This will be a longish one, but I want to finish the section on Diabetes. I also tried to give you as many external links as possible, to not only give you an idea of the benefits of the ingredients and supplements, but to give you an idea of how varied my own research into the benefits of each part of the regimen is. When I make an herbal brew especially, I try to select ingredients that will have a medicinal punch, but also ones that will add flavor. Nothing in the tea recipe is without both.
So, picking up where we left off….
Herbal Therapy for Chronic Illness: A Primer
I highly recommend familiarizing yourself with herbal remedies, the general concepts, before embarking on any herbal treatment. It’s vital that you know what you’re taking, why you’re taking it, and how it may affect you. It is a complete misnomer to say that herbal remedies don’t have side effects or that herbs are 100% safe and effective. Herbs can be very dangerous. Herbs have side effects and herbs have interactions. Ditto for other non-herbal supplements. I once almost wound up comatose because of a supplement I was taking while a doctor gave me what he claimed was a fibromyalgia medication.
I had told him the supplements I had been taking and he said there were no interactions. He actually scoffed at the idea that supplements could have interactions with conventional medications. Prior to that experience, I had thought that that doctor was well-versed in herbal and vitamin supplements. He, my husband, and I had discussed alternative treatments and the use of supplements. He seemed knowledgeable and I was still learning a great deal myself about the use of herbal treatments. At the time, I was taking 5-HTP. I was trying to find a solution to the symptoms I was having and during this visit, I presented him with a list of my supplements (not very extensive at the time) and my symptoms. I believe that this doctor came to the conclusion that my fibromyalgia was psychosomatic, as were my other symptoms. He prescribed Cymbalta. I did not know that Cymbalta was primarily used for patients with depression and mood disorders; nor did I know that it was
used for chronic pain, but in patients where that pain is linked to mood disorders. This was the key experience that led me to researching everything the doctor tells me and prescribes me BEFORE I take it. 5-HTP and Cymbalta taken together can cause something called “seratonin syndrome” that can result in hallucinations, coma, and even death. This would have been something my doctor should have been familiar with, but he didn’t. It proved to me that he actually didn’t have much familiarity with herbs and supplements. Nor did he have familiarity with fibromyalgia, or epilepsy, which accounted for the other symptoms he had assumed in my head. I came to my realization that something was wrong by my 3rd dose of Cymbalta, which was prescribed twice a day, morning and evening. I took the 5-HTP, at the time, every evening, so with my first dose of Cymbalta, I had already had the 5-HTP in my system. My first Cymbalta was an afternoon dose. My reaction was to sleep for about 12 hours straight. The next day I had to call out of work because I couldn’t walk or think in a straight line, but I thought I was coming down with a cold. It was a Friday and I would be able to rest that weekend. After the 2nd dose of Cymbalta taken that morning, I was napping within an hour. Hubby was working nights and sleeping during the day and we didn’t think anything was really wrong, that I just needed to sleep. My 3rd and final dose of the Cymbalta was taken with the 5-HTP that evening, I had the same reaction—hours and hours of sleep. When I woke up, I could barely walk and my speech was slurred. I peeled my eyes open and went online to start researching my symptoms, then I rang my pharmacist. She asked me to list some supplements and when I mentioned the 5-HTP, she told me to immediately stop taking everything. While she confirmed that Cymbalta was sometimes prescribed for chronic pain, my doctor should have known to inform me to stop any and all supplements that work on the serotonin production in the brain, any tryptophan, melatonin, or natural sleep aids—most of which work on serotonin regulation. She was appalled and told me I was lucky to not be in a coma.
So, before taking my word for anything, do your own research on the ingredients. My recommendations are for educational purposes and are not to take place of personalized medical counseling, diagnosis, and treatment from a trained health practitioner.
