Diabetes Cure: Ayurveda with Modern Medicine
Are you borderline diabetic? How will you reverse prediabetes? How can you avoid diabetes if it runs in the family? Can herbal medicine help? What are the therapies and lifestyle changes for diabetes to stall the disease? How to prevent diabetes naturally?
The answer lies in Ayurveda principles along with modern medicine.
The word Ayurveda is a grouping of two Sanskrit words, ‘Ayur’ meaning life and ‘Veda’ meaning science or knowledge which simply sums up as ‘knowledge of life. Ayurveda, originating from the writings in the sacred Vedas, has been a part of our ancient Indian medical system. Diabetes was first mentioned in Atharvaveda, one of the four sacred Vedas approximately 1,500–1,000 B.C. in India.
In Ayurveda, the Sanskrit word to describe diabetes was ‘madhumeha’, meaning “sweet urine” disease. Primarily because when the blood sugar levels rise above normal, the excess escapes through the urine. Also, the other phrase used in Sanskrit to describe diabetes is ‘dhatupaka janya vikruti’ loosely meaning derangement in body tissues due to discrepancies in metabolism. The very fundamentals of Ayurvedic medicine are based upon restoring a balance between the three fundamental bio-elements or doshas called Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Ayurveda describes these three doshas encompassing the environment, human body and the physiological state of the mind. Each of these doshas plays an exact role to maintain a balance between one’s mind and the body.
Ayurveda is a complete healing process, which takes into account the person’s lifestyle, his environment and what is initiating stress which is leading to the imbalance of the doshas causing illnesses. Its treatment contains using herbal remedies along with specific food items, oils and spices. It also involves body massage and yoga with meditation. It is a form of natural medicine used to treat ailments from common colds and fevers to other illnesses like arthritis, kidney stones and diabetes.
How does Ayurveda help in diabetes?
In India, Ayurveda is recognized as a system of medicine in healthcare. Today under the government scheme Ayushman Bharat, the first batch of 1,000 Ayurveda doctors are trained and cleared as mid-level health providers (MLHP) to provide basic treatment using modern medicine at state-run Health and Wellness Centres (HWC). Ayurveda alongside western allopaths is gaining importance. Since Ayurvedic medicine addresses the root cause of the disease, patients are considering it alongside allopathic medicine under the supervision of the specialist/ dialogist.
Diabetes occurs when our body is not able to manufacture sufficient endocrine hormone, which helps metabolize food into energy. Diabetes is a metabolic Kapha type of disorder in which diminished functioning of Agni (digestive fire) leads to difficulty to metabolize energy and eliminate toxins causing higher blood sugar levels in the body.
Ayurvedic medicine for diabetes-
Ayurveda as a holistic treatment:
1. Helps to identify the root cause of diabetes and assists in customizing an individual overall treatment plan for the patient as per his/her stage and type of diabetes.
2. It is a unique combination of herbal medicines, lifestyle changes, diet regulations that are specific to an individual body type and its ailment.
3. Can be used to decrease body dependence on allopathic medicine avoiding long-term side effects like resistance to the key endocrine hormone.
Since diabetes, in the long run, can either lead to microvascular (affecting eyes, kidneys, feet) or macrovascular (affecting the heart, brain and legs) complications, one should seek holistic treatment from the very pre-diabetes stage.
Diabetes and Ayurveda
Ayurveda when initiated to treat diabetes at the right time can be the best medicine for diabetes since it introduces an overall lifestyle change. Ayurveda for diabetes involves-
A) Healthy balanced diet
B) Regular physical activity
C) Yoga and meditation
D) Traditional herbal medicine
A) Healthy balanced diet:
Ayurveda inculcates-
1. Avoid large portions of sweets and dairy products. Substitute sugar with honey. Use cinnamon to improve endocrine hormone sensitivity.
2. Cut the carbs in white bread and pizzas and pasta and instead replace them with healthy alternatives like barley, rye, corn, rice and oats.
3. Reduce red meat and increase the intake of fresh vegetables with onions, garlic, eggplant, spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus and red, green, yellow peppers.
4. Add bitter foods. The bitterness contained in fenugreek seeds and bitter gourd helps to control the blood sugar levels.
5. Spices and herbs. Ginger and turmeric in your food help to reduce the excess Kapha in the body.
6. Replace fried foods with dry cooking like boiling, baking and grilling. They balance the heavy, cool, wet nature of Kapha.
7. Introduce Aloe Vera. The juice of Aloe Vera used as an ayurvedic sugar medicine helps to normalize blood sugar levels.
B) Exercise and physical activity:
Physical activity is not only important to look slim and beautiful but it is established that regular exercise helps to lower the blood glucose to keep diabetes at bay.
C) Yoga in diabetes and meditation cures diabetes
Research has established that those practising yoga on regular basis has enhanced mobility and improved weight, blood pressure, endocrine hormone, cholesterol. Yoga and meditation reduce the stress level thereby helping to manage diabetes.
D) Traditional herbal medicine
Neem, turmeric, shilajit, gudmar, guggul, Amalaki, arjuna are used in herbal medicines for diabetes. These natural cures for diabetes have no side effects if taken under proper supervision.
Conclusion
Everybody type is different. There is no single most effective cure in either Ayurveda medicine or in modern allopath medicine for any ailment. If you are diagnosed with the onset of diabetes, it is best to educate yourself, meet with doctors and discuss the various options available to you to stop diabetes from progressing to Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Therefore, it might be interesting to check out holistic treatments that offer ‘Organic Medicines’. Organic medicines combine Ayurveda principles with modern medicine. These medicines offer 100% natural ingredients so there are no adverse side effects to the body. Also, the well-researched organic medicines have a comparatively better relief time than the slow-acting ayurvedic medicine or herbal medicine. So make an informed decision about your well-being!