32 Home Remedies For Diabetes

32 Home Remedies for Diabetes

Even though it looks much the same as any other foot, the diabetic foot requires special attention. Why? Nerve damage is common with diabetes, especially in the lower extremities. Blood vessels are damaged as a result of the disease and circulation is decreased. When this happens, feet and legs tend to be cold and sores heal slowly, in some cases taking years to heal. This can easily lead to infection. Nerve damage can also decrease your ability to feel sensations in your feet, such as pain, heat, and cold. That means you may not notice a foot injury until you have a major infection.
A common complaint from many people is, "My feet are killing me!" For a person with diabetes, that statement could be all too true. Loss of nerve function, especially on the soles of the feet, can reduce feeling and mask a sore or injury on the foot that, if left unattended, can turn into an ulcer or gangrene.
Neuropathy, damage to the nerves, is a common problem for people with diabetes. It occurs most often in the feet and legs, and its signs include recurring burning, pain, or numbness. In addition to being painful, neuropathy can be harmful because if it causes a loss of feeling in the foot, even a minor foot injury may go undiscovered. In extreme cases, this can lead to serious infection, gangrene, or even amputation of the limb. Because of this, people with diabetes must be meticulous in caring for their feet.
Moderate exercise, such as walking, cycling, or swimming, are best for people with diabetes. Because people with diabetes have to take some extra precautions while exercising, you w Continue reading

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Get Sugar Smart

Our intakes of sugar have increased dramatically over the last 10 years. Fizzy drinks and sweet foods are the obvious culprits, but many people are not aware of other foods which also contain large amounts of ‘free sugars’. Free sugars have been classified as simple sugars added to foods by the manufacturer or consumer. Free sugars also includes sugars that are naturally in honey, syrups and fruit juices.
The WHO (World Health organisation) recently published guidelines on sugar intake for adults and children saying that no more than 10% of a person’s energy intake (calories) should come from free sugars. In Ireland, the National Adult Nutritional Survey in 2011 showed that on average our diets contained 14.6% energy from free sugars.
High intakes of this type of sugar need to be addressed because it is associated with:
• Poor dietary quality
• Tooth decay
• Obesity.
It also increases the risk of preventable diseases like:
• Coronary heart disease (CHD)
• Type 2 diabetes.
An average adult requires 1,500-2,000 calories per day. If 10% of this was to come from free sugars, this would equal 10-14 teaspoons of sugar per day.
A teaspoon of sugar is approximately 4g, or one sugar cube.
How can we become sugar smart?
Understanding food labels is a great tool in becoming sugar smart. Added sugars can come under many different names like:
• Glucose
• Sucrose
• Maltose
• Corn syrup
• Honey
• Invert sugar
• Hydrolysed starch
• Fructose.
The higher up on the ingredients list any of these sugars is then the more it contains in the products. Look for the c Continue reading

The Link Between Depression and Gestational Diabetes

Study finds increased risk during and after pregnancy
Gestational diabetes is defined as ‘glucose intolerance of variable degree with onset or first recognition during pregnancy.” Pregnant females with GDM have an increased risk of developing complications during pregnancy, and can also increase the risk of injury to their infants. Pregnancy itself is an important event in a woman’s life that causes many social, psychological, and hormonal changes. However, it can also make women vulnerable to maternal depression and increase the likelihood of negative outcomes, as well as morbidity and mortality. Moreover, women with GDM are at an increased risk of developing depressive symptoms during or after pregnancy.
The study titled “Depressive Symptoms in Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: The LINDA-Brazil Study,” aimed to evaluate the frequency and severity of depressive symptoms in women with GDM depending on one’s sociodemographic status. Researchers believed that GDM causes adverse effects, thus its relation to depression can affect adherence to treatment and increase the likelihood of poor pregnancy outcomes.
This cross-sectional study focused on 820 women with GDM, receiving prenatal care in the Brazilian National Health Systems. The studies were conducted in low and middle-income countries where depression ranged from 17.3% to 57%. The study was conducted as part of a large multicenter randomized clinical trial, LINDA-Brazil study, which aimed to prevent type 2 diabetes in women previously diagnosed with GDM. Participants eligible for the study were women 1 Continue reading

Why A Natural Approach To Treating Type 2 Diabetes Beats Medicine

When I recently read the American Diabetes Association's 2013 Standards of Medical Care for Type 2 Diabetes, I found many extremely alarming guidelines. Foremost is the complete over-reliance on the pharmaceutical management of diabetes and its complications, along with a complete absence of recommendations for use of critical nutritional support. The major shortcoming of pharmaceutical interventions in Type 2 diabetes is that they don't impact the progression of the disease, and in many cases actually accelerate the underlying disease process and increase mortality. Yet this approach is the only one offered by conventional medicine.
The key issue that's not addressed by the ADA or other conventional medical groups dealing with diabetes is that drugs are only biochemical band-aids. There is one fundamental truth that is rarely explained to the patient: Type 2 diabetes in almost every case is a disease caused by diet and lifestyle. Findings from the U.S. government’s Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) clearly support this statement. Of individuals with type 2 diabetes, 69% did not exercise at all or did not engage in regular exercise; 62% ate fewer than five servings of fruits and vegetables per day; and 82% were either overweight or obese.
Among patients with pre-diabetes, a minimum of 150 minutes a week of physical activity similar in intensity to brisk walking was associated with a 58% reduced risk of developing diabetes. This study, the Diabetes Prevention Program, also looked at early drug therapy with metformin as a possible preventio Continue reading

14 Ways to Lower Your Insulin Levels

Tips and tricks for keeping your insulin level down.
By Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE
Insulin is an extremely important hormone that’s produced by your pancreas. It has many functions, such as allowing your cells to take in sugar from your blood for energy. However, too much insulin can lead to serious health problems.
Having high levels, also known as hyperinsulinemia, has been linked to obesity, heart disease and cancer. High blood insulin levels also cause your cells to become resistant to the hormone’s effects. When you become insulin resistant, your pancreas produces even more insulin, creating a vicious cycle.
Here are 14 things you can do to lower your insulin levels.
1. Follow a Low-Carb Diet
Of the three macronutrients — carbs, protein and fat — carbs raise blood sugar and insulin levels the most.For this and other reasons, low-carb diets can be very effective for losing weight and controlling diabetes. Many studies have confirmed their ability to lower insulin levels and increase insulin sensitivity, compared to other diets. People with health conditions characterized by insulin resistance, such as metabolic syndrome and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), may experience a dramatic lowering of insulin with carb restriction.
In one study, individuals with metabolic syndrome were randomized to receive either a low-fat or low-carb diet containing 1,500 calories.Insulin levels dropped by an average of 50% in the low-carb group, compared to 19% in the low-fat group.In another study, when women with PCOS ate a lower-carb diet containing enough calories to maintain Continue reading