Diabetes & Blood Sugar
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Buy Ayurvedic Medicine for Sugar
Diabetes, or sugar as most of us call it, means there is too much sugar in your blood. Your body makes insulin to move this sugar into the cells, where it is used for energy. When the body makes too little insulin, or the insulin stops working well, the sugar stays in the blood and keeps going up.
Pick the diabetes medicine that suits you from the products above. If you also pass urine again and again, see our Urinary Health page too.
What Causes Diabetes and High Blood Sugar?
In Ayurveda, sugar is mainly a kapha problem. Sweet, oily food with very little movement builds up kapha and fat in the body. Slowly, the body stops handling sugar the way it should. These are the habits that most often lead to high sugar:
- Sitting for most of the day
- Too much rice, maida, mithai and fried snacks
- A long nap after a heavy lunch
- Extra fat around the belly
- A parent, brother or sister with diabetes
You can't change your family history. The rest is in your hands. Fixing even two of these habits shows up in your readings, and it helps any anti diabetes medicine work better. If you also feel heavy and slow, and put on weight easily, read our Kapha Dosha Balance page too.
Diet and Eating Habits for Sugar Patients
Medicine works better when you eat right. These are the food questions sugar patients ask us most.
What should a sugar patient eat?
Fill half your plate with sabzi or salad. A quarter goes to dal, chana, paneer, egg or fish. The last quarter is for roti or rice, and jowar, bajra or ragi roti is better than plain wheat. Ayurveda gives jau (barley) and moong dal a big place in a sugar diet. Bitter food like karela and methi helps too. Eat at fixed times and don't skip meals. Keep fruit to one or two a day, and eat it whole. Never as juice.
When blood sugar is high, what to eat?
Keep the next meal light. Cut your roti or rice to half, or leave it out for that one meal. A bowl of dal, a plate of sabzi and some salad will keep you full. Thin buttermilk is fine. Stay away from fruit, sweets, sweet tea and anything fried until the reading comes down.
Tap a food to see if it fits your sugar diet. The colour tells you at a glance: green is safe, amber needs care, red is best avoided.
Fruits
Can diabetes patient eat banana?A small one
Pick one that is still a little firm, with some green near the stem. A soft banana with black spots is much sweeter and pushes sugar up faster. Half a banana with a few peanuts or almonds makes a better snack.
Can sugar patient eat mango?A little, in season
Two or three slices are enough. Eat them mid-morning or in the evening, not right after lunch. Skip aamras and mango shake. Both have far more mango, and the shake has added sugar too.
Can sugar patients eat apple?Yes
It keeps sugar fairly steady, which makes it one of the safest fruits. Eat it with the peel on, since a good part of the fibre is in the skin. One medium apple a day is fine.
Can sugar patient eat papaya?A small bowl
About one cup of ripe papaya pieces is easy on sugar. It is soft on the stomach and keeps the bowels moving, so it works well at breakfast.
Can sugar patient eat pineapple?A few pieces
Fresh pineapple is sweeter than apple or papaya, so stop at four or five pieces. Skip tinned pineapple. It comes in sugar syrup.
Can sugar patient eat dragon fruit?Yes
It has only a small effect on sugar, and its flesh and tiny black seeds are full of fibre. Half a fruit at a time is enough. The white and red types are both fine.
Vegetables
Can sugar patient eat beetroot?Yes
Many people avoid it because it tastes sweet, but a normal serving has very little sugar. Grate half a small one into salad or raita, or have a few boiled slices with lunch.
Can diabetes patients eat sweet potato?Only boiled
Boiled shakarkandi raises sugar far more slowly than roasted or baked. Boil it for about 30 minutes. The longer you boil it, the better it is for your sugar. Eat a small one in place of roti or rice, not on top of it.
Can sugar patient eat potato?A little, not fried
Aloo pushes sugar up quickly, so keep it to a few pieces in a mixed sabzi like aloo gobhi or aloo methi. Skip aloo paratha, chips and tikki. Boiling it and letting it cool before you cook it makes it raise sugar a little less.
Drinks
Can sugar patients drink milk?Yes, without sugar
One or two cups of toned milk a day is fine. A pinch of haldi in a bedtime cup is a good habit. Ayurveda counts too much milk and curd as kapha-raising, so don't overdo it, and avoid curd at night.
Can sugar patients drink coconut water?Now and then
Fresh coconut water has natural sugar, though less than fruit juice. Half a glass to one glass on a hot day is fine. Skip the packaged kind with added sugar.
Can sugar patient drink alcohol?Best avoided
Alcohol can make sugar drop too low, sometimes many hours later while you sleep. The risk is higher if you take sugar tablets or insulin. Beer, sweet wine and sugary mixers do the opposite and push sugar up. If you do drink once in a while, keep it to one small drink, have it with food, and check your sugar before bed.
When to See a Doctor
Most people manage sugar well at home. But see a doctor soon if you notice any of these:
- A cut or blister on the foot that isn't healing.
