If you have diabetes, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is likely your top priority. Whether your body doesn’t produce insulin in type 1 diabetes or doesn’t produce enough insulin or effectively use the insulin it does produce in type 2 diabetes, living with diabetes can feel like a constant balancing act.
When your body can’t control your blood sugar levels, it can affect your immune, nervous, and cardiovascular systems. That’s why it’s helpful to take a holistic approach to managing diabetes. You can use both conventional and natural medicine to create a plan that helps you feel better and take control of your health.
Some people use natural remedies to help manage their diabetes. Here are some things you should know about them.
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“Naturopathy aims to address and eliminate the root cause of a person’s illness and stimulate the body’s natural healing response,” says Dr. Alice Fong, CEO and founder of Amour de Soie Wellness.
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Naturopathic doctors (NDs) are educated and trained at accredited medical schools and can diagnose and treat medical conditions.
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Naturopathy aims to restore and establish optimal health.
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Many NDs use nutrition, homeopathy, hydrotherapy, acupuncture, and other therapies to achieve therapeutic benefit.
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Contrary to popular belief, NDs are not against medication. They recommend both natural substances and pharmaceutical drugs when appropriate. However, depending on state regulations, they may or may not be able to prescribe all medications.
In many ways, naturopathic medicine encourages you to be an independent player in your own health – instead of simply seeing a doctor and taking medication, you can make meaningful daily choices for your health.
Natural Treatments for Diabetes
According to the magazine BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, “Several small, uncontrolled studies have shown improved self-care behaviors and reduced clinical risk in people with type 2 diabetes treated by licensed naturopathic physicians,”Randomized clinical trials were conducted. [adjunctive naturopathic care] They were responsible for these profits.”
Benefits include:
Fong also recommends seeing a licensed naturopathic doctor and getting micronutrient testing “to identify nutrient deficiencies that may be contributing to disease progression, as well as other relevant tests beyond HbA1c and blood glucose levels.” These tests include:
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vitamin
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mineral
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amino acid
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Antioxidants
As Phong explains, diabetes is a gradual disease, and adopting some new habits is key to reversing or preventing diabetes. It doesn’t have to be hard, and you don’t have to be perfect overnight. You can adopt changes gradually. Even small changes can have a big impact.
“Healthy lifestyle interventions may help you avoid adding medication and, depending on your blood sugar levels, reduce your medication dosage,” says Fong. “Medications have value, but diabetes medications do not cure diabetes. It is lifestyle changes that can prevent and potentially reverse the progression of the disease (how much reversal depends on how advanced the disease is).”
If you are at risk for diabetes (i.e. you have been diagnosed with prediabetes or have other risk factors, such as a family history of diabetes), you should know that type 2 diabetes is preventable.
“Naturopathy is so important in managing diabetes because it focuses on prevention and optimizing health primarily through lifestyle changes,” Fong says.
Naturopathic Treatment for Diabetes
So what changes can people with prediabetes or diabetes make to prevent or manage their condition? Your naturopathic doctor can support you to make the following changes (and as always, talk to your diabetes care team for additional support and guidance):
Find the exercise routine that works for you
If you have diabetes or prediabetes, aim to get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise, five times a week. This may be a common phrase, but there’s a reason for it.
When you move your body, your cells become more sensitive to insulin, helping it to work better for you. Exercise has the immediate effect of lowering your blood sugar levels.
Any exercise counts: walking, dancing, strength training, jogging, swimming, etc. If exercise seems like a struggle, the American Diabetes Association recommends breaking it down into more doable chunks. Start small: Try adding 10 minutes of exercise a few times a day to begin with. Then, they recommend gradually building up to 50 minutes of exercise three times a week, 30 minutes five times a week, or 25 minutes six times a week.
Once you start exercising, keep doing it. Avoid going more than 48 hours without exercising, as every time you sweat your body is in a state where it absorbs glucose. As an added benefit, exercise reduces stress hormones.
Our top tip? Find something you enjoy, can stick to, and that gets your heart rate up. That might be a Zumba workout or tutorial on YouTube, a short HIIT session in your backyard every day, or a group fitness class on Zoom or in person.
Consider the time of day to exercise. You want to exercise when you have the energy, but you also need to consider medications that may lower your blood sugar as well as exercise. Talk to your doctor about starting an exercise routine and the right timing for medication and exercise.
Look for supportive relationships and habits
Whether you’ve just been diagnosed with diabetes or are looking for new ways to manage your diabetes, take the time to evaluate which relationships and life choices are working for you and which aren’t.
Is there someone who constantly stresses you out or makes you feel down? Who supports you the most? If you feel like you’re not getting enough support, look for ways to shift the balance.
Do you have habits that make you feel empty, overworked, or exhausted? How can you reduce or stop relying on these habits?
Making these changes isn’t always easy, but it will help you manage stress, surround yourself with positive, supportive people, and make better choices overall.
Controlling Stress
Everyone gets stressed sometimes, but don’t let it overwhelm you. Stress releases hormones that increase your heart rate and blood sugar levels, not to mention making you engage in less-than-good habits like drinking too much alcohol or stress eating.
It can be helpful to recognize when you are feeling stressed and take steps to prevent it from becoming unbearable. Some suggestions:
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Join a support group
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Reach out to kind and understanding family and friends
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Keep an anxiety diary and get your thoughts down on paper
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Start practicing yoga as a way to clear your mind and relax your body.
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Practice mindfulness. Simply being aware of your emotions can help transform them. This is good to know, considering that psychological stress has been linked to impaired blood sugar control. Set aside some time each day to sit quietly alone and focus on your emotions and experiences with an open-minded attitude. Think of it as a time to acknowledge everything without avoiding it.
Maximize your nutrition
Here are some handy tips to help you make food choices on the go: Download an app like the Glycemic Index & Load Diet Assistant or carry a copy of the Glycemic Index (GI) Guide with you when grocery shopping. The glycemic index tells you the estimated ranking of carbohydrates in a food and how it affects blood sugar levels.
Keep a food diary on hand to record how certain foods make you feel. By keeping a food journal, you can begin to notice patterns in your energy levels, fatigue, and blood sugar. In addition to your ND, you can also work with a dietitian to help you make healthy food switches and create a meal plan that works for you.
Have a sweet tooth? Fong suggests sprinkling cinnamon on your food, as it sweetens the taste and helps control blood sugar levels.
Consider a yoga practice
Although more research is needed, studies have shown a correlation between a dedicated yoga practice and reduced inflammation and improved immunity. As a mind-body therapy, yoga offers unique benefits to people living with chronic illnesses. Not to mention, yoga is a tool of mindfulness, which can reduce stress hormones.
For example, try “legs-up-the-wall” pose. Simply lie on your back on the floor with your legs parallel to the wall for support. This mini inversion can help reduce stress and lower your blood pressure and blood sugar.
Find a yoga instructor or follow online tutorials to learn more. Popular YouTube channels Yoga with Adrienne We offer a 30-minute video to help you get started with diabetes yoga.
Natural winter remedies for diabetes
When adopting natural remedies during the winter months, when people are more susceptible to colds, flu, and COVID-19, Fong recommends sticking to the healthiest nutritional choices. While it may be tempting to skip your daily exercise while stuck inside during snowy days, maintaining healthy habits will help support immune health and hormone levels.
At the end of the day, know that you have the power to make life choices that benefit your mind, body, and spirit. Health is not just about the number on the scale, how much exercise you do, or eating the perfect diet every day. Health is about creating and maintaining a healthy balance in all areas of your life.
This article was first published on August 23, 2021 and last updated on August 24, 2021.
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