For a crash course in herbal therapy and herbalism, I’d recommend reading my series on the HomeApothecary. There I give you some basics on herbs and how to select them, along with other primer information on using herbs. I’d also suggest getting your mittens on anything written by Rosemary Gladstar. Gladstar was perhaps the single person who made herbalism a household word. She went beyond the work of Jethro Kloss, one of the first modern herbalists to himself take the old practices of herbalism beyond the medieval botanicals and beyond Culpeper to make practicing herbalism practical and approachable. Kloss’ Back toEden was, before Gladstar, the go-to guide for herbal remedies. Although there are many other schools of herbalism, I find Gladstar’swork the most approachable, especially for the novice, and truly indispensable for understanding herbs and how illness responds to herbs. It’s not necessary to become an herbalist overnight, but it is necessary to have an understanding about herbal treatments. Who knows, you might become inspired to craft your own home herbal apothecary and your own remedies.
My recipes have been used with success for myself, my husband, and my father, a rather small pool. I’m not a researcher and I haven’t done any double-blind studies on my recipes. My remedies may take longer to show results for you or may not work at all, particularly if they’re not used with regularity or in conjunction with other “treatments” like diet and exercise. A good rule of thumb when using ANY supplement or herbal treatment: you must give it between 2 and 3 FULL MONTHS to show results. Other herbal treatments for other conditions, Gladstar notes that results can take up to a year of careful, continued application in order to show results. The tea blend I created for my father, which he used every day but without any additional supplementation, without changes to his diet, and without the introduction of exercise, took about a year for him to see improvement to the point that he no longer needed localized surgical procedures on his eyes every 3 months. He saw small improvements to his vision within the first 4 weeks of using the tea, however, and despite his doctor insisting on continuing the surgical treatments for that first year, my father firmly believes that had his doctor listened and trusted my father’s judgment about his own eyes, those procedures would not have been necessary as they did not stabilize or improve his vision. I’m more inclined to think that my tea combined with the allopathic (conventional) treatments helped stabilize my father’s vision to the point that the invasive procedures were no longer necessary. I’m even more inclined to believe that had my father taken further steps regarding diet and exercise, his overall health would have been improved perhaps to the point of reducing his insulin dependence or, as his new doctor believes, getting my father off insulin altogether.
Thankfully, the recipes and regimen I developed for my husband had a more immediate result to the point that they eliminated his need for allopathic treatment in terms of daily medications to control his blood sugar. However, if he stops taking the supplement regimen, goes back to poor eating habits, or fails to take the tea on a daily basis, his blood sugar will start to climb. However, it has not gone back to earlier levels and actually hasn’t gone over 140. That reading was on a “cleanse” day when he stopped all supplements and when he had eaten within 3 hours of the reading.
Another thing to keep in mind when using supplements, you should have a “cleanse” period every so often. Gladstar and other herbalists recommend that for every 7 days you take supplements and herbal treatments, you take 1 day where you don’t take any and allow the body to “cleanse” or recharge. Some recommend doing the recharge in a 3 months on, 1 month off period, but I find that too long. If I go 1 month without taking my own supplements, my old symptoms begin returning and it takes several weeks to get re-acclimated to an herbal regimen. Others recommend 3 weeks on, 1 week off. Personally, I try to do this at least once a year. For Anthony, especially since his supplements are more necessary on a daily basis, he tries to do a recharge for one or two days a month, sort of 3 weeks on and 1-2 days off. For us, during these recharge days, we also try to do a complete cleanse. We do some juicing, smoothies, and strictly limit all animal protein. We aren’t vegetarians, by any means, but eating meat is not a daily routine for us. We may have red meat once or twice a month, ditto for pork or poultry. When I can, I try to buy organic, but my finances are limited and I simply can’t afford to do a full switch to organic produce. Also, doing a full body cleanse can be done easily without any gimmicks. It is NOT necessary to buy any of the fad cleanse concoctions or do any fad cleanse diets. Just take a day or two and increase your fruit and vegetable intake. If you’re able, when you take a rest from your supplements, take a break from animal protein and hard caffeine as well. If you’re a caffeine addict, see if you can switch to green or black tea for the day. I’m a recovering caffeine addict but I need a small amount every day to prevent migraines. I made the switch to tea years ago and on a cleanse, try to switch to green tea for the day. Doing a complete dietary cleanse is not necessary, but is just another tool in the arsenal. It helps to allow the internal organs to rest. When I opt for a cleanse, I try to do it when I’m home for a few days, when I have nothing doing outside the home so I can use the time for introspection, for getting work done at home, and also, when doing a more serious juice or smoothie cleanse, I don’t know how my body will react and I’d much rather be at home.
