Diabetes - Help wanted

To prevent Diabetes, one must carefully regulate his/her intake of sugar and carbohydrates. Turmeric, aloe vera, cinnamon, bitter gourd, ginger, bilberry and okra are some of the herbs your friend might want one to consider to treat his Diabetes problems. Regular monitoring of blood glucose level is also highly recommended in addition to constant exercise and sweating out excess sugar in your body. There are also a number of herbal supplements which your friend may be interested in such as Intra and Noni juice.

 

My father has diabetes and my mother is borderline so they both watch their diet. They have low GI foods like porridge and sweet potatoes which help control their sugar levels, they don't have any added salt or sugar, no fruit juices (or a small amount) they eat wholewheat bread and pasta and try not to eat too many carbs late in the day. Both eat steamed vegetables and also drink the broth from the vegetables or use it as stock.

Another thing my dad does is eat a small amount before he goes to sleep, so he doesn't feel faint in the morning or get hypoglycemic, just a slice of toast or a couple of sweet potatoes. Also if they are very active, they should eat something like a banana straightaway. My father did some DIY and then nearly fainted as he had used up all his sugar in his body.

 

This probably isn't the best place to seek actual "medical advice" but as far as very basic tips go, one of the most important aspects is regulating blood sugar. Highs and lows can both be an issue. Keeping blood glucose levels on an even keel will help. Instead of large meals, eat small snacks at regular intervals. Watching sugar intake isn't the only thing either. Starches also play a role. One of the best ways I've heard it described is like a time release pill... sugars, starches, etc. up your blood sugar quickly. Fats and proteins are processed at a much slower rate, like a time release.

There are a lot of good resources online for diabetic information, as well as many special diet recipes for things like diabetes.

 

Hello H.C. Heartland! I am assuming that you are discussing type II diabetes mellitus here. This metabolic disease is one that commonly affects the older population and has multiple causes that unfortunately are not well established. For now, the main culprits are the interaction of environmental and genetic factors meaning your lifestyle choices for example (diet, lifestyle etc.) and the genes you got from your parents! The other form of diabetes, type I, commonly affects the younger ones and diagnosis is typically made before the patient turns 22 years.

In type II diabetes, the main problem is that your body is no longer sensitive to a hormone called insulin, which is necessary to regulate blood sugar levels (keep them from fluctuating too much throughout the day). When we have a meal rich in carbohydrates, they get converted into sugar and insulin is needed to allow our body cells to take them up so that sugar levels in the blood remains relatively constant. We need this to be constant as too high or too low levels will affect normal body functioning. To answer your question, the main way of preventing diabetes is having an active lifestyle (regular physical exercise) and having a healthy diet that is low in fats and sugars, since being overweight or obese also can result in diabetes as a result of fat cells (adipocytes) releasing harmful chemical (adipokines) which makes your body resistant to insulin as well, leading to diabetes. If you do suspect your husband has diabetes, it is important for him to get it checked out as soon as possible since early intervention and treatment can help prevent further complications of diabetes. A simple blood test will be able to tell. I hope this helps and should you need more information, I'm willing to discuss this further!

 

You definitely need to work closely with your doctor to create and follow a care plan that will include diet, meds and longterm care. You really have to keep your symptoms under control to prevent the disease from wreaking havoc and exacerbating the symptoms.

 

I have read reports that seem to link the intake of soda and some sweetened foods to the increase of people with type II Diabetes. It is a form of insulin resistant Diabetes. They said that some people just cannot seem to break these sugars down correct, with time they grow to be obese and susceptible to all sorts of health issues. I am not certain if it is just foods that are high in high fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners. I do know my dad told me about it and I didn't believe it, then I read it later and it made sense because so many more people were getting sick. I am sure you can find the article easily, it was not that long ago I read it.

 

My father is also suffering from diabetes, our family doctor suggest him to maintain healthy weight, regular exercise and be physically active. I think eating balanced diet, low in fat and sugar is also best way to prevent diabetes and it is recommended that one should increase fresh fruits and vegetables in diet schedule.

 

Hey Mockingbird! There indeed is a link between excessive sweet foods and an increased risk of developing type II diabetes mellitus. In terms of dietary causes, these are known as environmental factors. The link between excessive sweet foods and diabetes is that firstly, these excess sugars are broken down by the body during digestion into simple sugars e.g. glucose so that cells in our body can take them up and use them. Insulin is necessary for these cells to take them up, not just for usage, but also as a means of preventing excessively high blood glucose levels. When this process is hindered as in diabetes mellitus type II, due to the cells being resistant or less/non-responsive to insulin, the sugars remain in the blood causing what we call hyperglycaemia. Also, excess sugars are converted into fats for storage mainly by our liver. Excess storage of fats results in obesity, and these fats are stored in cells called adipocytes, or fat cells, which releases hormones which have only recently been proven to result in insulin resistance. The above is the reason why most patients with type II diabetes mellitus have problems of hyperglycaemia (which causes increased urination or polyuria, excessive thirst and a loss of weight despite an increased appetite) as well as hyperinsulinaemia (excess levels of insulin in the blood produced by our pancreas as the body attempts to use more insulin to overcome the insulin resistance). Hence, diabetes is more of a problem of being unable to properly utilise or take up glucose for breaking down rather than a problem of breaking the sugars down itself. What your dad said is true, and that obesity indeed causes many other problems, especially cardiovascular disease (heart), cerbrovascular disease (brain) and kidney disease for example. These diseases are often interlinked where one complicates of worsens the other. Hence, the best cure is prevention! =)