Herbs for diabetics?
We recently discovered my mother is majorly diabetic. Like myself she dislikes relying on pharmaceuticals and would rather use natural things to help. Can you please give me recommendations on what may help stabalize her blood sugar? Also she is a recent amputee. Thank you.
Comments
-
@karenjanicki There are a variety of foods and herbs that will help manage blood glucose levels. I'm going to leave some links for you to check out. If you choose to try out any of these suggestions, make sure you are checking glucose levels regularly. And make sure you check out any contraindications with any meds your mum may be on before starting on any type of herbal regime.
Cinnamon: https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/26/12/3215.long and https://www.herbalgram.org/resources/herbalgram/issues/101/table-of-contents/hg101-resrvw-cinnamon/
Huckleberry/Blueberry: https://planetherbs.com/blogs/michaels-blogs/huckleberry-fruit-and-leaf-for-diabetes/ Blueberry: https://www.bcblueberry.com/bc-blueberry-council/news/going-blue-diabetes-awareness-month-bc-blueberries-provide-healthy-option
Bitter Melon and Amla are two Ayurvedic herbs that have been used alone or in combination to assist with diabetes.
Bitter Melon: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/natural-therapies/bitter-melon.html and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4027280/
Amla: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Swati-Dhruv/publication/267193927_IMPACT_OF_AMLA_EMBILICA_OFFICINALIS_SUPPLEMENTATION_ON_THE_GLYCEMIC_AND_LIPIDEMIC_STATUS_OF_TYPE_2_DIABETIC_SUBJECTS/links/55f1b11208ae199d47c45b34/IMPACT-OF-AMLA-EMBILICA-OFFICINALIS-SUPPLEMENTATION-ON-THE-GLYCEMIC-AND-LIPIDEMIC-STATUS-OF-TYPE-2-DIABETIC-SUBJECTS.pdf and http://www.greenpharmacy.info/index.php/ijgp/article/view/272
Bitters: https://www.americanherbalistsguild.com/sites/default/files/bitters-mase-2015_1.pdf and https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269846304_ANALYSES_OF_THE_EFFECTS_OF_SWEDISH_BITTERS_ON_SELECTED_METABOLIC_PROFILES
I'm sure @judsoncarroll4 can do a better job of elaborating on the benefits of bitters that I can.
-
@karenjanicki My husband reversed from quite a bad diabetes II to no diabetes. He stopped taking any medicine. But we did change the lifestyle and the diet. We introduced 16/8 fasting: we eat from 12 to 18. We got tied of refined flour products and he gets no sugar, no processed food, nothing with additives in products. No puddings 😕, but natural fruit and naturally dried fruit instead. When sugar level used to be too high, he would go for a fast walk for half an hour to burn the sugar. One has to include some physical activity into everyday life. And as little stress as possible...
As @torey has already written, there are so many vegetables, fruit which would help. I could add Jerusalem artichokes. Tubes to eat and leaves as herbal tea. All the black and dark blue colour vegetables, fruit and berries. We use only full grain flour and make bread ourselves and we use only full grain rice...
i have to admit that the process of change was not an easy one. Now it is easy when we are on our own, but not that easy when we invite someone for dinner of when we go out for a meal.
But, as I always add, we are all so different. What helps one, might not help the other. Everyone has to look for one’s own way.
-
Actually, I've probably said way too much about bitters alread. I'll offer prickly pear cactus as a suggestion. Eating the pads or fruit de-spined helps prevents highs and lows that cause insulin resistance, and help with diabetes.
-
@ karenjanicki Awesome question. My Mother is a diabetic.
Thanks Torey for the links and other's suggestions!!
-
Several years ago there was a documentary produced where a group of people, one with type 1 the rest with type 2 diabetes went on a raw food diet for 30 days. It is a radical lifestyle change for many people but if I remember correctly, all those who stuck with it were able to reverse their diabetes.
-
These are very positive recommendations of foods and ideas. Thank you
-
@torey Question: What are some of the black and dark blue fruits, veggies and berries?
-
Blueberries, bilberries, huckleberries, blackberries, black raspberries, boysenberries, tayberries, loganberries, cherries, black plums, figs, red/purple/black grapes, black currants, elderberries, passionfruit.
