Managing diabetes & metabolic syndrome with naturopathy

NEW DELHI: Diabetes or Metabolic syndrome contributes to 2.5-fold increased cardiovascular mortality and a five-fold higher risk of developing diabetes. According to recent research studies, by 2020, cardiovascular diseases will be the largest cause of disability and death in India.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of disorders like high blood fasting sugar, high blood pressure, increased waist-hip ratio with a potbelly, and abnormal cholesterol or triglycerides due to impaired metabolism. Long-term persistence of these conditions leads to further complications like stroke, renal damage, nervous disorders, and retinal issues.

Diabetes is the basic inability of the body's cells to utilize insulin, which is known as insulin resistance. Due to this, though the pancreas produces insulin, our cells are unable to use it for the uptake of glucose and this leads to Diabetics. Clinically. a fasting serum insulin level of more than 60 pmol/L is considered a state of insulin resistance clinically

Insulin resistance is a complex metabolic abnormality and a common concern in both Pre-diabetics and Diabetics. It affects the ability of peripheral tissues to use insulin, thus impairing peripheral glucose utilization and resulting in the development of hyperglycemia, among others.

The main peripheral tissues involved are the liver, skeletal muscle, and adipose tissue as they are the main insulin-sensitive sites. In insulin resistance biochemical parameters like blood glucose level, blood triglyceride level, and blood cholesterol level increase whereas blood HDL cholesterol level decreases, which in turn contributes to cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome.

How does one get all these issues?

While Metabolic syndrome is not infectious it is completely dependent on the lifestyle of the individual. The wrong diet patterns, lack of physical activities, long-term stress, late working hours without proper sleep, lack of adequate rest, environmental factors, and slight influence from one's genetic background. To put it in a nutshell at the end of the day you are the one who decides about your health; you cannot fault your genetics!

How to get back into a healthy life?

Short-term relief is not the answer as the damages have happened due to wrong lifestyle habits which can only be reversed by making healthy lifestyle modifications. A perfect diet, a good amount of exercise, or daily yoga & pranayama, all help to attain physical and mental strength.

In this context, Naturopathy offers a drugless and non-invasive treatment that could transform your life by awakening the healer in you! At 'Prakriti Shakti', CGH Earth's clinic of Natural Medicine, treats lifestyle diseases such as Diabetes, where in addition to the body treatments, you learn dietary practices and other lifestyle alterations using Yoga & Meditation for managing and preventing hormonal and metabolic disorders, in a sustainable manner. The curative programs are holistic and integrated combining personalized naturopathy and yoga therapy with the recommended period for the Treatment of Diabetes being 21 days.

A few tips on how to go about living a diabetic-free lifestyle:

Prakritishakti

. Soak chia/ basil seeds overnight in a glass of room-temperature water. When you wake up, drink this water along with the soaked seeds on an empty stomach. Chia / Basil seeds are a good source of soluble fiber, hence this drink helps in reducing the Glycemic load as well as insulin spikes in the body.

. Make a Juice using 2/3 raw Amlas / Indian gooseberries, one glass of room temperature water and have it early morning on an empty stomach. This juice is a good source of Vitamin C and also acts as a laxative which helps in riding the body of accumulated toxins.

. Replace one-time bowls of cereal with a Millet dish and for the next meal replace the cereals with vegetables. This also helps in preventing as well as reversing diabetes

. Keep yourself hydrated by drinking a minimum of 3 liters of water every day.

. Replace Sweet fruits with Citrus fruits and Semi ripened fruits

. Count the natural colours in your diet i.e.: A Rainbow diet - make sure that you include a minimum of 7 colors of fruits and vegetables in the diet. This arms the body with enough phytochemicals

. Sleep for 7 to 8 hours at night, as this enhances the possibility of reversing Diabetes by around 30 percent.

. Strengthen the Soleus muscle by walking or other strength training. This is the single most important muscle that helps in glucose metabolism

. Burn belly fat with Yogic practices and Kriyas.

. Keep the levels of Vitamin D optimum by exposing yourself to sunlight else with supplements

. Short, cold applications/packs on the abdomen are an excellent method to improve your metabolism and vitality. This therapy assists in increasing the circulation to the abdomen area which in turn aids your digestion.