When purchasing herbs to make my tea blends, there is only ONE place to get your herbs: Mountain RoseHerbs. Due to market prices, their prices have gone up, but their quality is by far the best in the business. Most is organic and all is fair trade. Those not marked organic are still tested free of pesticide residue and are grown in essentially organic conditions, but the small farmers can’t afford the organic label. I’ve been a MRH customer for more than 10 years and have zero affiliation with the company. When using herbs for medicine, it is paramount that you get the best quality available. Also, Mountain Rose is the only place I know that gives serious discounts. Once, when in need of some bilberry leaf for the blend, Mountain Rose was sold out and I found the ingredient at another place. The price was more than double and for half the quantity. The quality was terrible. It was the same ingredient, but I wound up having to use double the quantity because the leaf was not as potent.
I would make the same argument for supplements. I can’t personally afford organic herbal and nutritional supplements, but it’s important to use a reputable supplier. I’ve found that Puritan’s Pride had very high quality supplements for very good prices. Other good resources are VitaCost and Vitamin Shop. You might be able to get some good deals on NOW on Amazon, but I’ve found that the brands and suppliers on Amazon and other 3rd party sites aren’t reliable, and some are downright disreputable. I stick to Puritan’s Pride, VitaCost, and Vitamin Shop. One note about Vitamin Shop, the one thing I won’t buy from them is complex supplements; they are incredibly overpriced. In fact, steer clear of any complex herbal supplements, or supplements with a mixture of herbs and other things. In those complexes, often times the dosages are ridiculously low, or high, and the combinations might not be helpful to you. If you have a bad reaction, ultimately you won’t know which herb gave you that reaction.
Finally, when purchasing any herbal and non-herbal supplements, try to get those that are vegetarian or vegan since they won’t have animal byproducts (binders and casings mainly). Vegetarian and vegan supplements will look to plant sources. I was personally horrified to discover that the digestive enzymes recommended by a doctor several years ago were made from cow and pig digestive enzymes. At the time, I was vegetarian so it was more alarming to me. Read your labels and try to stick to vegetarian and vegan options for supplements.
The Changeover from Prescription to Herbal Treatment
As I noted before, Anthony was on Metformin for little under a month. During that time he suffered horrible side-effects that were making his life miserable. I researched alternatives, not really thinking diabetes was something that could be curable or reversible.
Until I found 3 articles that literally changed our lives.
The first was a short news post about a medical trial done comparing the effectiveness of Metformin to something I had never heard of before outside of the Asian market and an episode of Chopped: bitter melon. I can’t find the exact article that I had read, but it cited a paper which discussed the study: “Hypoglycemic effect of bitter melon compared with Metforminin newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients,” from The Journal of Ethnopharmacology (volume 134, Issue 2, March 2011, p 422–428). The results of the study varied, but the most important factors for the study were: those displaying the most positive results were recently diagnosed Diabetes Type II patients, the dosage with the most positive results was a consistent high dosage of bitter melon of 2000mg per day (1000mg twice daily), the type of bitter melon that showed efficacy was freeze-dried, and this 2000mg dosage of freeze-dried bitter melon had the same effect as the same dosage of Metformin. The caveat, according to the article, FPG (fastingplasma glucose) and another less used test (2-h OGTT) did not change with bitter melon. Bitter melon, however, did lower fructosamine levels. If you’re interested in reading the piece, and can handle all the medicalese, email me and I can send you a .pdf. Otherwise, through the journal, they’ll charge you $40 for the article. You can Google the above info and get a number of other articles that discuss the findings.
