Drive out diabetes

BODY & MIND

Accepting diabetes as a condition of the body and not a disease can help you live better, aver Bharat & Shalan Savur

It’s heartening to know that life could get easier for people with diabetes in the near future. Imagine. No more painful jabs from cold steel needles.
 Instead, the person picks up the electro-nic U-strip, a thin, square, intelligent patch containing enzymes and insulin and slaps it on the upper arm. Presses a button on its remote held over the patch to trigger sound waves that open the pores of the skin. The patch’s glucose-sensitive enzymes read out the blood sugar levels. If high, the patch sends sugar-buster insulin into the bloodstream. And the balance is restored. Of course, it should be monitored by the doctor.

Even so, I would truly celebrate if every one were free of diabetes. Hence, first think healthy. Please don’t say, “I’m diabetic,” but accept “I have diabetes.” Acceptance in turn accelerates action. The best part of it is that you can heal yourself, especially if you have type 2 diabetes (adult onset); you can lower your blood fasting sugar to 90 mg/dl by incorporating four simple practices:

* Go low on carbs. Carbohydrates (rice, potatoes, bread, rotis) need insulin which either your body doesn’t secrete enough of or is resistant to. Why strain the body? Choose millets like ragi and jowar over rice and wheat instead – only 100 grams per day though. If the blood sugar level does not respond, reduce it to 50 grams. If you must have the occasional sweet, have some nuts with it. Their fibre content tames the sugar-spike in the blood and the insulin is spared.

* Do one hour of stationary cycling daily. I know an enthusiastic lady who has cured herself of diabetes by cycling half hour each in the morning and evening while watching her favourite TV shows. She’s been off insulin tablets for a year now. The wisdom of exercise here is: Return your muscles to the strong condition they were in before diabetes set in. The bonus: you lose weight. Also, walk briskly for 10 minutes after every meal to burn the carbs you’ve eaten and the glucose your liver has made from the protein you have ingested.

* De-addict your brain of sugar so that it stops sending messages to the liver to produce more glucose and drives you to eat sweets. For one month, write “I have given up sugar” 21 times. You’ll experience the lack of craving within 25 days.

* Under your doctor’s guidance, fix deficiencies (if any) of Vitamin D, fibre, antioxidants, omega-3 fats, biotin, magnesium, zinc and chromium.

Deficiencies cause imbalances in the insulin-sugar duel. Fix the deficiencies and insulin becomes the dominant partner.