Facts about diabetes

• There are 6 million new diabetes sufferers in the world each year
• Diabetes is now the fourth biggest cause of death worldwide
• One million amputations each year are caused by diabetes

Top five countries with diabetic population are:

1. India - 35.5 million
2. China - 23.8 million
3. USA - 16 million
4. Russia - 9.7 million
5. Japan 6.7 million

Vitamins in diabetes

Vitamins like Vitamin B complex, Thiamine or Vitamin B1 and Pyridoxine or Vitamin B6 are very useful in diabetes, vitamin C and vitamin E are also very good in diabetes. Let's have a look on how they can help you controlling your diabetes.
Vitamin C - Vitamin C is considered highly beneficial in treating diabetes. Because of stress, urinary losses and destruction by artificial sweeteners, the vitamin C requirement is usually high in diabetics. Large amounts of this vitamin sometimes bring very good results. Natural insulin output increases in diabetics with supplementary doses of vitamin C. Natural sources of vitamin C are citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables, sprouted Bengal gram and green grams.
Vitamin E - reduces considerably the devastating vascular damage accompanying diabetes. Vitamin E helps diabetics decrease their insulin requirements. It would be advisable for a diabetes patient to take a daily dose of 200 IU of this vitamin for a fortnight at a time. Rich Sources of Vitamin E are wheat or cereal germ, whole grain products, fruits and green leafy vegetables, milk and all whole raw or sprouted seeds. Other sources of vitamin E are cold pressed crude vegetable oils, especially sunflower seeds, safflower, and Soya beans oils, raw and sprouted seeds and grains, alfalfa, lettuce, almond, human milk etc.
Vitamin A - Diabetics are unable to convert beta-carotine to vitamin A so supplement of this vitamin, therefore, becomes necessary.

Diabetes and your eyes

Diabetes can play havoc with your eyes, and sometimes there are no early symptoms. So you may have no idea anything is wrong until your eyesight is in danger.

Here are the main eye problems that can be caused, or made worse, by diabetes.

Cataracts - These are often described as a clouding of the lens of the eye. They are treatable by surgery in most cases.

Glaucoma - Our eyes are largely made up of fluid, and when the pressure of that fluid builds up too much inside the eye, you have glaucoma. Left untreated, it can damage the optic nerves, and even lead to blindness.

Diabetic retinopathy - Lining the back of our eyes is light-sensitive tissue known as the retina. The retina contains very small blood vessels that can be damaged by diabetic retinopathy. Sometimes there are symptoms such as blurred vision, but often you won't even know anything is wrong until the condition is well advanced. In the worse case, it leads to blindness.

Early detection is the key to battling all of these conditions, and the best diagnostic tool available is the dilated eye examination. This is a test in which special eye drops temporarily enlarge your pupils, allowing the doctor to see the back of your eyes. This test (which is painless) can detect cataracts, glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy in their early, treatable stages.

If you have diabetes do yourself a favor and make an appointment for your dilated eye examination. And then do it again every year from now on.

Foods that control diabetes

In 1550 BC, diabetes was treated with high fiber wheat grains. Not much has changed since then. Until now, more than 400 plants have been identified, used, and prescribed as diabetic remedies.

Raw onions and garlic have been favorite anti-diabetic drugs in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The vegetable bitter gourd and the herb ginseng have been widely used for treating diabetes since the ancient time in India and China. Common mushroom is widely used in parts of Europe to lower blood sugar. Beans, cabbage, cinnamon, coriander seeds, cucumber, fenugreek seeds, Indian gooseberry and lettuce are used in different countries, in the treatment of diabetes.

All these foods have anti-diabetic properties. Scientific research has confirmed that most of these foods, or their compounds, either lower blood sugar, or stimulate insulin production.

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Some useful vitamins for diabetics

Certain vitamins and minerals have been found very useful in the treatment of diabetes because these vitamins help reduce blood fat and cholesterol.
Vitamin B complex - Vitamins of the B group are valuable in the treatment of diabetes. Because diabetics have abnormally small amounts of vitamin B in their blood because of high urinary loss they should get daily supplements of vitamin B complex (at least 16000 units) .
Thiamine or Vitamin B1 - Vitamin B1 is said to be particularly valuable in preventing damage to the brain during diabetic acidosis. The greater the insulin requirement, the higher is the requirement for vitamin B1, pantothenic acid or vitamin B5 and biotin or vitamin B8.
The primary natural vegetable sources of thiamine are wheat germ, brewer’s yeast, the outer layers of rice, wheat and other whole grain cereals, pulses, nuts, peas, lime, legumes, dark green leafy vegetables, banana and apple. Those of pantothenic acid are wheat germ, whole grain bread, green vegetables and peanuts. Biotin is found in brewer’s yeast, rice bran, rice germ, rice polishing and peanut butter.

Pyridoxine or Vitamin B6 - When diet is inadequate in vitamin B6 or pyridoxine, and essential amino acid tryptophan, is converted into a substance known as xanthurenic acid. It has been shown in laboratory experiments that xanthurenic acid tends to damage the pancreatic tissue.
Diabetics who have been given 50 mg of vitamin B6 daily have shown a rapid and marked decrease in urinary xanthurenic acid. In one case, the quantity dropped almost 97 percent the first day. Total absence of urinary xanthurenic acid amongst those who continued with a daily dosage of 10 to 20 mg of this vitamin indicated that none was being formed in the body. Diabetics are thus greatly helped by a liberal intake of vitamin B6. The main natural sources of pyridoxine are milk, brewer’s yeast, cereals, legumes, green leafy vegetables and carrot.

Vitamin D and Diabetes

Vitamin D is quickly becoming the "it" nutrient with health benefits for diseases, including cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease and now diabetes.
Adequate intake of vitamin D may prevent or delay the onset of diabetes and reduce complications for those who have already been diagnosed.
Many of the 23 million Americans with diabetes have low vitamin D levels. Evidence suggests that vitamin D plays an integral role in insulin sensitivity and secretion. Vitamin D deficiency results in part from poor nutrition, which is one of the most challenging issues for people with diabetes. Another culprit is reduced exposure to sunlight, which is common during cold weather months when days are shorter and more time is spent indoors.
Diet alone may not be sufficient to manage vitamin D levels. A combination of adequate dietary intake of vitamin D, exposure to sunlight, and treatment with vitamin D2 or D3 supplements can decrease the risk of diabetes and related health concerns. The preferred range in the body is 30 - 60 ng/mL of 25(OH) vitamin D.
Vitamin D deficiency also may be associated with hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, hypertension and heart disease. In fact, Penckofer recently published another study in Circulation that reported on the role of chronic vitamin D deficiency in heart disease.