This gave me hope. I avidly read up on bitter melon and discovered that it is the primary treatment for diabetes in Asia and has been for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Personally, I don’t know how long diabetes has been around as a diagnosed illness. But, since Western Medicine is only a few hundred years old, and truly modern medicine is little over 100 years old, we can make our own assumptions. But, in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, patients displaying symptoms that we today associate with diabetes, showed improvement when they incorporated bitter melon into their diet and herbal regimen.
The second article was “Herbs thatLower Blood Sugar” by Jonathan Klemens. Klemens gives lots of good information about several herbs, some that were familiar to me from the tea blend I had created for my father, while others were familiar since I use them in my kitchen. I’m thinking about bilberry and cinnamon, two ingredients in those Webber naturals Diabetex complexes I mentioned last time. Other supplements I was familiar with, but not in connection to lowering blood sugar, were turmeric, ginger, stevia, and tulsi. Take a look at the Klemens piece, but keep in mind, he’s not giving you a laundry list of things to try together. More isn’t better. So it’s better to focus on one or two that you resonate with, than do a whole bunch at a time.
The third article was the one that I read right before I went into action, the “Natural Cure forDiabetes” by Supplement Geek author Joe Cannon. Cannon has honest but uncomfortable advice. I also recommend his Supplement Geek for information and reviews on supplements. I say uncomfortable advice because he makes some accusations about the nature of diabetes as an industry that will make diabetics uncomfortable. After experiencing diabetes from the perspective of a family member, I can agree with what Cannon says wholeheartedly. Cannon asserts in his several articles on diabetes that the word “cure” is never associated with diabetes because diabetes is big business; no one in the healthcare industry would make a dime if all the diabetics in the world were able to gain control of their illness to the point that they could go into remission—and no longer need all the accoutrement that comes with being diabetic: the meters, test strips, medications, healthcare equipment, doctor visits, et cetera and so forth. But, the same could also be said for many other diseases as well. Being ill creates a huge profit for some and perpetuating illness is in the interest of those who profit. That’s a sad truth that you’ll understand the moment you yourself become ill or have a loved one who becomes ill. Our healthcare industry is not about Wellness but illness. Health insurance will pay for allopathic care but not gym memberships, organic foods, or herbal therapies. Most people can only afford conventional treatment because of Health Insurance. Cannon’s articles discuss this idea in a caustic honesty that made me pause. I was angry and decided that I would not allow my husband to go through what my father had.
I immediately went to the place where I practice my magic: the kitchen. I ransacked my apothecary, which I must admit is very advanced. Over the years, I have spent a small fortune on my herbal stores. But, as a person who teeters between middle class and a decidedly lower economic status, I look at the money spent on my herbal stores as an investment. Lots of the things I just do have lying around (in rubber maid tubs stacked floor to ceiling) you won’t have unless you’re an herbalist and because I’m always cooking up herbal concoctions for everything from treating illness to cleaning the bathroom. The money I save from buying conventional cleaners, body care, and medications, I spend on herbs. Another option for saving money on the herbs you do buy, besides the discounts at Mountain Rose Herbs, buy herbs with friends. If you have several people who want to get smaller amounts, less than a pound of an herb, you can form your own herbal co-op, use the bulk discount at MRH and divvy up what you order afterwards.
Putting Herbal Regimen into Action
Some of the main ingredients can be expensive, so again I recommend Mountain Rose. You can buy in bulk, but before you do, get enough to make a batch. You want to see if it’ll work for you first before buying mass quantities of anything. Again, you also MUST give any herbal regimen TWO MONTHS of daily use before you call it quits. I’d even say as much as six months. As I said, Anthony, however, saw results almost immediately— in terms of his neuropathy, eye problems, and daily blood sugar all being relieved and regulated. He began this course less than a month after the Metformin. He had been on Metformin for a little more than 2 weeks and then stopped that completely. He was taking nothing for a week, while he did a complete cleanse. During this period of time we were fighting to get a blood glucose meter, so initially he didn’t have one to take readings. While the insurance company dithered, we grabbed an el cheapo from CVS and while on Metformin his readings did begin to reduce almost immediately. Within a week it went down to normal levels. But as I said, the side effects—which included the worst case of crankypants I have every experienced—made him continuing Metformin an impossibility. After his cleanse, which did not see his daily readings climb beyond 140, he began the tea regimen, daily at least 1 cup, sometimes 2. Another major dietary component was a daily breakfast of oatmeal. Oatmeal is perhaps one food that on its own will reduce blood sugar readings. Helpful additions to the oatmeal were cacao nibs, chia, flax, cinnamon, and hemp seeds, but not necessarily all together.
