Diet, Nutrition and Natural Remedies/Treatments for Diabetes

Diabetes is not just a single disease; it includes a collection of autoimmune diseases.  The diseases result in the same problem: too much sugar in the blood. Your body does need sugar – glucose – for energy, but serious health issues can occur when there is too much sugar in your blood.

Nutrition and diet are surefire ways to good diabetic control. A healthy diet will allow for better metabolic rates that help to properly control glucose levels. In Type II Diabetes, natural treatments along with a good diet can help do away with the need for medications.

How Changing Your Diet and Nutrition Can Help Prevent and Treat Diabetes?

The power of a healthy diet in preventing and treating diabetes cannot be overstated. Everyone of your body’s system relies on the nutrients from different foods in order to function properly.

Vegetables and fruit especially have been shown to add benefits such as balancing your blood sugar. Garbanzo beans, for example, have a lot of fiber which has been shown to keep blood sugar levels from increasing too fast after a meal, making them a great food for diabetics.

Proper diet and nutrition can control blood sugar to better levels which results in improved health. With better health you may be able to decrease the use of side-effect ridden medications. A good diet can also prevent diabetes by helping to keep a healthy weight.

How Can Nutrition and Diet Help Diabetes?

Good nutrition can keep blood sugar levels in a healthy range, control weight, and improve many bodily functions. The result is the need for less or none oral medication.

Those with Type I diabetes who don’t maintain a good diet and use insulin alone as blood sugar control are at risk for diabetic complications. These folks don’t acquire the nutrients provided by a healthy diet and their body systems don’t have what it needs to function properly.

What is Good Healthy Nutrition?

A healthy diet that includes proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water constitutes what professionals determine to be good nutrition.

Take the below guidelines into consideration, you should include these choices when planning healthy meals and snacks:

• Eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains
• Reduce saturated fat and trans fats.
• Eliminate sugar and all sweets
• Small amounts if any of alcoholic drinks
• Portion control to limit calorie intake

A healthy diet, whether it’s for losing weight, preventing or improving disease will include many vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds and lean source of proteins. Diseases, such as diabetes, are controlled and can be prevented by the food we eat.

Dietary supplements are another aspect of nutrition that can help diabetics sustain healthy lifestyles. Supplements can include:

• Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA)
• Chromium
• Cinnamon
• Magnesium

Before taking any supplement, you should check with their health care professionals, such as a nutritionist or naturopaths to determine what is best for your health.

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes means that the human body, specifically the pancreas, is in a state of not being able to make insulin, a hormone, that controls blood sugar. Without insulin, blood sugar (glucose) is not transported into the body’s cells to provide energy necessary to maintain organ function.

The three main types of diabetes are:

• Type I—the body does not make insulin
• Type II (aka. Adult Onset Diabetes, though increasingly found in children)—in which the body does not produce enough insulin, or use it correctly
• Gestational—diabetes that occurs during a woman’s pregnancy.

Type I Diabetes

Type I diabetes, also known as juvenile or insulin-dependent diabetes, is often diagnosed in children, teenagers, or young adults.  In this disorder, the pancreas does not produce insulin due to a malfunction of the body’s immune system. 5 to 10 percent of those with diabetes are Type I diabetics. Type I diabetes requires daily or more insulin injections in order to maintain proper blood sugar levels.

Type II Diabetes

Type II diabetes, also known as adult-onset or non-insulin dependent diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. Approximately, 90-95 percent of diabetics have Type II diabetes. Medications provide assistance to Type II diabetics in maintaining proper insulin use, but exercise and nutrition have proven to be useful in maintaining healthy blood sugar levels and possibly eliminating medications.

Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes is likely to develop in the mother during the late stages of pregnancy and will disappear when the baby is born. Women who have gestational diabetes are at an  increased risk of developing Type II diabetes later in life, especially in overweight individuals.

Diabetes comes with a list of complications to individuals that do not properly control their blood sugar.

The risks include:

• Heart disease—diabetics have a higher risk of congestive heart failure than the rest of the population.
• Blindness and eye diseases
• Kidney problems and failure
• Nerve damage
• Poor circulation in the legs and feet that can lead to neuropathy, because oxygen does not circulate properly when high blood sugar levels are high, wound healing will be slower since the body also needs oxygen to heal.

What causes Diabetes?

The underlying causes of Type I diabetes remain uncertain. Links have been made with Type II diabetes to excess weight, poor diet, and genetics accompanied by a lack of exercise. Some research was establishing correlations that excessive sugar and fat, especially in soda and baked goods, is increasing diabetes.

Reversing Your Type II Diabetes

Type II Diabetes is one of the few diseases that can be 100% reversed with a proper therapeutic diet, lifestyle changes and supplements. If you would like to explore your options to reverse your diabetes feel free to call Dr. Robert @ 201.618.3534 or email him at Rob@drrobertg.com