Ayurveda is the oldest medicinal method, initiated in India over 3,000 years ago. Its core principle mainly centers on reforming the balance among the human mind, body, spirit, and environment to prevent diseases while improving overall well-being. Ayurveda offers personalized healing methods depending on individuals' unique constitutions (doshas).
Diabetes is a chronic disease that can impact people of all ages. So, it's critical to control your blood sugar to dodge serious health problems like vision loss and kidney and heart disease.
When you keep your blood sugar within the target range, it helps you stay energetic. Meanwhile, Ayurveda comes in to regulate blood sugar and improve your way of living with diabetes. It is believed to be an effective treatment to manage type 2 diabetes blood sugar, as research has also proved. We will go through the role of Ayurveda in controlling type 2 diabetes blood sugar. Let's roll in.
Understanding Blood Sugar and Ayurveda:
Diabetes is a condition that happens when your glucose (blood sugar) level goes up too much compared to normal. You get glucose from carbohydrates in your body through food and drinks. Your blood carries glucose to all your body cells, as it's a primary energy source. Well, it's the insulin (hormone) that helps glucose reach its endpoint.
Meanwhile, insulin comes from the pancreas, a gland present in the abdomen. Your body stores glucose in fat cells, muscles, and the liver for energy, bringing the blood sugar back to normal. But in diabetes 2, cells don't respond to insulin and do not take up glucose from the blood. As a result of this insulin resistance, the pancreas makes up more insulin, leading to hyperglycemia (high blood sugar). So, one of the significant causes of diabetes 2 is insulin resistance.
You may wonder what factors led to different levels of insulin resistance—it can be due to genetics, obesity, hormonal imbalances, diet, inactivity, and certain medications like HIV/AIDS medications and corticosteroids.
Diabetes is known as "Prameha/madhumeha" in Ayurveda. Basically, Ayurvedic medicine revolves around the concept of five elements: Aakash (space), Jala (water), Prithvi (earth), Teja (fire), and Vayu (air). The combination of elements leads to three doshas, which are comprised of vata (space and air), kapha (water and earth), and pitta (fire and water).
These are considered keys to an individual's physical and mental health. Every individual has a unique ratio of doshas that define the constitution to secure optimal health.
- Vata: This dosha regulates all the movement in the body.
- Kapha: Next, the Kapha is responsible for lubrication and structure in the body.
- Pitta: It is involved in digestion and metabolism.
It is believed that an appropriate balance in doshas is critical for good health. According to Ayurveda, imbalances in doshas lead to diabetes, as maintaining balance is vital.
An imbalance in kapha mainly impacts blood sugar, while the Vata imbalance causes the malfunction of the pancreas, and the Piita imbalance impacts the metabolism.
Kapha pitta AMA (toxic mucous) creates barriers and impairs the insulin-producing cells, which results in blood sugar spikes. In Ayurveda, ama is a Sanskrit word that means undigested food particles and refers to toxic mucus in the body. This accumulation disrupts the body's normal functioning, including blood sugar imbalances.
Ayurvedic Dietary Approach for Blood Sugar Control:
Ayurvedic lifestyle directions for adopting a healthy dietary pattern hand in hand with physical activity are helpful tools in preventing type 2 diabetes.
- Whole food: The Ayurvedic diet plan for diabetic patients includes consumption of whole, natural, unprocessed foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes. These foods are packed with rich nutrients that help to manage blood sugar.
- Avoid processed food and sugar: It also banishes processed food intake, lacks vital nutrients, and overruns unhealthy fat, salt, and sugar. Instead of sugary products, you can pick natural sweeteners like stevia or jaggery in the Ayurvedic diet; however, it is crucial to keep them in moderation.
- Sour Foods: To control blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetes, take bitter vegetables, bitter gourd, and garlic, as this will balance the sticky trait of the Kapha dosha.
