THURSDAY MARCH 3, 2011 I WANT SOME KARELA

FIVE KEYS TO CHANGE:

1. Rather than blaming others, be determined to stand ALONE.
2. Rather than avoiding challenges, have the spirit to challenge YOURSELF.
3. Rather than grumbling or complaining, have CONVICTION and ENCOURAGE others.
4. Rather than harboring jealousy or resentment, create HARMONIOUS UNITY.
5. Rather than being fearful, SUMMON COURAGE.

This is my daily mantra. Put this by your bedside or stick to your mirror in the bathroom. Let it be the first words you see when you go to the bathroom every morning. You might see the numbers on the clock radio, but the first written words written will be ones above. After reading them, did you feel vitalized and fearless? Do you want to change?
Change happens within.

Make your own mantra! For example, there are many individuals I treat who are food addicts. This is a large number. I might call them "Carb addicts" or "Chocolate Addicts". A suggested mantra for those individuals might be, "I will not eat any form of sugar today."

When you are living with diabetes, the number one goal is to keep your blood sugar strictly controlled. The American College of Endocrinologists and the Diabetes Foundation has decreased the fasting glucose levels. It used to be 125. Then it was lowered to 110. And now it is 99. If you have a fasting blood sugar greater than 99, you have a glucose management problem. You might need a 5 hour glucose tolerance test to determine the extent of your sugar problem.

If your sugar spikes to greater than 120mg after a meal we have a concern. Every time that happens to you, you are at risk for serious long term complications of diabetes, including cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, neuropathic pain ( peripheral neuropathy) and eye problems. You can add the right supplements to stabilize your sugar. Consult a health care practitioner who can integrate nutrition, herbs, and supplements with your conventional diabetic (sugar) medications.

There are many herbs for sugar balance. Some already discussed have been rosemary, fenugreek, cinnamon, and gymnema. I have utilized all four herbs and three minerals - vanadium, alpha lipoic acid and chromium in a product I personally made called Glucostable. This is available exclusively from Longevity Nutritionals at 212 688 5536 or 888-77vitamins. You can check the on - line store at http://www.longevitynutritionals.com/

I am in the process of researching other herbs to reduce glucose. Why herbs? Herbs excite me. Plants excite me. Writing this blog excites me, because I am educating. Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) is a tropical vegetable that is frequently used in Ayurvedic therapy. The unripe fruit is known as bitter melon and karela. Karela preparations have been shown to significantly improve glucose tolerance without increasing blood insulin levels, and to improve fasting blood glucose levels. Blood and urine sugar levels and post-prandial (after eating) blood glucose levels also fell. Reports of poor response to karela can be attributed to inter-patient variation. Traditionally, the seeds, fruit, leaves, and root have been used to treat microbial infections, sluggish digestion and intestinal gas, menstrual stimulation, wound healing, inflammation, fever reduction, hypertension, and as a laxative and emetic (induces vomiting). Current uses for bitter melon extracts (primarily from the fruit) include diabetes, dyslipidemia, microbial infections, and potentially as a cytotoxic agent for certain types of cancer. I am not one for tasting anything bitter. My patients claim that is very very bitter. I deliberately haven't tasted karela yet.

Until tomorrow...