Healthy Diet
5 Herbs That Help Control Your Blood Sugar
Too much of anything is bad. The same is true to sugar consumption. Too much blood glucose levels can cause 
serious complications including diabetes.
Diabetes is characterized by high glucose levels in the blood. It can happen if the person produces inadequate amounts of insulin; the body fails to respond properly to insulin, or both. If a person develops diabetes, you may need to monitor your blood sugar level frequently, everyday.
A study has shown that 14% of the people in the United States are diagnosed with diabetes while 38% were reported to be in the pre-diabetes stage. These numbers constitute to 50% of the country’s total population. This is why it is important for people to start being health-conscious so as to prevent these numbers from rising.
Effective Herbs for Diabetes
The smartest way to prevent your blood glucose from exceeding normal levels is to change your lifestyle by eating healthier and by adding regular exercise to your everyday routine. Furthermore, some plants such as cinnamon, guggul, and others are known to be effective herbs for diabetes control. Let’s look more into the details.
- Cinnamon is known to be an effective herb that can aid in healing diseases. One of these is diabetes. Researchers have found out that cinnamon lessened the blood sugar levels by 24%. It contains antioxidants that help relieve oxidative stress which has been known to have a role in the development of type 2 diabetes.
- Guggul. Widely known for their ability to heal diseases, guggul has also been known to help relieve symptoms that are associated with both types of diabetes. It plays an important role in the metabolism of lipid and glucose.
- Banaba trees are widely known for its health benefits especially because of its ability to help in the treatment of diabetes. The ability of banaba to help in the regulation of blood sugar may be because of its active
- ingredient, corosolic acid, that helps in the regulation of the body’s glucose and insulin levels.
- Other than its ability to fight inflammations in the body, cayenne also has the ability to help fight diabetes. In fact according to a Hungarian study, cayenne pepper aids in the absorption of glucose in the intestine.
- Gymnema Sylvestre. One of the many benefits of gymnema sylvestre is its ability to utilize glucose and prevent the liver from releasing more insulin into the bloodstream. Moreover, it has also been known to help in restoring the pancreas’ beta cells thereby making it one of the most effective herbs for diabetes.
Adding a little bit of these herbs to your meals would be ideal if you are looking to maintain your blood sugar levels to normal. There are, however, other ways which you may be able to consume these herbs. Lally Naturals Blood Sugar Support Supplements can help you obtain all these herbs in just one pill. The 20 herbs that are blended uniquely helps in maintaining the normal level of glucose in the blood stream.
Hypoglycemia: Symptoms, Possible Treatment
Glucose is a sugar needed by our body as its main energy source. Too much blood sugar can be a risk factor for
diabetes. Furthermore, having a low blood sugar level also puts you at risk for certain diseases. Luckily, extreme consequences for both cases can be prevented through blood glucose pills or insulin injections.
Hypoglycemia is the term given to a condition where a person’s blood levels are too low. Typically, it is a side effect of the drugs used to treat diabetes. When the blood sugar drops too low, the nervous system may be able to detect it. As a result, the brain would send signals to the glands causing the release of hormones that help in getting the blood sugar back to the normal range. However, this doesn’t usually happen without some kind of additional help. Most of the time, the person may need to take blood glucose pills that would help in increasing the blood sugar. If the drop is not aided immediately, it could result in severe consequences.
There are a lot of reasons why our glucose levels may be low. Hypoglycemia may also result from longs hours of fasting. Heavy physical activity with less food intake could also be a possible cause.
Hypoglycemia Symptoms
All the body processes need glucose for it to carry out its maximum function. These signs and symptoms may be helpful in detecting hyperglycemia in a person.
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Constant hunger
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Shakiness
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Light-headedness
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Weakness
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Fatigue
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Intense sweating
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Anxiety
Treatment
The treatment for hypoglycemia usually depends on how it was caused. For example, having a hypoglycemia caused by diabetes medications could be treated differently than hypoglycemia that is not diabetes-related.
