Natural Diabetes Treatments

Diabetes is a disease that can leave you blind and shorten your life span if it is not detected early and treated properly. Herbal, natural and traditional medicines offer a wide variety of effective options to slow diabetes and heal the damage it causes. Though there is no magic natural pill that will cure your diabetes, you can manage its effects by following a careful diet and nutrition regimen and getting daily exercise.

Types

• According to "The One Earth Herbal Sourcebook," type 1 diabetes is caused by autoimmune destruction of cells that produce insulin. Natural treatment for type 1 diabetes includes a diet full of beans and vegetables, though those suffering from the disease must always use insulin to regulate their system.
  Type 2 diabetes is usually associated with obesity and poor eating habits. According to the book, excess sugars and fats stress the pancreas and cause insulin resistance or depletion of the body's insulin stores.

Exercise

• According to "One Earth," both types of diabetics benefit greatly from regular daily exercise, as it helps bring sugar levels down, increases circulation and raises metabolism. In the Ayurvedic health tradition, in combination with herbal supplementation and dietary changes, part of the treatment for diabetes entails walking for two to three hours per day.

Relaxation

• Relaxation and stress management have proven effects in fighting diabetes. Joseph B. Nelson, a Minnesota psychotherapist and writer for Diabetes Self Management, suggests beginning a 5 to 20 minute per day meditation routine to calm stress. Such a routine can reduce the risk of cardiovascular damage and has shown to have a long-term effect on the symptoms of diabetes.

Yoga

• The practice of yoga has shown proven benefits in laboratory studies. In a 1993 study by Jain et al., most of the patients showed a reduction in their diabetic symptoms after practicing yoga. Specific poses in the discipline are targeted toward stimulating health and production in certain organs; poses geared toward the pancreas are thought to be more effective in reducing diabetic symptoms. See Resources for a guide to poses designed to heal diabetes.

Herbs for Diabetes

• Herbs commonly used to treat diabetes include turmeric, green tea, ginseng and bay leaf. Turmeric and bay leaf are common spices you can easily include in stews and soups. In Ayurvedic tradition, garlic pills are prescribed in combination with diet and exercise to treat diabetes.

Stevia the Sweetener

• Stevia is a popular natural sweetener that is calorie-free. Derived from the stevia leaf, it is thought to be safer than artificial sweeteners and may have additional health benefits. It is theorized that stevia has a balancing effect on glucose levels. According to "One Earth," a 1994 study by Hubler et al. found that stevia encourages sugar storage in the liver. Though findings were inconclusive, they suggest that stevia may benefit diabetics beyond use as a calorie-free sweetener.