Healthy Diet
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.
Gymnema Sylvestre and Diabetes
Diabetes is a disease that affects metabolism. It is characterized by high blood sugar level brought about by inadequate insulin or the incorrect use of insulin or both.
Gymnema sylvetre from Africa, Australia, and Central and South India is a climbing woody shrub that is known in ancient times as “destroyer of sugar”. The leaves of Gymnena sylvestre contains a substance which known to inhibit the body’s ability to taste sweetness and ability to absorb sugar in the intestine. . Our ability to taste sweetness is said to stop or is affected upon chewing on the leaves of gymnena sylvestre.
Gymnema Sylvestre and Diabetes
Gymnena has been used to help lower blood sugar, lower LDL cholesterol, helps reduce amount of sugar absorbed by the intestines, stimulate insulin in the pancreas. It is used to treat liver disease, water retention and stomach problems. Its effectiveness is said to be due to its ability to increase insulin secretion which in turn helps lower blood sugar levels.
Although gymnema sylvestre is a herb that is normally safe to use and it appearing that there is no known drug interactions concerning gymnema, it is still very crucial to inform your doctor when and if you decide to use it to treat diabetes. Blood sugar level should be constantly monitored to prevent the possibility of lowering the sugar in dangerous level. It is not advisable for breast feeding women, pregnant and women who plans to get pregnant to use 
gymnema. And to avoid possible complications of negative reactions, gymnema should not be taken two weeks before having surgery. when taking anti-diabetic medications like aspirin, monitor intake of gymnema because aspirin lowers blood sugar and my lead to hypoglycemia.
Treatment of diabetes involves control of blood glucose levels and preventing eventuality of complications. Diet will be altered to regulate intake of carbohydrate and other important nutrients. Medications will be used to control blood sugar and insulin injection or insulin pump will be also given. Regular exercise and other physical activities will also be recommended to improve health and reduce the risk of complications like heart disease.
Gymnema is used in the form of pill or tablets and may also be consumed in the form of leaf extract or powder. Adding this to your diabetic diet may help suppress sugar and carb cravings. This will help in controlling your blood sugar levels and aid in managing weight control by suppressing such cravings.
Taking supplements may help counter the side effects of other prescribed anti-diabetic drugs, it is still advisable to undergo a healthy dietary regime and daily exercise.
Gymnema Sylvestre and Diabetes
What is Blood Sugar?
Blood sugar is also known as blood glucose. It the main sugar found in the blood. Glucose is a simple sugar that is the primary source of energy and is important for the normal function of some tissues. Glucose is carried by your blood to all the cells in your body to use for energy. It is particularly needed by the normal function of the human brain. It is stored in the skeletal muscles and liver cells in the form of glycogen.
The body regulates blood sugar levels to maintain metabolic homeostasis. It is transported via the bloodstream to the other tissues in the body from the intestines or liver. Glucose in the cell tissues is regulated by a hormone produced by the pancreas called insulin.
Effects of High and Low Blood Glucose Level
- Hyperglycemia. When glucose levels are higher than normal, it causes inflammation in the blood vessels and nerves and causes diabetes. The normal function of insulin in keeping sugar in normal range is damaged when you have diabetes.
- Hypoglycemia. Low blood sugar level also causes potential health problem. It can cause dizziness, confusion or fainting.
Normal Blood Sugar Levels
- Fasting. Under the official ADA recommendation, the normal level for a person without diabetes is 70-99 mg/dl (3.9-5.5 mmol/L). Person with diabetes is 80-130 mg/dl (4.4-7.2 mmol/L)
- 2 Hours after meals. Normal for person without diabetes is Less than 140 mg/dl (7.8 mmol/L) and the official ADA recommendation for someone with diabetes is Less than 10 mg/dl (10.0 mmol/L)
Blood sugar level is usually lowest in the morning and before the first meal in a day. It rises in an hour or two after taking your meals. Blood sugar levels beyond the normal range indicates medical condition.
Having too much glucose in your blood may result to serious problems. Too high blood sugar levels results to diabetes. But even person without diabetes may have serious problems when their blood sugar levels are too high or too low. Regular exercise, maintaining a regular schedule of eating and taking the recommended medicine may help regulate your blood sugar.