Beets, red/purple cabbage, purple cauliflower, red/purple kale, purple asparagus, Russian blue potatoes, purple/black carrots, purple/chocolate peppers, eggplant, purple kohlrabi, purple beans, radicchio, purple sweet potatoes, purple/black tomatoes, red/purple onions, red/purple lettuce.
I'm sure I am missing some.
-
I will have to let my brother know about these. He has type II as well. I need to convince him to get off the pharmaceuticals. They have damaged his kidneys with the pharmaceuticals. He had no kidney issues before the drugs they put him on. They changed what they had him on but the damage was already done.
-
question : What is Amla? How is it found or purchased?
-
Amla is Indian Gooseberry, native to India. It should be available as a supplement, powder or dried fruit at most of the bigger health food stores.
Its also available at Amazon.com
And at Walmart.com
-
Thank you very much for this information. I appreciate it.
-
Thank you for this advice. I will talk to my mom and see if she is able to make some changes.
-
Interesting. How do you prepare the pads? Must they be cooked or can they be eaten raw?
-
That's awesome! Do you happen to remember the name of the documentary? I'd like to see if I can find it. Thank you.
-
Thanks for this list!
-
That's so hard. The doctor put mom metformin but she was so sick on it so she refused it which I agree with. It was aweful. For now she's just on the insulin.
-
Cool. We'll have to check it out. Thanks!
-
I just want to thank everyone for their imput. I really appreciate it. I apologize for not getting back sooner. I have been sick for a week so I haven't been very active with anything. Thank you for all the helpful suggestions.
-
I burn the spines off with a plumber's torch. SOme people hold them over a gas burner with tongs. THen they can be peeled and pan sauteed. Or grilled whole
-
I agree with @jowitt.europe on the diet changes. The standard American diet is prone to getting high spikes in blood sugar and cravings. Try to find someone who is experienced in high fat, low carb diets. Protein raises the blood sugar levels over time but fat just doesn't. So try to incorporate good fats like avocados and salmon and the like.
-
@karenjanicki Simply raw: reversing diabetes in 30 days
-
I'm pretty sure that is what they had him on. I will look into the raw diet and see what I can find and what my brother might be willing to try out.
-
Very positive medicinal energy from eating these prickly pads
-
I never would have thought growing up in FL those prickly pear cactus we hated so much would be something I wished for in Alaska. lol Seems like every year someone would run through a patch of them with the lawn mower thinking they would get rid of them and all those little chunks would then take root and create hundreds more. Wonder if anyone sells them?
I would have to buy as I am sure they would never survive here in our weather. Not over the winter at least. Our last week was mostly around -20. Have a couple days now at around 20 above then we are gonna drop again
-
@vickeym You never know. Cactus just might grow for you. Opuntia fragilis is a small version of the Prickly Pear cactus and it can be found growing north of 56° in BC, near Fort St. John, which regularly sees winter temps reaching -50°C. Aside from the winter snow, its quite dry there, so you might have to bring in some sandy soil to give it good drainage during break up.
Next spring, I could dig up some pieces and try to smuggle them through the mail system.
-
Butters, cinnamon and proper exercise has helped my mom. Her readings are fairly regular now.
-
torey Thank you. That would be amazing. I wonder what type we had in Florida. My brother is going down soon for a visit. Maybe he can find some and bring back for me to try. But I would have to store it till spring. hmm.
Would love to try some. But wouldn't want to get you in trouble for smuggling. Wonder what the regulations are? I need to do some research I guess.
Monek Marie Will let my brother know this and see what we can do with it. Was the cinnamon a specific type or just the regular stuff you buy at the grocery?
-
Ok thank you
-
Thank you!
This Week's Leaders
Categories
- All Categories
- 36 Our Front Porch Welcome! (Please Read Before Posting)
- 29 Introductions & Region-Specific Discussions
- 372 Educational Opportunities & Resources
- 468 Current Events & Breaking News
- 54 Emergency/Disaster Preparedness & Resiliency
- 1.4K Our Garden: Growing Food
- 1.8K Our Apothecary: Natural & Home Medicine
- 517 The Back 40: Animal Husbandry & Harvesting
- 40 The Bush: Wild Game and Survival
- 547 Our Kitchen Table: Food Prep
- 402 The Homestead: DIY
- 1.2K Personal Journals
- 111 The General Store: Sell, Buy, & Barter