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Natural Remedies for Diabeties

 

 

 

 

Natural remedies for Diabetes

Diabetic? Not sure what to eat? Then this list is just for you. Read about the many offerings nature has, which will help keep your diabetes in check.

We understand that as a diabetic, your diet is of utmost importance. And that sometimes those sweet cravings are just way too hard to resist! So we bring you a list of natural goodies that tantalize your taste buds, are easy to find and as a bonus, are great for your health!

Pears: Rich in potassium and loaded with fibre, a pear is also low in carbohydrates! Add them in your fruit bowl or mix it up with spinach to get an instant fix for your hunger pangs. Despite the fact that fruits and vegetables are good for you, there’s no denying the fact that some of them contain sugar and carbohydrates, albeit in small amounts. So keep your portions small and do check with your nutritionist before any major diet changes.

Cabbage: Cabbage has a low glycaemic index of 10 which is very diabetes friendly. It is also a rich source of vitamin C and K. However, keep an eye on the fat content if you are including cabbage in your diet.

Berries: Tempting red strawberries or indigo coloured blueberries or just any berries for that matter. Experts advice that these little colourful fruits are rich in antioxidants, vitamins and fibre and are low-carb! So top off your breakfast with some strawberries or just toss them in your mouth. It adds a pop of colour and a dollop of health!

Oranges: Despite the fact that an orange contains sugar, it also contains other compounds that help control blood glucose, which makes it good for a diabetes patient. The soluble fibre present in an orange thickens as it’s being digested. This in turn slows down the sugar absorption, offering better control of your blood sugar.

Beans: Kidney beans, black beans or lentils have been shown to have immense health benefits for a diabetic. They are low fat, low calorie and high protein! They make you feel full, slow down your digestion process and prevent blood sugar from spiking.

Spinach: Is there nothing this superfood can’t do? Research shows that green, leafy and fresh spinach is extremely low in calories and carbohydrates, which is especially good news if you are a diabetic. In fact, spinach is one of the rare things that a diabetic can eat almost freely!

Apples: Low in calories and carbohydrate content, this portable fruit can be toted around easily in your bag, making it the perfect snack. Fibrous, with tonnes of vitamins and antioxidants, this diabetes-friendly fruit will add a crunchy and healthy punch to your diet.

Okra (Lady’s finger): This vegetable is a sure shot hit with kids and diabetics! Like brinjals and oranges, the presence of soluble fibre in okra makes this humble vegetable one of the best things to eat if you are diabetic.

Brinjal: Non-starchy, low carbohydrate and soluble fibre, could a vegetable be more perfect for diabetes? Load up on this easily available vegetable and enjoy the goodness that it offers!

Cherries: If you have a sweet tooth, don’t worry! Sweet cherries are good for you! The sugar in them is natural. To add to that, they have a low calorie count and a minimal carbohydrate level! But make sure you check the labels before you pick up a can of cherries as many of them are loaded with artificial sweeteners!

Diabetes is among the most debilitating of lifestyle diseases, often the precursor to many other types of health disorders such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases and chronic illnesses of the eye. Most diabetics tend to depend upon taking medications, many of which include hormone supplementation injections and drugs for controlling the sugar levels. Though these aids are often critical for managing cases where diabetes seems to have turned into an incurable condition, it is always better to seek natural cures. These natural remedies don’t put forth the kind of side-effects associated with stronger medications and can be resourced from our everyday supplies.

Drink water
Water tends to mobilize the high sugar content in blood and thereby helps in preventing aggravation. Drinking 2.5 litres of water, on a daily basis, will not only regulate physical functions but will also lower chances of cardiovascular and diabetic ailments.

Green Tea
Green tea is nothing less than a miracle cure for ailments. Consuming a cup of unsweetened green tea regularly will rid the body of free radicals and let the antioxidants, contained within, normalize the blood sugar levels. This will aid in reducing diabetes and help keep the chances at bay.

Vinegar
Vinegar is an excellent dietary compound responsible for diluting concentrated sugar-levels in the blood. Studies have shown that two spoonfuls of vinegar before a meal can reduce the glucose influx.

Fresh Fruits
Natural fruit sugars are the best options, as dietary supplements, since they provide all the necessary vitamins and minerals required. Studies have shown that an adequate intake of Vitamin A and C maintains blood and bone health. Include fresh citrus fruits like oranges, apples, pineapples, grapes and lemons in your diet. Consume bananas in moderation, since their sugar structure is more complex than that of citrus fruits.

Exercise
Proper exercise is the key element in maintaining optimum health. Studies have shown that exercise improves the blood flow and clears sugar levels in the blood. This results in higher metabolism and lower risks of diabetes.

Soy
Soy proteins are one of the miracle cures for reducing diabetes among crucial patients. The isoflavones contained in them reduce the sugar content in blood and keep the body nourished, while accumulating much fewer calories, when compared to other foods.

Sunlight
Studies have shown that moderate exposure to sunlight boosts the physical synthesis of vitamin D, which is essential for doing away with insulin resistance in the body. Lack of Vitamin D results in low insulin production. While soaking up the sun might sound like an excellent yet easy remedy, to reduce diabetes levels, one must pay attention not to overexpose themselves to avoid risks of skin cancer.