- Burning, tingling or no feeling in the feet.
- Your eyesight turns blurry all of a sudden.
- A child suddenly drinks a lot of water and starts wetting the bed again.
- Fruity-smelling breath, vomiting or fast, heavy breathing. Go to a hospital right away for this one.
Already on English tablets or insulin? Keep taking them. An Ayurvedic blood sugar medicine goes alongside, not in place of them. For the first month or so, check your sugar more often, because the two together can sometimes push it too low. Get your diabetes and blood sugar level checked with an HbA1c test every three months. It shows your average sugar over that time. If you are pregnant and have high sugar, ask a doctor before taking any of these medicines.
FAQs on Diabetes and Blood Sugar
Sugar Levels
What sugar level is normal?
For someone without diabetes, a fasting reading (taken in the morning before eating anything) is 70 to 99 mg/dL. Two hours after a meal, it should be under 140. HbA1c stays below 5.7%. A fasting reading of 100 to 125 is called prediabetes, or border sugar. 126 or above on two different days means diabetes.
What should type 2 diabetes blood sugar be?
For most adults with this type, the goal is 80 to 130 mg/dL before meals and under 180 two hours after eating. HbA1c should be below 7%. Older people, or those whose sugar often drops too low, may be given a slightly higher goal by their doctor.
What blood sugar level is dangerous?
On the low side, anything under 70 mg/dL is too low. Under 54 is serious. Low sugar shows up as shaking, sweating, sudden hunger and confusion. Take three teaspoons of sugar or glucose powder in water straight away, then check again after 15 minutes. On the high side, readings above 250 again and again are risky. If it stays above 300 after two checks a few hours apart, get medical help the same day. Above 600, a person can go into a coma.
Home Checks
How often should a sugar patient check sugar at home?
It depends on your treatment. On insulin, you may need to check every day. On tablets, checking fasting and after-meal readings two or three times a week is usually enough. Check more often when starting a new medicine, during illness or on fasting days, and note every reading down for your doctor.
Why is my fasting sugar high in the morning?
Early in the morning, your body releases hormones that help you wake up, and these push sugar up a little. A late or heavy dinner, a missed evening dose or poor sleep makes it worse. Eat a light dinner by 8 pm. If the reading stays high for a week, show it to your doctor.
Does stress increase blood sugar?
Yes. When you are tense, the body releases stored sugar into the blood, so readings go up even on days you eat right. Stress also brings late meals and poor sleep. Ten minutes of pranayam or quiet sitting each day can help keep your numbers steadier.
When sugar level is high, what to do?
Drink two or three glasses of plain water. A slow 15 to 20 minute walk helps the body use up some of the sugar, but skip it if you feel sick or dizzy. Take your high sugar medicine at its usual time, whether it is an English tablet or an Ayurvedic one like Baidyanath Madhumehari Yog with Gold. Never take an extra or double dose to bring the number down fast. Check again after two or three hours. Then think back to what pushed it up. A missed dose, a late heavy dinner, fever or poor sleep are the usual reasons.
Body Effects
Will diabetes cause weight loss?
It can, when sugar stays high for a long time. The body can't use the sugar from food, so it starts burning fat and muscle for energy instead. A lot of sugar also leaves the body through urine. Losing weight without trying, along with heavy thirst, is often how diabetes is first found. This kind of weight loss is a warning sign.
Will sugar make you sleepy?
Yes, in more than one way. After a big plate of biryani or a few sweets at lunch, you may feel like sleeping within an hour. If your sugar has been high for weeks, your body can't use it for energy, so you feel tired all day. Low sugar too can do the same when you take your sugar medicine tablet and then skip a meal. If you feel this way most afternoons, get your sugar checked. For the everyday tiredness that comes with sugar, many people take Baidyanath Basant Kusumakar Ras With Gold.
Will sugar increase blood pressure?
Often, yes. A person with diabetes is twice as likely to get high BP as someone without it. High sugar, year after year, makes the blood vessels stiff. It hurts the kidneys too. Both raise BP. About two out of three adults with diabetes already have BP above 130/80 or take BP tablets. So check your BP whenever you check your sugar.
Daily Life
Can sugar patients keep a fast (vrat)?
Many people with well-controlled sugar can, but ask your doctor first about when to take your tablets or insulin. Check your sugar during the day, and break the fast at once if it falls below 70. When you open the fast, go easy on sabudana and fried aloo, and drink enough water.
Can sugar patient donate blood?
Yes, if your sugar is controlled with diet or tablets and has stayed steady for at least four weeks. Blood banks in India follow this rule. People who take insulin can't donate. Neither can those whose diabetes has already affected the eyes, kidneys, nerves or heart. Eat a proper meal before you go.
Treatment
How long does ayurvedic medicine take to control sugar?
Most people see their readings start to come down within a few weeks of taking it daily, along with the right food and walks. The HbA1c test after three months shows the real change. Results differ from person to person, so take it as a full course, not