If a person suspects that he/she has hypoglycemia, they should check their blood glucose levels immediately. If they have low blood glucose level and they’re not diabetic, these treatments may be able to help them:
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Constant blood glucose level monitoring
If you develop hyperglycemia but you’re not diabetic, the doctor might suggest to you to monitor your blood glucose levels within a specific period.
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Create a Healthy Meal Plan
Working with a dietitian to guide you in your meal plan can have a big role in elevating your blood sugar level.
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Take Blood Glucose Pills
With the doctor’s approval, always have blood glucose pills wherever you go. This could be your saving grace when low blood sugar levels suddenly drops.
Always remember to get a doctor’s approval before doing any of these. Your goal is to be healthy and making sure you’re taking the right steps to treat your condition should be your topmost priority.
Weight Loss for Diabetics
Recent data shows that almost 100 million Americans have diabetes or is in the pre-diabetes stage. Diabetes happens when the body produces lesser insulin than normal – or none at all – or when the body is unable to use insulin 
produced efficiently. If diabetes continues to be left untreated, the person could suffer severe consequences such as limb amputations, kidney failure, and heart diseases.
Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas that converts the blood sugar into energy that can be utilized by the body. The energy converted is stored into the cells, muscles, and fat cells should the body use it later when the body becomes depleted of it. The absence of insulin prevents the body from storing glucose, instead, it remains in the blood unconverted.
Obesity is one of the main risk factor of developing type 2 diabetes. This is the type where the body develops an insulin resistance thus the body fails to metabolize the blood sugar into energy. People who are overweight are usually prone to develop insulin resistance.
It has long been established that the easiest way to beat insulin resistance in the body is to shed some excess weight. Since then, a lot of diabetic weight loss supplements and drugs have been up for grabs in the pharmaceutical markets. A weight loss supplement coupled with proper diet and exercise could be a successful solution for many.
Weight Loss for Diabetics
If you have diabetes or pre-diabetes, weight loss should be on the top of your priority list for you to decrease your blood sugar levels. Here are some things you can do to help you lose weight.
Proper Diet
Consuming too much sugar and carbs could help spike up your blood sugar. The best course of action to take is to switch your diet into carbs with fiber such as vegetable and fruits. Eating less carbs that are rich in starch could help a diabetic person consume 500 calories less than their normal calorie intake.
Sweat it Out
Aside from the weight loss benefit of exercising, it can also help in lowering the body’s blood sugar and reduce insulin resistance. Even a minimum of 120 minutes of workout every week could have an effect on lowering your blood glucose levels and could significantly reduce your weight.
Diabetic Weight Loss Supplement
Diabetic Weight loss supplements are also helpful for diabetics if they are determined to lose weight. Of course if you take a diabetic weight loss supplement, you also need to pair with proper exercise and diet so that you can reap out the maximum benefits.
To ensure that you’re taking the proper nutrition you need, it is best if you consult your doctor and a nutritionist.
Vitamins Good for Diabetics
Vitamins for Diabetics. Vitamins or Vital Amino Acid are the nutrients our body need to maintain the proper functions of metabolism and immunity. Vitamins are vital because the body cannot manage itself without the help of these vitamins. These vitamins are acquired from outside sources like food and supplements. One major function of 
vitamins is for proper blood sugar control.
Diabetics are found to lose more vitamins than retaining them like when they frequently urinate. Washing out excess sugar when glucose are high in the blood also washes out water-soluble nutrients. Losing vitamins can worsen the ability of the body to stabilize blood sugar. It is therefore advisable to eat varied diet rich in natural vitamins.
Two Kinds of Vitamins
Water Soluble Vitamins. Water soluble vitamins cannot be stored in our body. After the body takes what it needs from food, it excretes the remaining excess as waste. Water soluble vitamins are Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, C, Biotin, and Folate. Since diabetics tries to get rid of extra sugar from their body, they lose more water-soluble vitamins more than others. It is recommended therefore, that diabetics take these vitamins in larger than normal doses.
