Diabetes: CAM Therapies for Specific Conditions

• Exercise is now being called a "breakthrough" intervention in diabetes and is supported by decades of research from the National Institutes of Health. Patients who exercise may prevent or recover from diabetes.
  
  
• Exercise and movement, which are used in many MindBody therapies, decrease the harmful effects of stress and help prevent some of the diseases of aging, including diabetes.
  
  
• Research supporting low-fat diets is powerful and voluminous. Along with exercise, low-fat diets are also effective at controlling adult-onset diabetes.
  
  
• Eating a plant-based diet provides high levels of fiber. Water-soluble fibers, such as gums and pectins, protect against diabetes by binding in the gut with bile acids, thus preventing the reabsorption of these bile acids.
  
  
• Long valued in Asia as an adaptogen, the herb ginseng has become one of the top three herbal products in the United States. Use of ginseng includes the treatment of diabetes.
  
  
• Botanicals, nutritional supplements, and counseling and psychotherapy are effective treatments for diabetes mellitus.
  
  
• A number of herbal compounds have been used to treat diabetes.
  
  
• A 1989 pilot study evaluated the effectiveness of multiple Maharishi Ayur-Ved interventions among 126 adults with ten chronic diseases, including diabetes. Each received an individualized nutritional program, herbal preparations, and daily lifestyle guidelines. Seventy-nine percent of the participants showed improvement.
  
  
• Presently, the aspect of Ayurvedic medicine that will probably be most investigated in the West is its potential for conversion of its herbal components into standardized drugs. Many Ayurvedic herbs are currently being examined for the treatment and prevention of diabetes.

Caution: Borderline chromium deficiency may help to trigger adult-onset diabetes, but is not the underlying cause of diabetes, so chromium cannot cure the disease. Chromium supplementation does present some dangers.

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From THE BEST ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE: WHAT WORKS? WHAT DOES NOT? by Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier.
Copyright © 2000 by Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier, Inc.
Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, New York.

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Unless otherwise indicated, Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier. All Rights Reserved.
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