Blood sugar

Best sweeteners to beat blood sugar spikes

~ admin ~ Leave a comment

blood sugarDr. Adria Schmedthorst – If you suffer from diabetes, you know the daily struggle of balancing the foods you want to eat with the effect they will have on your blood sugar.

And, nowhere is this more difficult than when it comes to choosing sweeteners for your food and drinks.

You may have even turned to artificial sweeteners and diet drinks to lower your blood sugar — many people do, often at their doctor’s advice.

But, these bring a whole host of health concerns.

In fact, according to scientific studies, just one of these drinks a day may be enough to significantly increase your risk for a number of health problems.

Artificial sweetener dangers

Let’s take a look at the damage artificial sweeteners can do to your body: Continue reading →

Lizzie Bennet ~ The Humble Potato Is Not As Humble As You Think

~ admin ~ Leave a comment

ReadyNutrition  May 7 2014

potatoesGrownInPotsWidely available, cheap, and in some form usually eaten by even the most picky eaters, potatoes are a staple in most households. As well as coming in many varieties, with subtle colour and flavour differences, they have the added benefit of being very filling, something that will be very useful if/when food supplies are restricted. Potatoes are easy to grow, even a large tub on a patio will produce a useful crop.

There are a few other things going for the humble tater. A single large potato contains potassium, magnesium,copper,iron vitamin C and almost all the B vitamins as well as resistant starch, a substance that has many health benefits. Resistant starch is proven to lower blood sugar levels and have a positive effect on insulin production. It reduces the appetite and has major benefits for the digestive system. Anything that can help maintain good health in a situation when there may not be access to doctors should be considered a crucial part of our diet.

There have been accounts of people living on nothing but potatoes for a considerable time. This is not something I would advocate, but the results were very interesting including weight loss of over 20 pounds in a 60 day period. You can read about Chris Voigt of the Washington Potato Commission here. Continue reading →

Cinnamon’s Infection And Diabetes-Fighting Properties Revealed

~ admin ~ Leave a comment

Wake Up World  October 31 2013

Cinnamon’s medicinal potential is as rich and complex as its flavor and aroma, with blood sugar balancing and infection fighting at the top of the list.

Blood sugarCinnamon is a familiar spice, but few are aware of just how diverse are its medicinal properties. The US National Library of Medicine houses well over 1300 abstracts on the subject of the various forms of cinnamon’s potential health benefits.

GreenMedInfo.com has gathered together research on no less than 60 potential health benefits of this highly valued spice on our research page dedicated to the topic: Cinnamon Medicinal Properties.

First, it must be clarified that there are a wide range of plants whose bark are sold as cinnamon. The first though less used form is known as Cinnamomum verum (literally “true cinnamon”). It is sometimes called Ceylon (the ancient name of Sri Lanka) cinnamon, as it is named after the geographic region where it was first commonly cultivated. Due to its rarity, it is more expensive and harder to find on the market.

Other forms include

  •  C. cassia (Cassia or Chinese cinnamon)
  •  C. burmannii ( Indonesian cinnamon)
  •  C. loureiroi (Vietnamese cinnamon)

One of the major differences between C. verum and varieties such as C. burmannii and C. cassia is that the latter types contain much higher levels of coumarin, a naturally occurring phytochemical with blood-thinning properties. This has prompted European health agencies to warn against consuming large amounts of cinnamon varieties such as cassia.[i] Natural blood-thinning activity, of course, within the proper context can be life-saving, but when mixed with already dangerous blood-thinning drugs such as aspirin, can be a recipe for disaster – all the more reason why folks using spices and herbs in ‘pharmacological’ or heroic doses should consult a medical herbalist, or physician with a nuanced understanding of the benefits and potential harms of using high-dose herbal therapies.

Another issue that the US buyer of spices must be fully aware of is the likelihood that, unless explicitly labelled ‘USDA certified organic’, the cinnamon they are purchasing was exposed to toxic levels of gamma irradiation in a controversial process known as “electronic” or “cold” pasteurization. To learn more about this serious threat to our food supply read: The Invisible Nuclear Threat in Non-Organic Food.

Continue reading →

The Wonders Of Herbal Teas

~ admin ~ Leave a comment

Blood sugarDrinking tea isn’t just something you do at lunchtime. The British have been drinking it religiously for hundreds of years, people in the Far East even longer. But tea is not just any other liquid to help quench your thirst. Many herbal teas are known to have far-reaching healing powers.

The health benefits of herbal teas are wide ranging and all natural, helping with everything from acid reflux to irregular blood sugar, stomach cramps to depression.

Herbal teas and their healing powers

Burdock Tea

Burdock tea has long been known for its power to regulate blood sugar. Patients with liver problems have been frequently advised by their physicians to drink burdock tea regularly, as a preventative measure.

Chamomile Tea

This is one of the most popular of all the herbal teas. Chamomile helps with various stomach ailments like acid reflux (heartburn). It has also been known to help deal with anxiety and nervous conditions as well. Others even go so far as to claim it can help with the common cold. Chamomile has been a favorite of tea drinkers for years as a relaxant just before bedtime.

Continue reading →

How To Prevent Diabetes With Everyday Foods

~ admin ~ Leave a comment

NaturalNews May 3 2013

Blood sugarAccording to the most recent statistics, about one-third of the entire U.S. population, or more than 100 million Americans, suffers from either diabetes or pre-diabetes, a blood sugar condition that can eventually lead to more serious health conditions and even death. And based on U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) projections, this number is expected to double by 2050 if trends continue at current rates. But you and your family do not have to fall victim to this sweeping diabetes epidemic — here are some tips on how to alter your diet and lifestyle to avoid developing diabetes and potentially succumbing to premature death:

1) Eat more foods rich in quercetin. A member of the flavonoid family of antioxidants, quercetin has been shown to help lower blood glucose levels and improve plasma insulin levels, two factors commonly associated with diabetes (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19496084). Quercetin also helps neutralize damaging free radicals and inhibit inflammation, not to mention lower blood pressure in people with inflammation (http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/quercetin-000322.htm).

Foods that are high in quercetin include apples, citrus fruits, onions, parsley, sage, green tea, and red wine. Olive oil, grapes, dark cherries, and dark berries are also rick in quercetin and other flavonoids, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). And if dietary sources are not enough, quercetin is also available in supplement form, including in the Rejuvenate! Plus green superfood formula available at the NaturalNews store (http://store.naturalnews.com/Rejuvenate-Plus-500-g_p_95.html).

2) A teaspoon of cinnamon a day to keep the diabetes away. Cinnamon contains powerful blood sugar-stabilizing compounds that not only increase glucose metabolism by a significant amount, but also mimic the activity of insulin inside the body. Supplementing with cinnamon can also help slow the speed at which food empties from your stomach, inhibiting the blood sugar rush that often comes following a meal high in refined sugar and simple carbohydrates (http://www.huffingtonpost.com).

Continue reading →