Fat Soluble Vitamins. Fat soluble vitamins are Vitamins A, D, E and K. These vitamins are stored in our fat cells for longer period than the water-soluble vitamins.
Diabetics needs to increase their intake of the appropriate vitamins to help their body to use insulin and thus stabilizing their blood sugar levels.
Six Vitamins That Are Best Supplements For Diabetics
Multivitamins. Multivitamins and mineral supplements significantly reduces infections and sickness in diabetic persons. Taking high quality multivitamins also reduces the risk of diabetes.
Vitamin B3. Niacin or Vitamin B3 have shown to help lower blood sugar, reduce fatty liver and prevent neuropathy.
Vitamin B6 and B12. Kidney damage cause by diabetes is said to have been reduced with the help of vitamin B6 and B12. It also improved arterial health of diabetics.
Vitamin C. diabetics are said to have low concentration of Vitamin C. Vitamin C is said to improve the widening of the arteries and thereby allowing sufficient flow of blood for patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
Vitamin E. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant. It improves glucose control and protects blood vessels from the damaged caused by diabetes.
Vitamins should be taken with food for the easy absorption of the nutrients into the body. It is best to follow a healthy diabetes diet together with a regular exercise with the best vitamin supplement to achieve stability in blood sugar level.
The Risk of Smoking to Diabetes
Diabetes and smoking cigarettes is not a healthy combination. Smoking as we all know is very bad for your health and even more so if you have diabetes. Smoking increases the risk of complications and potential fatal diseases. Nicotine in cigarettes hardens and narrows your blood vessels thus curbing the blood flow in your body.
Risks of Smoking
Raises blood sugar. Your body becomes more resistant to insulin leading to a higher blood sugar levels when you smoke. Increased blood sugar levels can lead to serious complications like kidney problems, heart and blood vessels.
Heart and blood vessel damage. Smoking can also cause damage to the cardiovascular system just like diabetes. Persons with diabetes are more likely to develop heart disease or have stroke.
Respiratory disease. Smoking can lead to pneumonia, chronic bronchitis and other respiratory disease since it directly affect your lungs. Diabetics are more likely to die from pneumonia than non-diabetic persons. Smoking seriously raises the risk of this respiratory disease especially when you have diabetes.
Damages eyes. Diabetes causes higher risk of cataracts and other eye disease like glaucoma. Diabetic retinopathy is also at higher risk if diabetes is poorly controlled. Accelerated development of diabetic retinopathy and resulting to blindness can be due to smoking.
Tips to Quit Smoking
- Stop your smoking habits and exercise to relieve stress.
- Drink decaffeinated coffee and stop drinking soft drinks with caffeine and alcohol that gives you the urge to smoke.
- Keep yourself busy. Draw, type, knit and keep your hands full.
- Set a date when to quit smoking and tell your doctor about it so you will have his support.
- Spend your time in places where smoking is banned.
- Ask your family for their support. They can help you quit.
- Do things that you enjoy to keep your mind off smoking.
- Ask your doctor for nicotine replacement to curb your smoking cravings. You may use lozenges, patches, gums and nasal sprays.
Diabetes raises the risk of health problems. Smoking accelerates this complications. Nicotine raises your blood sugar. Stop smoking so that you can limit damage to your system and live a healthier life.
Warning Signs and Symptoms Common to both Types of Diabetes
Diabetes is a condition wherein a person has higher blood sugar levels than the normal. It is a metabolic disease that is caused by inadequate production of insulin or the cells of the body do not properly respond to insulin, or both.
Warning signs of diabetes are so mild that they are not noticeable especially in the case of type 2 diabetes. Only until they feel the long-term damage caused by diabetes do some people find out that they have the disease. In type 1 diabetes, the symptoms are quick and are much more severe. The common symptom of diabetes is increased levels of glucose or blood sugar in your blood.
