance and aggravate blood glucose levels. Even a small amount of weight loss, 5 – 10% of the total body weight or more, can have a positive effect on an individual's ability to control glucose levels.
Nutrition and diabetes education by a Registered Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Educator or nutritionist is well worth the time and effort to get diabetes in control.
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Gymnema, or gurmar, is a plant used in Ayurveda to treat type 2 diabetes. The herb continues to gain notoriety as positive findings are published and as people continue to seek ancient remedies and "alternative" treatments to diabetes. The herb is also used to help treat digestive issues, and used as an antiviral, diuretic, and antiallergic medicine.1
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Coccinia indica or ivy gourd, is a plant that grows wild in many places in India. In Ayurveda, a traditional form of medicine native to India that used herbs as medicine, coccinia indica has been used for thousands of years to treat diabetes.4
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Fenugreek, the latin name for which is "Trigonella foenum-graecum" has been historically used to treat menopausal symptoms, digestive issues and to induce childbirth. Today it is more commonly used to treat inflammation on the skin, to stimulate milk production in breastfeeding women, diabetes.
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One half teaspoon of this aromatic bark has been shown to improve fasting glucose control in type 2 diabetes by up to 28% after a 40 day trial. Overall cinnamon is a safe food to use.
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Specific herbal therapies can help lower blood glucose levels and/or treat some of the complications of diabetes. These therapies may be referred to as “herbal” or “nutriceuticals.” A tour of the health food store suggests an extensive list of supportive products such as cinnamon, gymnema, fenugreek, bitter melon, ginseng, nopal, aloe vera, banaba, caiapo, bilberry, milk thistle, chromium, vanadium, nicotinamide, alpha lipoic acid, gamma linolenic acid, ginkgo biloba, garlic, vinegar and St John’s Wart. However, many experts agree that although these may not be harmful if taken, their actual benefit on lowering blood glucose levels requires further research, particularly studies with a greater number of study participants.
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Some people find taking one pill easier than two, so common combinations of some of the diabetes medications are now available together.
Actoplus Met – Actos and metformin
Avandaryl – Avandia and Amaryl
Avandamet – Avandia and metformin
Glucovance –Glyburinde and metformin
Metaglip – Glipizide and metformin
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Medication that replaces the body’s own insulin:
Lispro, Aspart and Glulisine
Regular
NPH
Glargine and Detemir
70/30, 75/25, 50/50
It is not uncommon for a person to think that they could have done something to prevent going on insulin. However taking insulin is the most natural way to control blood glucose, perhaps the best way to control glucose, and is simply a form of hormone replacement.
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Medication that helps the cells become more sensitive to insulin:
Rosiglitazone - Avandia
Pioglitazone- Actos
There is intense debate today regarding the safety of Avandia. The FDA has chosen to keep it on the market inspite of research pointing to increase risk of heart attack, stroke and heart disease related death in studies.