Fresh Vegetables
Fresh vegetables are rich sources of iron, zinc, potassium, calcium and other essential nutrients. These nutrients restore the balance and aid in overall cardiovascular and nervous health. This prompts the body to assimilate proteins and produce insulin in an optimum level.

Lean Meat
Lean meats are great substitutes for non-vegetarians under diabetes risk. The high protein content is essential to sustain physical well-being, since fats and high-carbohydrate diets are out of the question.

Cinnamon Powder
Powdered cinnamon, apart from spicing up your foods, has the ability to lower blood sugar levels, as well. Take a pinch of cinnamon with warm water every day and kiss diabetes goodbye.

Sleep Well
A good night’s sleep is as essential for proper health, as food or exercise. Studies have shown that adults sleeping for 7-8 hours every night have experienced lesser chances of contracting diabetes in the long run, than those who sleep for fewer hours. The science behind it claims that sleep calms the brain and facilitates the normal hormone secretion. Lack of sleep upsets the normal hormonal balance.

Small, Frequent Meals
High metabolic rates are highly conducive in maintaining blood-sugar levels and nothing keeps metabolism more fired up than consuming small portions, frequently. Studies have shown that frequent meals result in greater absorption of nutrients and lesser deposition of fat. Without fat deposition, the insulin secretion is normalized.

Using Methi Seeds: Fenugreek or Methi seeds are considered the most effective of natural cures that can help alleviate typical symptoms of diabetes. Methi seeds should be soaked in water overnight. The water concentrated with the seeds’ juices should be consumed early in the morning on an empty stomach. For making this natural concoction stronger, you can crush the seeds and sieve them through a cloth or filter paper.

Using Natural Juices: Some juices have been found to be effective in controlling high sugar levels that can prove fatal for diabetics. These are juices of fruits and vegetables that are further enriched with antioxidants and many rare micronutrients. The most recommended variety here is the Bitter Gourd or Karela juice. Other options include grape juice or the juice-like extract made from boiling mango leaves in water.

Aloe Gel Remedy: An effective, natural concoction for diabetes can be prepared by adding a few teaspoons of ground Bay Leaf (Tejpatra) with one teaspoon of turmeric. This mixture should be mixed with an equal amount of aloe vera gel and consumed daily, before lunch and dinner.

Using Chapattis to Your Advantage: Another useful way of managing diabetes is increasing the daily intake of fiber in the natural form. This includes increasing the fiber content in chappatis that tend to be eaten with regularity in Indian homes. The refined flour should be mixed with a combination of flours procured from different cereals, particularly those high in soluble fiber. This includes flours of barley and lentils like Chana Dal and soya bean.

Using Jarul or Banaba: Diabetics can use Banaba or Jarul plant extract. Banaba is among the lesser known of herbal plants in India. Along with India, it is grown in only a handful of other nations. The herbal powder of Banaba extract can be used to make herbal tea. This plant contains high concentrations of contains Corosolic acid—the most potent of biochemical compounds that stimulate faster glucose metabolism and help to regulate blood sugar and insulin levels that is very useful for combating diabetes.

Jamun: Jamun is one of the rarest plants where nearly each part, the leaves, berry and seeds are known to help in controlling blood sugar levels. Neem leaves are useful in a similar manner. Amla or the Indian goose Berry is similarly effective in managing sugar levels. Instead of using only Neem leaves, you can also add leaves of Tulsi and Bel Patra. All these leaves can be boiled together for increasing the potency of the filtered extract.

They are too smart to go to school

Did you know that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was a college dropout? Some people are too smart to be confined to the classroom walls! Here's a look at other famous school/college dropouts. Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar never attended a college. Steve Jobs got himself enrolled in Reed College in Oregon, but one semester later, he dropped out. Reliance founder Dhirubhai Ambani was only 16 when he left for Aden to work as a clerk owing to financial issues in family. After scoring a near-perfect 1590 on his SATs, Gates enrolled at Harvard but left without a degree to start Microsoft Corp. Larry Ellison, Oracle co-founder, attended the University of Illinois but left at the end of his second year, as he skipped the exams following the death of his adoptive mother. He then went to the University of Chicago, but didn't stay beyond a term. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange attended the University of Melbourne, majoring in physics and mathematics. He received only a minimum grade for math and left the university soon to start his own venture. After the wonder effect of Facebook, Zuckerberg packed his dreams and left Harvard to relocate to Silicon Valley. American aviator Charles Lindbergh, the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, quit the University of Wisconsin and took flying classes instead. Genius director Quentin Tarantino is a high school dropout who went to work in a video store for his love for movies. Steven Spielberg was not known for his academic excellence. Interestingly, he even failed to get admission into a film-making institute! Sir Richard Branson had a difficult time in school because of his dyslexia. He left school when he was only 16. Doris Lessing, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007, had to end her formal schooling when she was 14. She had worked as a nanny, telephone operator, stenographer, and a journalist before becoming a novelist at the age of 31. Fashion designer Ralph Lauren, the founder of Polo, left the City College of New York business school to design ties for Beau Brummel. He launched Polo later that same year. Former American Idol judge Simon Cowell dropped out of school at age 16 and landed a job in the mailroom at EMI. At 23 he left to start his own record label, Fanfare.

