Diabetes

Natural Therapies and Diabetes

With a Natural Therapy approach the progressive decline in general health associated with diabetes can be halted and for many significantly reversed.

Type 2 Diabetes

Much of what you have probably heard about diabetes may be incorrect. Type 2 Diabetes is NOT a Disease of Blood Sugar but a disease of faulty insulin and leptin signalling.  

Leptin: Is It the Missing Link Between Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes? 

Leptin is a hormone produced in your fat cells. One of leptin's primary roles is regulating your appetite and body weight. It tells your brain when to eat, how much to eat, and most importantly, when to stop eating. Leptin tells your brain what to do with the energy it has; either burn calories at a normal rate or slow things down. Leptin is largely responsible for the accuracy of insulin signalling and whether or not you become insulin resistant. 

When your blood sugar becomes elevated, insulin is released to direct the extra energy into storage. A small amount is stored as a starch called glycogen, but the majority is stored as fat. Insulin's major role is not to lower your blood sugar, but rather to store the extra energy as fat for future times of need. Insulin’s effect of lowering your blood sugar is merely a “side effect” of this energy (fat) storage process. 

This is why diabetes treatments concentrating merely on lowering blood sugar can actually worsen, rather than remedy the problem of metabolic miscommunication. 
Taking insulin is one of the WORST things you can do for type 2 diabetes, since it will actually worsen your insulin and leptin resistance over time. 

Medications & supplements are NOT the answer for Type 2 diabetes; restoring your sensitivity to insulin and leptin is what’s needed. The only known way to re-establish proper leptin (and insulin) signalling is through a low carbohydrate diet. This means limited or no sugarand carbohydrates that rapidly cause elevated blood sugar levels including bread, biscuits, cereal, pasta, rice and potatoes.  

Most people are not aware that grains are a high source of a sugar called maltose, this is broken down by enzymes in the small intestine into glucose. One cup of cooked rice or pasta is equal to 10 teaspoons of table sugar and an average slice of bread is equal to 3 teaspoons of sugar. Grains also contain lectins which gain access to your blood via the small intestine and block leptin signalling.  

Be prepared for the side effects because choosing to eliminate sugar and grains from your diet will inevitably cause you to: • Normalize your weight • Increase your energy • Lower your blood pressure • Lower triglycerides • Feel better than you have felt in years 

Most Type 2 diabetics have no idea how to reverse their disease and many don’t even realize that they can. They believe their fate has been sealed and all they can do now is “control” it. Unfortunately, by following conventional advice, you could be putting yourself on the path toward life threatening health problems—and even premature death. 

Type 2 diabetes is at the beginning a less serious disease;however, it probably causes more heart attacks, strokes, and amputations than Type 1. These complications of Type 2 proliferate, no doubt, because it is initially milder and is often left untreated or treated poorly.

Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes

Most diabetes drugs work by increasing the amount of insulin in the blood, slowing the release of glucose by the liver, or slowing the absorption of food by the intestines. Since they do not increase insulin sensitivity, they can only help fight a losing battle, albeit poorly. 

People with Type 2 diabetes would do better to pursue therapies that increase the sensitivity of insulin receptors. 

Chromium is an essential trace element required for normal carbohydrate metabolism. Chromium increases insulin binding, the number of insulin receptors, & insulin sensitivity. It can reduce cravings for starches and sugary foods & can also reduce dependence on diabetes medications. Magnesium deficiency causes insulin resistance and elevated blood sugar levels. 

Supplementing magnesium can substantially decrease this resistance to insulin. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that also helps improve insulin action. Alpha Lipoic Acid normalizes blood sugar levels in diabetics and also reduces the secondary effects of diabetes, including retinopathy, cataracts, nerve and heart damage, as well as increasing energy levels. It is used in the treatment of both insulin-dependent and non-insulin dependent diabetes. Niacin is an essential component of glucose tolerance factor. Niacinamide can help restore beta cells or at least slow their destruction. Zinc is involved in all aspects of insulin metabolism and is protective against beta cell destruction. Manganese is a cofactor in many enzymes of glucose control, energy production and thyroid hormone production. Diabetics have only half the Mn of normal persons. Gymnemasylvestre is a herb that enhances production of insulin & promotes regeneration of pancreas beta-cells. It improves glycaemic control in Type 1 &Type 2 Diabetes reducing hypoglycaemic drug needs. Cinnamon contains a substance that acts almost as a substitute for insulin, as well as encouraging insulin to work better in the body.

Type 1 Diabetes

The conventional approach to Type 1 Diabetes has been to monitor carbohydrate intake and use insulin to offset it accordingly. 

While taking insulin is an essential piece of managing Type 1 diabetes,many Type1 diabetics using insulin therapy lack good glycaemic control. Diet can greatly impact how much reliance a patient needs to have on insulin.

Insulin injections can lead to insulin resistance and cause the same problems as it does in Type 2 Diabetes including weight gain and hypoglycemic reactions (low blood sugar).Some people may experience soreness around the injection site, swelling, and other uncomfortable symptoms, so why not try to minimize them? Fewer carbohydrates in the diet can lead to fewer insulin injections and less severe blood sugar swings resulting in overall better healthSimilar treatment strategies of following a low carbohydrate diet and taking nutritional supplements used for managing Type 2 Diabetes can reduce the risk of diabetic complications in Type 1 and improve general health, wellbeing & lifestyle. 

If you have already noticed changes in eyesight, have experienced numbness, tingling or pain in your hands or feet, have problems with digestion or have suspicious rashes or sores on the lower limbs you may already be on the way to developing kidney damage, diabetic retinopathy, peripheral neuritis, stroke, gastro paresis, heart disease and chronic peripheral arterial occlusion, which is the direct cause of ulcers, gangrene and amputations.  

You do not have to accept these debilitating complaints as inevitable! 

Linda Lowen is a qualified Naturopath with a special interest in Diabetes. Linda will design a diet plan that significantly improves your blood sugar profile, greatly reducing the risk of these complications. 

In addition to the nutritional supplements already mentioned there are many herbs that can only be prescribed by a qualified Herbalist, which can very gently restore strength & function to organs, nerves and blood vessels; therefore the progressive decline in general health associated with diabetes can be halted and for many significantly reversed. 

Pre- Diabetes

Many people will live with insulin resistance in a pre-diabetic state for decades before they are finally diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. During this time the high blood sugar levels damage their organs and blood vessels and the high insulin levels damage their nerves. They are probably treated for high blood pressure, may have developed some heart disease or had a stroke, are overweight, may show early signs of dementia, may already have some minor nerve damage (tingling, numbness or burning particularly in the feet) and could be prone to fungal infections.

Tell tale signs are carrying excess fat around the waist, sugar cravings, difficulty losing weight despite a low-calorie diet, fatigue and energy drops and hypoglycaemia. There will be a few people that will be quite slim and suffer more with hypoglycemics events.  

With a sensible approach to diet & exercise patients diagnosed with hyper-insulinemia and deemed to be pre-diabetic can reverse the process and never develop diabetes.

If you would like to use a natural approach contact Linda Lowen the best naturopath in Adelaide at the Highbury Natural Health Centre Ph: 8395 2836
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