By Quintus Ni
Recently, Quintus saw a family member diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. He has researched ways to avoid and better the situation of Type 2 Diabetes. Some of his recommendations come from Western Medicine, some from Eastern.
Diabetes can be divided into several types: Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, and Gestational Diabetes. Type 1 is genetic. Type 2 Diabetes accounts for 95% of all diabetics and is acquired through many factors, such as stress, diet, lack of exercise, and disposition, etc.
Here are some suggestions I recommend to stave off Type 2 Diabetes:
Eat nutritious food first after getting up every morning. It is best to eat some millet porridge and rice dumplings. After eating, let the stomach settle for 5 minutes, during which you can clean up the table. Next, exercise. This promotes the important production of insulin. It is best to do aerobic exercise, that is jogging and walking, etc. The exercise does not have to be strenuous. I suggest, at least, you walk in the yard or house and take in some fresh air, which is very beneficial to your health. In addition, you can practice clapping while walking backwards. All the muscles in the whole body will exercise. Moreover, I think it is important for the patient to pay attention to putting on more clothes or taking off some clothes to adjust their temperature. The climate in the northeast changes frequently; sometimes it can be very cold and sometimes hot, and diabetic patients can’t stay in a too cold or hot climate for long.
Relatively speaking, diabetics can not eat sugar. They can not eat sucrose or glucose in their daily diet, but fructose, that does not need insulin to break down in the body, is edible. However, honey is mainly composed of fructose and glucose. So it is best for patients not to eat honey. People say that each medicine has some kind of toxin, but comparatively, the side effect of Chinese Herbal medicine is much lighter. The effects of Chinese Medicine come slowly, which requires the patients to be patient and of good mentality. Good mentality is required at any time. Physical health is of great importance, and of course mental health is also important because it is also a factor in the healing of diseases. There are a lot of hormones, antibiotics and other substances in western medicine and they are extremely harmful to an unhealthy person. For these people, I think, Chinese Medicine is beneficial.
Additional suggestions to keep the diabetic healthy include–
1. In order to reduce the chance of developing retinopathy, don’t turn off the light when diabetics sleep. (Check out WebMD on this.)
2. Stop smoking.
3.When it is too hot or cold, diabetics should avoid exercising. And they should also develop the habit of checking their feet before going to bed and after exercising every day to see if there are injuries, broken skin or long blisters under their feet. Diabetics need to be vigilant protecting their feet due to poor circulation.
4. Diabetics should maintain appropriate and healthy weight.
5. Diabetics should eat each meal on time and according to the planned portion that can not be increased or decreased arbitrarily.
6. Eat less fried food, fewer puff pastries and foods with high oil content like skin of pigs, chickens, and ducks .
7. Use steaming, boiling methods when you cook; dress cold food with sauce; scald thin slices of food in boiling water; roast; stew; and use halogen ovens when you cook. The food should not be too salty. And salt consumption should be less than 6 grams each day.
8. Eat less food with high cholesterol, such as scallop-shaped pork/lamb kidney, animal livers, animal kidneys and other animal internal organs.
9. Use vegetable oil to cook because it is suitable for cooking.
10. Long-term and appropriate exercise, medication and diet control should be combined.
11. Often choose to eat foods with high fiber like unprocessed vegetables and fruits.
12. Foods with high starch content and Chinese and Western-style snacks to stave off hunger should be eaten as the amount planned. Do not eat at will so as to avoid excessive absorption.
13. Eat less food with refined sugars like condensed milk or preserved fruit.
Health and Disease Editor: James Zheng
This very useful information. i am passing it on to two pre-diabetic patients I know. Thank you.