Knowing & Living with Diabetes

When Maria was diagnosed with diabetes at age 30, she knew what she was up against, as her Mother also has it. She knew that there was a risk that she would get it because her mother has Diabetes, but the thought never occured that it would happen to her.

It amazed us as to how quickly she adapted to her new lifestyle while trying to enjoy her work as Nutritionist. Maria's career as a Nutritionist also gave her a unique perspective on Diabetes Management.

She told us that, when she had gone for her routine blood cholesterol check-up, her doctor told her that A1C needs to be checked as her fasting blood glucose is high & at the follow-up diabetes was diagnosed. 

The next question was what type of Diabetes - type-1 or type-2? 

What is Type-1 & Type-2 Diabetes?

People with type 1 diabetes produce little or no insulin. People with type 2 diabetes do not respond normally to the insulin their bodies make. About 90 to 95 percent of people diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. Only about 5 percent have type 1 diabetes, which is usually diagnosed in childhood or early adulthood and requires treatment with insulin.

Knowing about Diabetes

Diabetes is a group of chronic diseases that affect metabolism—the way the body uses food for energy and growth. Millions of people have diabetes, which can lead to serious health problems if it is not managed well. Conventional medical treatments and following a healthy lifestyle, including watching your weight, can help you prevent, manage, and control many complications of diabetes.

Researchers are studying several complementary health approaches, including dietary supplements, to see if they can help people manage type 2 diabetes—the focus of this fact sheet—or lower their risk of developing the disease.

What are Symptoms of Diabetes?

People with diabetes frequently experience certain symptoms. These include:

frequent urination

weight loss

being very thirsty

increased hunger

blurry vision

irritability

tingling or numbness in the hands or feet

frequent skin, bladder or gum infections

wounds that don't heal extreme unexplained fatigue

Living with Diabetes

A healthy diet, physical activity, and blood glucose testing are the basic tools for managing type 2 diabetes. Your health care providers will help you learn to manage your diabetes and track how well you are controlling it. It is very important not to replace proven conventional medical treatment for diabetes with an unproven health product or practice.

How to Manage Diabetes

• Diabetes is very often linked to 2 other diseases: hypertension and high cholesterol levels.

• Keeping these 3 factors, blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, within ranges are very important to reduce the risk for diabetes-related complications such as heart attacks, strokes and vascular diseases.

• Diabetes should be managed on a daily basis

• Check your blood sugar often

• If you take insulin injections, do so at certain scheduled times in order to maintain proper levels of glucose.

• A proper diet plays a very important role, whether you have Type 1 or Type 2. Cut back on your sweeteners (sugar, grape concentrate, corn syrup, fructose, sucrose, lactose and maltose) intake. Sugar increases LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.

• Follow an exercise program approved by your physician. Development of Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or at least, significantly delayed. Type 2 can be regarded as a modern nutritional disease.

Effect of Dietary Supplement on Diabetes

• Certain herbal supplements (botanicals) can be used as part of the diet to maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

• Natural medicine cannot cure Type 1 diabetes but it may help by making the body more receptive to insulin injection.

• It is very important to work closely with your physician who prescribes the insulin, before using any of the herbal supplements.

• Changes that make the body more receptive to insulin could also require certain changes in the

dosage that must be addressed by the medical professional.

• When Type 2 diabetes is involved, the body often makes enough insulin; the body however has trouble absorbing it.

• Type 2 reacts well to natural medicine but making diet change should also be discussed with the treating physician.

• With all the research going on in recent years it is clear that controlling blood pressure and cholesterol levels are just as important as doing this with blood sugar.

Today diabetes is not considered as a disease but it is considered as metabolic syndrome, which is responsible for damaging various vital organs such as retina in the eyes, kidney, nerve ending, and blood vessels.