Simple Health Cures

   People with diabetes must eat a special diet:

   A healthy diet for someone with diabetes is the same as a healthy diet for anyone else. How does that look! A wholesome meal plan is based on whole-grain foods, lean protein, vegetables, and fruit. Such a diet is low in fat (particularly saturated and trans fats) salt, and simple sugars. So called diabetic foods offer no special benefits. The best bet is to skip these costly commercial offerings and head for the produce aisle instead.

   Eating too much sugar causes diabetes:

   No, chocaholics aren’t destined to develop diabetes. The disease is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and lifestyle factors. And the high level of sugar in someone’s bloodstream is not the same thing as the refined stuff you buy in bags from the supermarket. That said, being overweight can increase the risk for developing type 2 diabetes, and eating a lot of sugar can pack on the pounds. It your family has a history of diabetes, eating healthfully and exercising regularly is recommanded to keep everyone’s weight in check. For those who already have diabetes, those same things will help them manage the disease.

   People with diabetes can’t eat anything sweet:

   Relax- despite what you may heard, a piece of cake or a couple of cookies won’t cause a health crisis. In fact, sweets can be eaten in moderation by people with type 2 diabetes, if eaten as part of a healthy meal plan and combined with exercise, according to the American Diabetes association.

   Still while avoiding sweet treats isn’t mandatory, limiting them is. Sweets often contain not only empty calories but a lot of sugar, a carbohydrate that raises glucose levels considerably. For better glucose control, diabetics should have dessert only after a low-carb meal. It’s important to eat that chicken breast, broccoli, and salad before dishing into some ice cream.

   While diabetics people are sometimes seriously overweight, there is accumulating evidence that their overweight is a symptom and not a cause that leads to contracting diabetes. The myth that overeating cause diabetes is under a lot of speculation, since one out of five people who did not overeat are also increasingly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

   This myth originated because often people with type 2 diabetes were found overweight and also because many overweight people faced the problem of insulin resistance. This line of reasoning often led to judgmental conclusions that obesity and overeating solely leads to diabetes and that thin people can have a ball.

   Finding suggest that to contract type 2 diabetes one needs to have a variety of already identified genetic flaws which produce the syndrome called type 2 diabetes. This suggests that there are more than just bad habits to be blamed for diabetes. It was also found that the more diabetes genes an individual has the worse his beta cells preformed.

   It was found that with each abnormal gene found in an individual’s genome, there was an additive effect on that person’s beta cell dysfunction with each additional gene causing poorer beta cell function. If beta cell are only putting out half as much insulin as a normal person’s it takes a lot less stress on those cells to push you into becoming diabetic.

   Along with the above findings there are many other factors that may be the cause for diabetes in thin people:

1) An individual’s mother diet during pregnancy

2) An individual’s mother’s gestational diabetes

3) Pesticides in blood stream

4) Arsenic exposure

5) Treatment for cancer, especially radiation greatly increases risk of diabetes independent of exercise and obesity levels.

   Since what is really inside that counts, a lot of thin people might be in trouble.

   Music seems to have extraordinary magical powers. It has been known to tame wild beasts, make babies smarter, set a romantic mood and let one exercise for longer periods. It is being used as an alternate medicine to gain both physical and mental healing and wellness.People with chronic ailments often try alternative treatments. In addition to activity and diet, relaxation therapies like music also help in managing and healing chronic ailments. They are fairly inexpensive too and provide a sense of well being by lifting one’s spirits.

   Music therapy is an experimental creative therapy. It uses sound vibrations in different manner to provoke a reaction from the patient. In addition it relaxes the patient and reduces stress and anxiety. In diabetes certain aspects of this therapy can help treating the disease or complications arising from the disease.

   The therapy involve either making music or listening to variety of music. Music contributes to vascular and heart health. It promotes a blissful feeling amongst the participants in this therapy.

   Serious pain is a serious problem amongst diabetics. Some pains are persistent no matter what treatment or medicine is used. Music has been helpful in dampening certain pains. It distracts a person’s attention. It may cause the body to release endomorphins, hormones that counteract pain. It may give a person a sense of control and it may relax a person by slowing breathing and heartbeat.

