Diabetes is a major crisis in the twenty-first century. Very recent research confirms that 12 percent of deaths in the U.S. are due to diabetes or its complications, marking it as the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer, a wake-up call if there ever was one. This information pegs the disease higher than previous estimates, which put it at 2.8 percent in 2010 and the seventh leading cause of death in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New cases are increasingly common, with 1.4 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes every year.
Who Gets Diabetes?
More than 29 million people have diabetes, defined by abnormally high blood sugar. When blood sugar builds up in the blood, it damages nerves and blood vessels. High blood sugar levels lead to heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and amputation of toes, feet or legs. Type 2 diabetes (insulin resistance) accounts for about 90 to 95 percent of cases, while Type 1 diabetes (usually diagnosed in adolescents) adds up to about 5 percent.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is the chronic disease most associated with Western lifestyle, and is rarely seen in cultures relying on a more traditional diet. As people around the world gradually adjust their diets from more native foods to commercial, processed diets, their rate of diabetes rises, matching the proportion in Western cultures over time.
Foods for Diabetes
Bitter foods and healing herbs have long been used in traditional healing systems to blast sugar cravings. Chinese medicine especially emphasizes this, and it has been validated in recent scientific publications. Do we eat bitter foods in America? Uh, no.
Add bitter foods, such as arugula, dandelion greens, endive, to your diet several times per day to decrease your overall sugar cravings. For immediate relief, eat a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa nibs or drink a cup of green tea. According to Tieraona Low Dog, MD, author of Life Is Your Best Medicine, bitters may counteract your craving for sweets. She recommends liquid tinctures of bitter herbs. Shake a few drops into water or club soda to sip when that sweet yearning strikes. “Bitters” tinctures often contain gentian root, dandelion root or barberry root.
Andrew Weil, MD, advocates pumping up the bitter in your diet to the max. For what he calls our “sweet-saturated culture”, he likes bitter melon, dandelion greens, radicchio and endive. And speaking of bitter melon, it’s another great candidate for cravings. Andrew Weil points out that bitter melon is one of the main herbs taken to promote health in the Okinawan diet. This vegetable reliably lowers blood sugar. In aa 2017 study, scientists stated, “ Momordica charantia presents excellent antidiabetic and antioxidant activities and thus has great potential as a new source for diabetes treatment whether it is used for prophylaxis or treatment.”
As a food, treat it like a zucchini, or use the dried powder as a remedy. Food or herbal remedy, be prepared. It’s much bitterer than you expect!
Diabetes Herbs to the Rescue
Curcuminoids, found in turmeric, also help block carbohydrate absorption, according to several recent studies. The data show that these turmeric constituents have a potent effect of blocking alpha-glucosidase, an enzyme in your small intestine that converts starches and table sugar to monosaccharides like glucose, the simplest form of sugar. Blocking this enzyme delays sugar absorption and helps keep blood sugar stable, thereby warding off sugar cravings. One research team concluded that natural turmeric constituents showed a remarkable inhibitory effect. A word to the wise: turmeric is also bitter. It’s a common spice, so just use it in food every day.
An exciting herb, gurmar leaf (Gymnema sylvestre), well-known in Ayurveda from India, is just beginning to get serious attention here. This herb has been used in India for the treatment of diabetes for over 2,000 years. Used primarily for adult-onset diabetes (NIDDM), it continues to be recommended today in India. Gymnemic acid, similar in structure to glucose, binds glucose transporters, preventing and/or delaying sugar absorption. Gurmar leaves raise insulin levels, when administered to healthy volunteers.
A recent study found that gymnemic acid decreased blood glucose levels by 14% to 60% within 6 hours of administration as compared to the anti-diabetic drug glibenclamide, and it also increased insulin levels.
Traditionally, people have taken 6-12 grams of the powdered leaf per day. Studies recently performed in India have used 400 mg per day of an extract of the gymnema leaves. You might use an extract that is standardized to contain at least 25% gymnemic acid. Some supplement manufacturers produce an extract standardized to 75%. Clinical studies have looked at doses of 200 to 400 mg per day of these extracts.