What is diabetes and who is at risk from it?

There are two types of diabetes that have been discovered and researched. They are commonly called simply ‘type 1’ and ‘type 2’. Type 2 diabetes is the most common of these two types.

Type 2 diabetes is a lifelong disease that can affect people of all ages, but more usually developed later in life. In contrast, people with type 1 diabetes tend to have it from birth.

Diabetes is a condition that affects the way the body deals with and processes glucose, which is a type of sugar that we usually get from food.

Unfortunately, at the moment there is no cure for either type of diabetes and, once you suffer from it, you must learn to live with it for the rest of your life.

However, with more and more research being done on diabetes, there have very recently been some great breakthroughs to help those who suffer from the disease to lead relatively normal and stress free lives.

However, even the best medical treatments available on the market cannot cure all the problems and symptoms associated with diabetes, and each patient deals with these treatments differently, which means that each patient will need separate, personal treatments to lead their lives in as normal a way as possible.

Some patients can even have very negative side effects to taking insulin – the most common treatments for diabetes – which can affect their overall quality of life.

What about natural remedies for coping with diabetes?

For the reasons detailed above, some patients are starting to investigate alternative therapies to help them cope with diabetes.

Whereas it is always important to listen to your physician and follow their instructions and advice (and if they prescribe medication, it is imperative that you take it in the way that you have been instructed to), there are alternative, natural remedies that you can look into and use to help improve your life with diabetes without affecting your other medications.

If you have not already contracted diabetes, but if you are in a high risk category (overweight and over thirty years of age with a poor diet and exercise regime) you should think about taking measures to prevent diabetes.

There are some very easy ways to start reducing your risk of contracting the disease. You can even get help from your physician and should ask their advice on the best way to go about dieting, for example.

Reducing your risk of developing diabetes

Diabetes is most commonly suffering by patients who are overweight and who ingest too much sugar, salt and fat. The body is not designed to keep processing sugar past a certain point.

If you continue to eat lots of sugary foods, though, your body will start to not be able to process it and diabetes will slowly develop. This process is completely irreversible. If you feel as though you may be at risk of developing diabetes, it is time to start doing the following things:

Eating healthily

The absolute best way to drastically reduce your risk of developing diabetes later in life is to eat well and cut out all those sugary foods and drinks right now. It is always possible to eat healthier and there are almost immediate benefits to doing so, too.

The most difficult aspects of learning to eat properly are: knowing what to cook and changing your mentality about eating properly. This is where you may need to get help and advice from trained physicians.

They can provide you with all sorts of help so that you have a healthier relationship with food. Doctors and dieticians can help to you wean yourself off of the unhealthy foods – chips, processed and fast foods, sweets and chocolate, for instance – and even recommend you to a nutritionist who can help you design meals from week to week aimed at helping you lose weight.

This has to be the first and most important step to preventing diabetes from developing, and is one that many people do not truly understand the importance of. Ask your doctor for more advice about how to start going on a diet.

Exercise

Excess weight can increase your chances of developing diabetes as well as things such as strokes, heart attacks and liver disease. The first thing to do to try and lose weight is to reduce the amount of sugar that you are eating and drinking, but the second most important thing is getting plenty of exercise.

After all, combining a great diet with a good exercise regime can speed up the time it takes for you to start shedding your excess weight and thus help reduce your risk of developing diabetes even quicker.

This exercise can start off very gently – just going for a walk can be a great start, for instance, and is particularly good for those who cannot yet run for long distances – and can get more and more difficult as you progress. There are plenty of professionals who are trained to help you find the best way for you to train and lose weight.

For more information, discuss your options with your doctor or, if you have the money and the time, try out a personal trainer. Small changes to your life can also help you to lose weight.

Choose to walk to the shops rather than take the car, for instance, and make sure you stand up for a certain amount of time every day rather than just sitting down in front of your computer. Besides reducing your risk of developing diabetes, losing weight can have a great number of other benefits.

For instance, losing weight will make moving around and doing sports a lot less painful. It will also improve your state of mind, since exercise releases endorphins. Finally, as you begin to lose weight, you will start to get a lot of their self-confidence back.

Natural remedies for diabetes

Living with diabetes is, as was stated above, very difficult and can soon take its toll. Treatments include regular insulin shots, usually around meal times, which are designed to help the body break down and process glucose.

If a patient fails to use their insulin shots or follow the instructions given to them by their doctor, it can result in fainting, falling into a coma or even death. For this reason, it is always best to listen to your doctor and to take the medications that they prescribe in the way that they tell you to take them.

However, in addition to western medicines, there are other, alternative therapies that can make things easier for those with diabetes.

There are a number of side effects that can occur from taking medication for diabetes which can actually be easily alleviated by one or more of the following:

Losing weight

As well as helping to prevent diabetes from developing, losing weight can seem to reverse the effects of the disease, at least temporarily. If you have recently been diagnosed with   diabetes, therefore, it is time to start eating well and exercising so that you can shed those excess pounds.

Losing weight in a safe and controlled way – with the help and advice of trained professionals – can help to temporarily reverse the effects of diabetes. Although this is no cure, it is at least a good way to get back into a shape and to give your body every chance of recovering and coping with the disease as best it can.

Being in better shape can also improve your self confidence as well as your general state of mind for the reasons mentioned above, and will help in a multitude of other ways, preventing a lot of other health issues from arising later in life.