Fruits for the best of HEalth

Walk to \stay healthy

"Walking is man's best medicine."                                                                                - Hippocrates Hippocrates must have been a smart guy! There's a wealth of research to prove that walking is good for you and the results are impressive: major reductions in both diabetes and heart disease, decreases in high blood pressure, increases in bone density, and more all follow regular walking exercise. In this article, I'll cover how walking can help you, how much you need to do to gain benefits, types of walking and techniques, how to get started, and other valuable information. Ten Tips for Fitness Walking Medical Author: Melissa Conrad St?ppler, MD Medical Editor: Dennis Lee, MD Walking is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to stay physically fit. It's also a versatile form of exercise that can be done indoors (many malls and public buildings offer walking routes) or outdoors, and you can tailor the intensity of your exercise based upon your individual abilities and goals. Whether you'd like to begin walking for exercise or if you're already established in the habit, these tips can help you get the most from your workout. Before starting a walking program, check with your doctor if you have a chronic medical condition or if you have had a recent injury. But don't assume that you aren't able to start exercise walking if you do have medical issues. Exercise walking can help control disease progression and relieve symptoms in people with cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and many people with arthritis or other musculoskeletal problems will experience symptom relief from a medically-supervised exercise walking routine. Invest in good shoes. Since these are the only expense and equipment you'll need, pay attention to the fit and quality of your shoes. Shoes should fit when you try them on without any areas of pinching or pressure that could cause blisters or calluses. Wear the type of socks you'll wear when walking when you purchase your shoes, and remember that you'll likely need a larger-sized shoe than you normally wear if you plan to wear thick socks. Shoes should have good arch support and a slightly elevated heel with stiff material to support the heel when walking and prevent wobbling. Always warm up by walking at a slow or normal walking pace for five minutes before picking up the tempo of your workout. Do you remember your first step? Remember your first step? What a fuss everyone made! And then you continued to walk right on through childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood, but somewhere along the way, like most adults, you probably stopped walking so much. In fact, the percentage of adults who spent most of their day sitting increased from 36.8% in 2000 to 39.9% in 2005! Part of the reason may be your hectic, stressful life, with not a moment to spare for recreation or formal exercise. The environment plays a part too; inactivity has been engineered into our lives, from escalators to remote controls to riding lawn mowers to robotic vacuum cleaners to electric toothbrushes to the disappearance of sidewalks and safe places to walk. But research shows that all this automation is bad for our health. Inactivity is the second leading preventable cause of death in the United States, second only to tobacco use. You'd think a simple activity like walking would be just that, simple. But fewer than 50% of American adults do enough exercise to gain any health or fitness benefits from physical activity. Is walking our salvation? I don't know for sure, but evidence suggests that it's probably a good start. What are the top 10 reasons to walk? Walking prevents type 2 diabetes. The Diabetes Prevention Program showed that walking 150 minutes per week and losing just 7% of your body weight (12-15 pounds) can reduce your risk of diabetes by 58%. Walking strengthens your heart if you're male. In one study, mortality rates among retired men who walked less than one mile per day were nearly twice that among those who walked more than two miles per day. Walking strengthens your heart if you're female. Women in the Nurse's Health Study (72,488 female nurses) who walked three hours or more per week reduced their risk of a heart attack or other coronary event by 35% compared with women who did not walk. Walking is good for your brain. In a study on walking and cognitive function, researchers found that women who walked the equivalent of an easy pace at least 1.5 hours per week had significantly better cognitive function and less cognitive decline than women who walked less than 40 minutes per week. Think about that! Walking is good for your bones. Research shows that postmenopausal women who walk approximately one mile each day have higher whole-body bone density than women who walk shorter distances, and walking is also effective in slowing the rate of bone loss from the legs. Walking helps alleviate symptoms of depression. Walking for 30 minutes, three to five times per week for 12 weeks reduced symptoms of depression as measured with a standard depression questionnaire by 47%. Walking reduces the risk of breast and colon cancer. Women who performed the equivalent of one hour and 15 minutes to two and a half hours per week of brisk walking had an 18% decreased risk ofbreast cancer compared with inactive women. Many studies have shown that exercise can prevent colon cancer, and even if an individual person develops colon cancer, the benefits of exercise appear to continue both by increasing quality of life and reducing mortality. Walking improves fitness. Walking just three times a week for 30 minutes can significantly increase cardiorespiratory fitness. Walking in short bouts improves fitness, too! A study of sedentary women showed that short bouts of brisk walking (three 10-minute walks per day) resulted in similar improvements in fitness and were at least as effective in decreasing body fatness as long bouts (one 30-minute walk per day). Walking improves physical function. Research shows that walking improves fitness and physical function and prevents physical disability in older persons. The list goes on, but if I continued, there'd be no time for you to start walking! Suffice to say that walking is certainly good for you! courtesy : medicinenet images from  the internet