   Diabetes is unique among chronic ailments because to a large extent treatment depends on self management. The self management includes maintaining diet, exercising regularly and checking blood sugars levels. This can lead to stress amongst patients. Clinical research has shown that music can improve respiration, lower blood pressure, reduce heart rate and stress and anxiety.

   Although research is still on in this field, music definitely is proving to calm patients and relieve stress and anxiety and thereby promote well being.

   What are super foods? Science and research have anointed them as anti-stress, life expanding and disease preventing foods. They are legumes, fruits and vegetables that have been around forever. The super foods listed below can be quite beneficial to a diabetic.

Almonds and walnuts. Almonds and walnuts are rich in monosaturated good fat that contains many micro nutrients, Vitamin E and fiber. They are known to lower the risk of heart disease. In addition walnuts also contain omega-3 fatty acids which are known for their health benefits.

Blueberries and strawberries, besides being delicious, they are loaded with properties such as low in calories, rich in iron, fiber and Vitamin C and high in antioxidants.

Dark green, They are delicious, satisfying and rich in nutrients. If looking for calcium, folate, Vitamin C, potassium, carotenoids and fiber, your mantra should br GO GREEN. The choice is plenty, broccoli, soinach, kale, etc to name a few.

Beans, they are rich in protein, fiber slow metabolizing complex carbohydrates and folic acid.

Garlic, This spice lower cholesterol and blood pressure. It also reduces the risk of heart attacks and retards growth of harmful bacteria.

Yellow fruits, Apricots, sweet potatoes, citrus fruits, carrots, peaches and butternut squash. They are loaded with carotenoids, the powerful heart protectors. In addition they contain fiber, Vitamin A and C, beta-carotene and potassium

Fish, Wild salmon and other fatty fish caught in wild contain the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids that lower cardic risks.

Olive Oil, this monosaturated fat is beneficial in lowering cholesterol and fighting heart disease.

Dark chocolate, contains flavonols and antixidants that improve the flow of blood throughtout the body and reduce blood pressure.

Green tea, low in caffeine, and if drunk on regular basis it is known to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.

If included in the daily diet theses super foods can improve one’s life phenomenally and help fight diseases.

   Exercise is beneficial for both diabetics and other without diabetes. According to researchers, people on the brink of developing diabetes who follow exercise and deit regime can turn things around and avoid the disease. Type 2 diabetes is linked with poor exercise and lack of deit.

   Through exercise people can lose weight and this weight is generally accompanied by a lowering of their rate of diabetes. Diabetes can be avoided or delayed through intensive effect and this intensive effort translates into exercise. Exercise has the potential to control diabetes through non medical means.

   It also has the ability to reduce its severity and in the process long term complications associated with diabetes. It helps control diabetes by:

   Improving body’s insulin usage

   Improving insulin sensitivity by burning excess body fat

   Improving muscle strenght

   Increasing strength

   Reducing stress and bone density

   Reducing stress and anxiety

   Along with proper nutrition, aeroblic exercise can increase insulin sensitivity and can help restore normal glucose metabolism by reducing body fat. Strenght training is also known to decrease fat by increasing metabolism. It also increases glucose uptake by muscle and enhances their ability to store glucose.

   Medication alone cannot make a diabetic feel good and enjoy a full life. A combination of exercise and nutrition can not only control diabetes but can prolong an individual’s life and improve its quality, which really matters in the long run. It’s not the quantity of life that matters if not combined with great quality.

   Since diabetics after exercising can see a twenty percent decrease in thier blood glucose levels, measuring one’s blood glucose before exercising can be a good motivator. One must remeber regardless of diabetes and weight problems that exercise is a lifetime commitment and should be done at least three to four times a week.

   Diabetes and its complication can be life altering. It can becomes very strenuous and taxing to live with health problems caused by disbetes. Short term complications can happen quickly such as hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, ketoaidosis, and hyper-osmolar syndrome.

