Black gram
Black gram is one of the most highly prized pulses of India. It is demulcent and cooling and is a nervine tonic. It is an anti-diabetic food. Germinated black gram, taken with half a cupful of fresh bitter gourd juice, forms an effective medicine for the treatment of mild type of diabetes. It should be used once daily for three or four months with restriction of carbohydrates.
Even in severe cases, regular use of this combination, with other precautions, is useful as a health-giving food for the prevention of various compli-cations that may arise due to malnutrition in diabetes patients. Milk prepared by grinding sprouted whole black gram is also good for diabetes.
Broccoli
Broccoli is a close relation of the cauliflower, which has long been popular in Europe. It is the Italian, sprouting, or asparagus broccoli which produces many small, loose, green heads. These popular vegetables have proved to be an effective antidiabetic food. It is a rich source of chromium, a trace mineral that seems to lower blood sugar.
These trace minerals regulate blood sugar, thereby often reducing medication and insulin needs in diabetes patient. If a person has mild diabetes, chromium may save him from getting the full-fledged disease. If a person’s glucose tolerance is borderline, chromium can help control it. Even in cases of low blood sugar, it can raise it to normal level.
According to Dr. Richard A. Anderson, Ph.D., at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland, whatever the blood sugar problem, chromium tends to normalise it. Dr. Anderson believes that increase rate of Type II diabetes is partly due to deficiency of chromium in the diet. He cites some 14 studies done during the 1980s, showing that chromium improved glucose tolerance.
The recommended daily allowance for chromium is 50 to 200 micrograms. Some of the foods rich in chromium, besides broccoli, are whole grain cereals, nuts, mushrooms, rhubarb, bengal gram, kidney beans, soyabean, black gram, betel leaves, bottle gourd, pomegranates and pineapples.
Butea Leaves
Butea, also known as “flame of the forest”, is a well-known tree of India. The leaves of this tree are an anti-diabetic food and thus valuable in lowering blood sugar in diabetes. They are useful in glycosuria, which is characterised by the presence of a large amount of glucose in urine. The leaves can be chewed orally or taken in the form of an infusion or decoction.
Cinnamon
The Cinnamon is a popular spice, known to ancient physicians even before 2700 B.C. It is a strong stimulator of insulin activity and thus extremely helpful in the treatment of diabetes.Besides cinnamon, there are certain other spices also, which have drug-like property in treating diabetes. They help handle the sugar in sweets to which they are added. Dr. Anderson of United States Drug Administration discovered that some spices help stimulate insulin activity, thereby enabling the body to process sugar more efficiently and thus reducing the need for insulin.
He did some test-tube experiments in which he measured insulin activity in the presence of certain foods. Although most showed no effect, three spices and one herb tripled insulin activity. These are cinnamon, cloves, turmeric and bay leaves. Cinnamon was the most potent. Only a little cinnamon, such as the small amounts sprinkled on any food item, can stimulate insulin activity, says Dr. Anderson. This will help keep blood sugar in check.