Expert Advice

Publication: Ayurveda - The Science of Traditional Medicine
Author: Vaidya Bhagwan Dash / Suhasini Ramaswamy

In Ayurveda, this is known as madbumeba.  Madbu means honey and meba to pass out through the urine.  Our modern life style is the prime cause of the disease.  Excessively starchy diets, the manner in which we eat and drink, intake of tinned and preserved food, mental stress and strain, and lack of exercise are responsible factors.

Treating diabetes means a strict regimen whereby sedentary habits are avoided and a certain amount of physical exercise is undertaken.  Food which helps the action of the enzymes should be eaten.  Most pungent and bitter foods work towards this.  Thus, turmeric, bitter vegetables like bitter gourd and fenugreek are recommended.  Honey, though a form of sugar, is not prohibited in diabetes.  Collected from different types of flowers which may be astringent and bitter in taste, honey, if pure and natural, may cure diabetes.  Honey from neem flowers is particularly useful.

Treatment

There are fourteen medicinal sources with anti-diabetic properties, preparation of which relieve the manifested signs and symptoms of diabetes, and also try to curb the disease at its root.  All these drugs primarily work at the site of origin of the disease.  They directly affect the pancreas and liver.  They provide the tissues of these glands with proper nourishment and help to tone them up.  The pituitary gland at the base of the brain also gets rejuvenated and exercises better control over the liver, the pancreas, the suprarenal glands, and the kidneys.

All these herbs act as a tonic on the nervous system in general, which in turn controls the secretion of insulin.  Unlike insulin, they do not work as a replacement therapy, but reconstruct the body, activate and rejuvenate the body tissue, and promote the production of insulin and utilization of sugar by the tissue to produce energy.  These herbs take long to act, but  if taken for a prolonged period, the disease is eradicated.  Some of these herbs produce a feeling of quick recovery from the disease, from symptoms like excessive hunger, urination, fatigue.  The fall in blood sugar level, however, takes a longer time.

The juice of the bimbi’s (Coccinia indica) thick tuberous roots and its leaves and steam are used in treatment.  The sap from the root of the gular fig tree or udimbara (Ficus racemosa) is useful.  It acts as a very good tonic and simultaneously cures diabetes.  If powdered fenugreek seeds processed in milk is taken for six months at a stretch, it also helps patients suffering from a very high blood sugar level.  Bitter-gourd juice and mineral pitch (shilajatu) are highly recommended medicines.

Regimen

Sleeping during the day is strictly prohibited.  Moderate exercise, especially Yoga is advisable.

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