- Mindful eating: Another major factor in the Ayurvedic diet to control blood sugar levels is mindful eating. At meal times, mindful eating helps reduce distraction and concentrate solely on your food's taste, smell, and texture.
Kapha imbalance is the primary source of causing type 2 diabetes, so it's vital to balance your Kapha through an Ayurvedic diet. Here are the primary foods for each dosha you must take to control your type 2 diabetes.
- Vata: If you have a prominent Vata dosha, then eat warm foods like soups, cooked root vegetables, and stews and avoid cold foods to maintain your dosha.
- Pitta: Whole grains, vegetables, and fruits are recommended for pitta individuals, and they should refrain from spicy foods and excess caffeine.
- Kapha: Consume beans, lemon, mildly cooked green vegetables, lentils, millet, and healthy fats such as pure butter, ground flaxseed, and cold-pressed olive oil. They must avoid dairy products and sweets to balance Kapha.
Meal Timings: Ayurveda highlights the importance of regularly having only two meals per day instead of frequent meals for diabetes management. When you eat frequent meals, it will cause your body to develop insulin resistance.
Spices and herbs to control blood sugar
- Cinnamon: Cinnamon is a powerful herb that helps lower blood sugar. To improve your insulin sensitivity, you can make cinnamon tea by bringing a boil to cinnamon sticks in water.
- Fenugreek Seeds: These magical seeds also help in controlling blood sugar in type 2 diabetes. Soak fenugreek seeds at night, then in the morning, strain them and drink their water to manage your blood sugar levels naturally.
- Indian Gooseberry (Amla): Amla stimulates the function of pancreatic cells that are in charge of insulin production. Eat raw amla or drink its juice to control your blood glucose.
- Neem Leaves: Drink neem water or chew neem leaves to maintain your diabetes type.
- Turmeric: It is one of the active spices used in Ayurvedic medicine. The anti-inflammatory properties help to reduce insulin sensitivity.
- Tulsi: Ayurvedic medicine has used tulsi—also known as holy basil—to manage blood sugar.
- Ginger: Taking ginger tea improves insulin sensitivity as it contains vital nutrients like gingerol.
In addition, take herbs like chamomile, skullcap, passionflower, or jatamansi to calm your nervous system. However, we recommend you take advice from a healthcare professional on controlling blood sugar levels in diabetes type 2 from Ayurveda.
Lifestyle Practices for Balancing Blood Sugar:
Ayurveda emphasizes a balanced lifestyle for stress management, as it is linked with blood sugar levels. Meditation, yoga, and a natural sleep cycle are critical to managing stress. Meditation nurtures your inner peace and decision-making ability; on the flip side, yoga posture, like the sun salutation, maintains balance and enhances mental health to heal from stress.
Breathing technique Pranayama calms down the nervous system. In contrast to deep breathing, pranayama promotes mild and responsive bodily movements.
Yoga and Pranayam together have beneficial effects on controlling blood sugar, obesity, hypertension, and cholesterol.
While the toxins and imbalances in your body induce diseases, Ayurveda's Panchakarma treatments wipe out the toxins and recover health.
If you toss and turn at night, then your doshas are out of balance, which leads to inadequate sleep. So, set up your regular daily schedule of bedtime and wake-up. An oil massage is known as abhyanga in Ayurvedic medicine. It is a full-body massage carried out with warm oil to relax the mind, manage stress, and improve sleep, which, as a result, controls blood sugar levels.
Disclaimer and Conclusion:
Ayurveda is not the ultimate cure for diabetes. However, it helps in controlling blood sugar levels in diabetes type 2. The Ayurveda medicinal system has been used for ages, providing multiple benefits.
So consult a professional Ayurvedic practitioner for a personalized plan according to your doshas. Nothing is more important than good health, so you need to be careful when treating diabetes to improve your well-being. Meanwhile, taking Ayurveda with conventional medicine fosters balance in mind, body, and spirit.