   Long term complications such as heart disease, kidney disease, neuropathy disease of the eyes, peripheral vascular disease and more can seriously compromise the diabetic person.

   Some of the complication arising due to diabetes are as follows.

   Atherosclerosis- In simple words it translates to hardening of arteries, which can lead to coronary arterial disease, peripheral arterial disease, a stroke or a heart attack.

   Diabetic retinopathy- It is eyes disease without any early symptoms and warning and can lead loss of vision.

   Diabetic neuropathy- It is a nerve disease, which effects internal organs and causes loss of sensation especially in the feet.

   Sexual dysfunction and yeast infections in the genital areas- which may lead to a loss in sexual intercourse.

   Risk of tuberculosis- It is increased due to uncontrolled hyperglycemia, and since tuberculosis is an airborne disease it is difficult to protect a diabetic from contracting it.

   Adhesive capsulitis- Also known as “frozen shoulder” it is a condition in which the individual loses mobility in the shoulder joint over a period of time and it is a very painful condition to live with.

   Depression and diabetes go hand in hand to make the individual’s life miserable.

   Loss of limbs is another complication of diabetes.

   Although the above mentioned complications arising due to disbetes are overwhelming, there is a lot that one can do to protect oneself through blood glucose control, exercise and diet.

   Diabetes is a silent killer… it preys on one’s body like an animal in the wild. It can take away one’s limbs, eyes and also eat away one’s organ. This deadly disease is capable of many things to create havoc in one’s life. It is important to remember not to ignore this lethal disease for it won’t ignore and spare anyone affected.

   The general population doesn’t regard diabetes as the silent killer, but the medical community does. Diabetes is one of the top 10 killers in the medical world and diabetic heart disease accounts for most deaths. Due to the vague and subtle symptoms that are typical of diabetes, it is one of the most common undiagnosed diseases.

   It doesn’t kill one suddenly, but high blood sugar levels gradually damage all the blood vessels throughtout the body, sometimes for years before one gets diagnosed. It is also associated with other silent killers, namely hypertension and high cholesterol.

   Consider this once one is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, he has to spend the rest of their life injecting himself with insulin three to four times a day, have an increased chance of contracting cardio vascular disease, blindness and loss of limbs. Isn’t that enough to classify this deadly disease as a silent killer?

   According to a survey, more than 80 years have elapsed since the discovery of insulin, a hormone that has charged this lethal disease into a chronic yet manageable condition. Despite this diabetics still have a life expectancy of 15 years less than average.

   Managing the disease is important because not only does it shorten one’s life but also affects the quality of life. If not managed properly it can result into organ failure and other life threatening ailments like high blood pressure, heart disease, heart failure, kidney disease and renal failure. That’s why Diabetes is called A Silent Killer.

   An alkaline body is healthy and able to fight off and heal itself from disease. An acid body contains the key ingredient that disease feeds on- ACID! Acid is the food that allows disease grow and spread throughtout the body. The best chance for fighting or even reversing disease is by alkalizing your body. Drinking the right water is the first place to start since your body IS 70% water.

   Excess acid in your body leads to imbalance and a disorganization of your cells. Disorganized cells became sick such as in Diabetes. The waste products of these cells are also unhealthy leading to more acid for disease to feed on. When disease has its favorite, most nourishing food (acid) it easily grows and reproduces even more diseased cells. Eventually you arrive at the point of no return- death.

   Drinking alkaline water is important because it neutralizes acids helping you create an alkaline body. When you became alkaline you have the tools needed to choke out the acids that disease thrives on therefore starving your disease! Just like anything else, once you starve it, eventually it dies. Replacing your diet with more alkaline foods also helps to Alkaline your body.

   Excess acid and its waste products are toxic making it difficult if not impossible for you to becoming alkaline. This waste floats around in your interstitial fluids- the fluids your cells bathe in, receive their nutrients from and also where they eliminate their waste into. Those wastes then stick to your cells and cannot be eliminated out of the body. Your body tells you (or rather, screams out at you) there is a problem, a build-up-you of acids. it tells you in the form of symptoms.