Warning Signs and Symptoms Common to both Types of Diabetes
Fatigue and hunger. The food you eat is converted into glucose by your body for the cells to use for energy. Insulin helps bring the glucose in. If your produce inadequate insulin or when the cells rejects the insulin your body produce, glucose cannot get in and you will have no energy and thus feel tired and hungry more than the usual.
Frequent Urination. When diabetes raised up your blood sugar, your kidney cannot take all the glucose that is reabsorbed by the body land so excretes the excess ink the urine. The average rate of urination is between four and seven times. Diabetes may go for more than usual times.
Dry mouth and Itchy skin. Due to your frequent urination, you loss lots of fluids. You get dehydrated, your mouth feel dry and you feel itchiness in your skin.
Blurred vision. The changes in the fluid level in your body causes your lenses to swell up and changes its shape, making it lose the ability to focus.
Weight Loss. When you have diabetes, your body cannot anymore get energy from the food you eat. It derives energy by burning fat and muscles instead, making your loss weight.
Nerve damage. Diabetes makes you feel pain and numbness in your feet or legs as a result of nerve damage. Another nerve damage results to slow-healing sores or cuts because it affects your blood flow.
Nausea and vomiting. The burning of fats for energy instead of getting it from food you eat results to production of ketones. Ketones in diabetic ketoacidosis makes your stomach feel sick.
The moment you start feeling these warning signs, it is time to go to the doctor and have a scheduled diabetic test. With proper diabetes diet coupled with regular exercise and recommended medications, diabetic persons may live an active and productive long life.
How to Maintain Blood Sugar Level
Blood sugar or glucose is the main source of energy that is obtained from the food we eat. Glucose is the main sugar in our body that is carried to all cell through the blood stream. Our body regulates the level of blood sugar.
High Blood Sugar is manifested when you are losing weight, have blurred vision, very thirsty and tired and have frequent urination. When you have high blood sugar level, you may feel sick to your stomach, throw up or feel faint. It also causes you to lose fluid.
Low Blood Sugar is known as hypoglycemia. It is caused by too much insulin, delayed meal, missed meal, too much exercise or too much alcohol. It may also be a side effect from medicines taken for other health problems.
Ways of Maintaining Blood Sugar
Eat a low-processed and anti-inflammatory diet. Balancing carbohydrates and sugar with protein and fats in your diet and getting it from whole and real food is one way of managing and treating and preventing diabetes. Consuming carbs and sugar with protein fiber and healthy fats can slow down the absorption into the bloodstream of sugar, aid in managing your appetite and helps in your digestion and metabolism. Healthy fats include virgin coconut oi, nuts and seeds and avocado. High-fiber foods include veggies, whole pieces of fruits and beans and grains.
Other foods and drinks that also can help stabilize blood sugar are green tea, cinnamon, apple cider vinegar, herbal tea, spices and fresh herbs.
Use alternative carbs and sweeteners. To aid in maintaining blood sugar, avoid using refined flour and added sugars like cane sugar, beet sugar or beet juice. Use natural sweeteners like raw honey, dates, pure maple syrup or molasses in small portions daily. Whole grain flours should be used or coconut flour. Drink water, seltzer, herbal tea or black tea and coffee only. And coffee should be taken only up to two cups. Stay away from sweetened alcoholic drinks.
Regular exercise. Exercise can manage blood sugar. It helps lower blood sugar as the cells in your muscles take up more glucose for energy and tissue repair when you do short exercise while helps make cells more susceptible to insulin and helps prevent its resistance when doing long-term exercises. Exercises like cycling, running, swimming and lifting weights increases insulin sensitivity enabling your cells to better take up glucose during and after doing exercises.