You body can better deal with other illnesses and diseases when you are otherwise healthy, which means that you are much less likely to suffer from any complications, either from the diabetes or from side effects of the your medication.

Losing weight is the absolute best natural remedy for temporarily beating diabetes and generally feeling better in both your mind and body, so it should be the first thing that you try to do.

Homeopathy

Homeopathy is one of the least well recognized alternative therapies by practitioners of western medicine, but many people swear by it and it has provided some excellent results for those suffering from long term and chronic conditions.

This is mainly because the treatments that are used in homeopathy are actually placebos. Doctors and other researchers know that placebos can be extremely potent, and will admit that many of their patients can feel the benefits of undergoing treatments with placebos even though there is nearly no active ingredient in the sugar pills and tinctures that are most often given to patients undergoing homeopathy.

Depending on what you want from the treatment, homeopathy can be a great alternative treatment for diabetes. If you are looking for a way to try and suppress your diet, for instance, to help you lose weight, then homeopathy can work wonders.

Because the actual amount of the active ingredient in sugar pills and tinctures used in homeopathy is so tiny, it is guaranteed not to counteract any other medications that you might be taking or have a negative effect on any other sort of treatments that you may be undergoing.

It is worth noting, however, that taking many sugar pills, even for this treatment, is not recommended for those suffering from diabetes.

Meditation

Many people who suffer from diabetes find themselves struggling with depression, either because of their poor state of health or because, very often, they are overweight and have a poor self image.

Often, this depression is present even before the patient is diagnosed with diabetes, but it can also come about as a result of suffering from diabetes and the problems that it causes.

Anti-depressants can be prescribed for those who feel depressed. However, there are more natural remedies for dealing with the stress of having diabetes. The more holistic approach is sometimes better than simply taking anti depressant pills, as these can often mess around with the natural chemical balance of the brain.

Meditating for fifteen minutes every day, rather than taking pills, means that you do not have to flood your body with extra chemicals yet still feel the benefits. This often is more effective and more long lasting than taking anti depressants.

However, note that those who suffer from more serious types of depression will never be able to simply meditate in order to improve their state of mind. You will need to get a sound diagnosis to know whether you need to take anti depressants or whether you can simply use meditation to help distress and feel happier.

Ask your doctor for more information. Once your state of mind has improved, it can often then be easier to lose weight, for instance, which is the best first step you can take to make your   diabetes easier to cope with.

Acupuncture

Chinese medicine has used acupuncture for hundreds of years now, and it has always been very well received and used for a variety of illnesses. Acupuncture is now becoming more and more popular in western medicine as a viable alternative to pain and anxiety medications.

Since there is nothing to consume, this therapy cannot interfere with any other medications that you need to take for your diabetes.

Instead, you need simply lay back and let the experts help you with your pain, your depression or your anxiety, whether it has been caused by your illness or whether it is a result of the medications you are taking. It should be noted that this treatment is not recommended for those who are scared of needles.

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is, like acupuncture, used for a great number of different issues, including stress, anxiety and depression. If you are finding it difficult to cope with living with an incurable disease, if your medications are causing you to feel depression, anxious or irritable, then you may want to look into aromatherapy.

If your doctor has said it is safe for you not to take anti depressants, for example, you could look into using this natural remedy to help make yourself feel less stressed and anxious about your condition.

Once again, like acupuncture, because you need not eat or drink anything when undergoing aromatherapy, this treatment is perfect if your doctor has warned you against mixing your regular medications with other tablets. Instead, you need only reap the benefits and not worry about this treatment affecting anything with your other medications.

Hypnosis

Once again, doctors do not all agree that hypnosis is always effective and it certainly affects different patients in a multitude of different ways. Some people swear that it works and that they have been permanently changed having undergone hypnotherapy; others say that nothing has changed and do not feel that it is a good way of treating their symptoms.

However, if you are still suffering and if you have tried all the other therapies mentioned above, it may be time to try hypnosis. Hypnosis is non-invasive and is completely safe, and it can help with things like stress, depression and anxiety, amongst other things.

Many people also go to hypnotherapists to help them give things up – such as smoking, drinking or gambling – so it is a good one to try if you are trying to kick your unhealthy eating habits and finally lose weight.

However, if you are suffering from negative side effects from your medications, for instance, you can also use hypnosis to help with symptoms such as fatigue and sickness. Simply attend a few sessions and see if it works for you.

Living positively with diabetes

Every patient is different, and every single person who suffers from diabetes will find different ways to cope and to feel better in their daily life.

There is no right or wrong way to go about treating depression, easing the side effects of medications that your doctors prescribe or simply getting through the day with a positive mental attitude, so whatever you decide works is the right treatment for you.

However, it is essential that, whichever of these treatments you try to pursue, you discuss your options with your physician.

Although these alternative remedies are all completely natural and will most likely not interfere with your normal medications, it is definitely worth taking the advice of doctors and physicians before you make any changes to your lifestyle or treatment plans.

It is also very important that none of these natural remedies are used to replace things like insulin shots and other medications that have specifically been prescribed by your doctor.

They should only be used in conjunction with your regular medications. If you are still struggling with side effects from your medicines, talk to your doctor and ask them whether there are any other, equivalent medications that they can offer that do not have the same side effects.

Resources:

http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/natural-remedies-type-2-diabetes

http://www.diabetestreatmentguide.org/5-easy-homeopathic-diabetes-cures/