   An your body functions efficiently. Drinking alkaline water is the quickest and easiest way to alkaline because it cleans up your interstitial fluid so your cells and organs can absorb nutrients and excrete toxic waste more effectivity. It also continuously detoxifies you.   You get alkalized and detoxified at the same time.

   When your body is properly balanced (acid to alkaline), it is a happy body full of energy, mental clarity, ease of movement, free of pain and able to do the things it loves to do and was designed to do. It is also able to fight off premature aging. Alkaline water can turn an acidic body into an alkalic body rather quickly. Give your body the proper tools it needs to heal itself and keep it healthy so you can live your life to the fullest.

   What an individual eats is closely connected to the amount of sugar in the blood stream. Hence it seems only natural that the food choices one makes will be helpful in regulating the blood glucose levels. There isn’t a specific diabetes diet, what helps one is a designed meal plan.

   A meal plan tells an individual how much food and what kind of food one can eat. For most people who have diabetes a healthy diet consists of 40% to 60% of calories from carbohydrates, 20% from protein and 30% or less from fat. It should be low in cholesterol, low in salt and low in added sugar.

   Eating right is a key step to preventing and controlling diabetes. The key to a diabetes diet is eating in moderation, sticking to regular mealtimes, and eating a varity of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Although diabetes is on rise, most cases of diabetes are preventable through healthy lifestyle changes. In some cases through good nutrition diabetes can be reversed too.

   Here are a few guidelines for eating right:

1. What one eats makes a large difference to one’s health. It means including maximum plant food in one’s diet, cutting back on refined carbonhydrates and choosing healthy fats over unhealthy ones.

2. Eating on time is also  very important part of nutrition because sticking to regular meal times can affect blood sugar levels and can help in keeping them more constant.

3. How much one eats also matter. Portion sizes should be taken care of because overeating can increase weight which can have adverse effect on body since eight gain and diabetes are related.

   A diabetes diet is simply a healthy eating plan that is high in nutrients, low in fat, and moderate in calories. It is a healthy diet for anyone.

   Garlic, folk medicine has often used onion bulbs and garlic cloves to lower blood sugars significantly. Subsequently, scientific studies have proven that the presence of disulfides in onions and garlic such as allyl propyl and diallyl sulfide have played a role in the decrease of blood glucose levels. They have been seen to have actions similiar to Tolubtamide, a sulfonylurea drug of the first generation. They act on the pancreas and stimulate the production of insulin so as to control the sugar levels in the blood. It is those people with type 2 diabetes who benefit the most out of this. A minimum intake of about 50 ml of its juice everyday presents a considerable decline in blood sugar levels. Taken orally 50 ml of their juice daily has been shown to improve glucose control.

  Fenugreek Seed, of the Fenugreek plant has been discovered to produce a positive effect in the metabolism of glucose in the body. Fenugreek seeds are chopped finely and served as a flavorful spice in the uS. But in India and in Middle East, it is more popular as a treatment for diabetes. These seeds are soaked in water until the following morning, then eaten alone or combined with other foods. There are studies showing a decrease in the fasting blood sugar levels when tested on diabetics. They are also found to lower cholesterol levels since they contain a gel-like soluble fiber which combines with bile acid and lowers cholesterol levels. For therapeutic purposes, about 3 1/2 ounces of fenugreek seeds are to be taken in daily.

   Bitter Gourd, or sometimes called the balsam pear is the most commonly used herb to combat diabetes. It often grows in countries from Africa, South America and Asia. Just a quarter cup of the exract of bitter gourd is enough to bring down blood glucose levels by twenty percent. Glucose tolerance was also improved in seventy five percent of people with type 2 diabetes when treated with the extract of bitter gourd. The juice or unripe fruit of the bitter gourd plant has also the ability to bring down blood sugars levels. This is due to the number of sterols it contains that acts like sulfonylurea drugs to produce lowered blood sugar levels. The only setback of this herb is its extremely bitter taste.