Manage stress. Stress raises release of cortisol, the stress hormone, and increases cravings for “comfort foods” and interrupts sleep. These factors cause high blood sugar level. Take time to de stress or try coping up with life struggles by doing the natural stress relievers like exercise, mediation and yoga. Spend more time outdoors, talk with friends and family or joining groups in your community are also helpful for diabetics and insulin resistant persons to manage stress and eventually lower down blood sugar.
Get enough sleep. Lack of sleep can increase stress and appetite. These hormones like cortisol makes you hungry and crave for sugary snacks. Too little sleep, poor quality of sleep and sleeping at the wrong time impair secretion of insulin. In order to balance blood sugar, try to get enough hours of sleep of between seven to nine hours and stick to it.
Be aware of changes in your body. There are common symptoms that cannot be ignored and would indicate that you have fluctuating blood sugar levels and should manage the same. Fatigue, sugar cravings, thirsty all the time, weight loss, mood swings, frequent infections, heavy breathing and trouble exercising are one of these signs that should not be taken for granted. Manage your blood sugar, take in natural supplements that can help. Stabilize the level by taking on a healthy diet regime.
Sugar Detox
Sugar Detox is important. Sugar is a natural ingredient that is found mostly in plants, particularly in sugarcane and sugar beets and fruit and vegetables. It is a carbohydrate from which the body derives energy. The sugar we consume either from processed food or from fruits, are broken down by our body to glucose which is needed for the proper function of our brain, muscles and other major organs. It is an important source of energy that our body need in our daily lives.
However, sugar is known to be the root cause of almost all diseases when taken in too much than what is needed by the body. In whatever form, sugar is the reason for obesity, heart disease, cancer, dementia, type 2 diabetes infertility, impotence and acne.
Symptoms Of Withdrawal From Sweeteners Or Refined Sugar
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Fatigue
- Depression
- Detachment
- Palpitations
- Rapid Heart Rate
- Poor Sleep
Cutting back on all sources of sugar can aid in staying healthy and reduces the need for medication for diabetes related complications. Although consuming sugar is hard to break, there are lots of nutritious food that replace sugary snacks or treats. Try to clean up or remove sugar or unhealthy sugary food from your cupboards. Stay away from cakes and pastries.
A diet of whole grains, vegetable, other complex carbohydrates, and protein foods can help stabilize blood sugar and lessen sugar cravings.
Nutrients That Can Help Minimize Cravings of Sugar
- Vitamins B
- Vitamin C
- Zinc
- Amino Acid
- L-glutamine
- Trace mineral chromium. Chromium has been shown to actively reduce glucose levels.
Reduce sugar intake to gain overall health. It will boost your energy and help improve your skin and sleep by boosting also the immune system. There are available supplements that will help you kick the habit of consuming sugar out of your system. Not only will it boost your energy but also help you be more aware of your sugar intake and control it.
- Eat lots of protein especially for breakfast to balance your blood sugar and insulin and stop your sugar cravings.
- Eat a lot of green leafy that are non-starchy like broccoli asparagus, green beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, eggplant, etc. These are carbohydrates that also make you lose weight.
- Eat good fat. It helps you feel full. It is needed for fueling cells and balancing of blood sugar.
- Get lots of sleep to fight hunger and cravings for sugar and refined carbs. Less sleep tends to affect your appetite hormones and make you overeat.
To achieve optimum health and to avoid raising our blood sugar levels that would eventually lead to serious diseases, it is best practice self-control and eliminate all unhealthy foods from our diet.
Balancing Blood Sugar
Blood sugar is the concentration of glucose in the blood that is derived from the food you eat. It is the main source of energy that blood carries to all cells of your body. Blood sugar levels fluctuates depending on the food we eat. Too high or too low blood sugar can make you sick.
Diet nowadays often is the main cause of unstable blood sugar level like processed foods, carbohydrates and sugar. However, there are food that are naturally helpful in balancing blood sugar in our body.
Food that Helps Balance Blood Sugar Levels
Turmeric. Turmeric has been used in East India and Middle East as a spice and as medicinal herb. It is known for its anti-inflammatory effects and is a strong antioxidant. The compounds found in turmeric has shown to help improve insulin sensitivity. It regulates the activation of genes and enzymes in the liver to stabilize the blood sugar.
Apple Cider Vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is a home remedy that has great health benefits that include dropping blood pressure, improves weight loss, stabilize blood sugar and skin health. its acetic acid content combined with meals helps control blood sugar fluctuations. It also improves digestion and reduces the cravings for carbohydrates.
Coconut. Known as an all-around food is best to be included in your diet. It contains a healthy fiber that stabilizes blood sugar when consumed with other carbs. There are lots of coconut based products that provide benefits for helping to balance blood glucose or blood sugar. There is coconut flour, butter, coconut flakes, coconut-based oil, butter and milk that can be incorporated with your diet and improve your health.
Cinnamon. Cinnamon is rich in antioxidant and helps in stabilizing blood sugar and aids in fighting candida. It improve insulin sensitivity and helps the efficient transport of glucose from the blood into the cells.
Raw Chocolate. In its raw form, chocolate it one of the most nutritious food known to man. It is also an antioxidant and is a good source of minerals like magnesium and chromium. Chromium in chocolates helps stabilize blood sugar and helps in reducing sugar cravings by improving the function of insulin in the body. It also has zinc that aids to stabilize blood sugar.
Organic Coffee. Organic coffee has antioxidants and minerals in caffeine which help improve metabolism of glucose and insulin sensitivity. It improves production of ketones which is a source of healthy fats for energy and eliminates blood sugar fluctuations.
Olives and Olive Oil. Has antioxidants that lessens chronic inflammation that causes blood sugar imbalance. It helps protect that body from the complications of diabetes like neuropathy and heart disease.
Avocados has minerals, fiber and healthy fats that aid in stabilizing the level of blood sugar.
Lemons and Limes has citric acid that helps lower glycemic contents in meals. It helps stabilize blood sugar.
Green Tea. Green tea has antioxidants that help improve burn fat and keeps blood sugar levels in check to lessen the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Consuming any of these food in its natural state or as supplements helps improve stabilize your blood sugar. It is therefore good to take time to work on improving your health and be conscious of your diet.
Balancing Blood Sugar
How Do You Know You Have Diabetes?
Diabetes
is disease that involves the inability of the pancreas to produce insulin or produces very minimal insulin that helps the body to store and use sugar and fat from the food we eat. The body is unable to use and store glucose.
Two Types of Diabetes
In type 1 diabetes, the insulin is no longer produced by the body. to survive, diabetics needs to take insulin injections daily. Type 1 diabetes usually develops in children or young adult or it can occur at any age.
Type 2 diabetes is a result of inability of the body to properly use insulin also known as insulin resistance or when the body does not produce enough insulin. This usually affects people over 40 years old, due to family history or overweight.
Common Signs and Symptoms
Fatigue and hunger. The body is unable to use glucose for energy because there is not enough insulin to bring glucose in.
Frequent urination. Diabetes pushes your blood sugar up causing the kidney to make more urine and when you pee a lot, you get thirsty a lot also.
Dry mouth and itchy skin results because you pee a lot, the fluid is diminished and will make you dehydrated and dries your skin which in turn makes it itchy.
Numbness in the legs and feet and pain may be felt because nerve is damaged.
Slow-healing sores or cuts results because high blood sugar alters your body ability to heal wounds.
Weight loss. The body burns muscle and fat to get energy instead of deriving it from your food.
Nausea and vomiting. When your body burns fats, ketones is produced which can make you feel sick to the stomach.
Yeast infections between fingers and toes, under the breast and in or around your organs.
When you have any of these symptoms or you are over 40 years old, early detection is very crucial to avoid possible complications or nerve damage and heart trouble. Switch to a healthy lifestyle by adding more nutritious foods in your diet, natural supplements, and some exercise to avoid any health problems.