He also began a complete course of A.M and P.M. supplements, which I’ll list below. Taking all the supplements my husband takes is NOT necessary. The supplements particular to diabetes and blood glucose regulation will be listed separately. His complete regimen we crafted for him, for his diabetic complication, neuralgia, urinary issues, but also for other issues like arthritis and allergies. Many of the herbs are adaptogenic, tonic, antioxidant, or in some way support the regulation of body systems for vitality and wellness. Along with the supplements and tea, we both had a dietary shift that went back to increased whole grains (wheatberries, quinoia, unprocessed grains, no white flour, no bread, minimal pasta), increased fresh fruit and vegetables, reduction in meat, high protein snacks like nuts and Greek yogurt, and daily sprinkles of seeds like chia and hemp. Before beginning this regimen, as I said earlier, eating red meat, pork products, and poultry was maybe a once a week affair, however there were definite times when we ate more than we should have.
Keep in mind, my father had been using the tea on its own. While he saw benefits, he had no remission of symptoms. My father, has been an insulin dependent diabetic, Type I Diabetes, for 20+ years. Also, he’s on literally dozens of medications for a variety of issues. The exact tea I formulated for him kept these things in mind. The tea I made for Anthony used my initial tea recipe as a foundation, but I did add to it, using several other teas that I wouldn’t recommend for anyone with other medical conditions. And Anthony’s quick, positive reaction may have also been because he was a recently diagnosed diabetic. While I believe longterm diabetics may gain positive results, I would not recommend making such a radical jump because the longer you’re diabetic, the more complications you’ll have and the more complications you have, the more allopathic treatments you’ll undergo. As I’ve said before, find a knowledgeable, open-minded doctor that you can collectively come up with a game-plan for you.
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| Glass teapot unnecessary. Looks cool though. |
Because I formulated this for my father’s eye problems, I call it Tea for Yer Peepers. My first batch used the Simpler’s method, but I found that got unwieldy for me very quickly because of the volume of ingredients and the volume of tea I was preparing. The simpler’s method calls measurements “parts” because you can adapt the “part” to compensate for volume. If you’re making an individual batch, each part could be as small as 1 teaspoon. If you’re making enough for the army, your “part” could be a cup. Generally speaking, I found the Simpler’s method good for making tea batches that are smaller. I use a tablespoon as a method. Read more about the Simpler’s method inRosemary Gladstar.
However, for this specific blend because I wanted a more even distribution of ingredients like Bilberry fruit, I switched to gram measurements. Also, to get the proper daily dosage, I prepare individual tea bags. The iron closed tea bags weren’t large enough to allow for
proper steeping and wound up bursting in the cup. I use an unbleached drawstring kind that I usually get via Amazon, however they’ve been out of stock for several months now. The only place I can find that sells something like this is the English Tea Store. Finally, the amounts I list are for about a 30-60 day supply, which is a perfect timeframe to see if this tea has potential benefits for you. My father gets a lower dose of 2 tsp of tea per bag. Anthony likes a stronger tea and gets a higher dose of 2 tbsp per bag, which is why the range is a 30-60 day supply.
Hardware Necessary
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digital scale with gram measurements
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coffee grinder (that’s only been used for grinding herbs NOT coffee)
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a clean pastry or culinary brush
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a large container preferably with a screw-top lid (I use a half-gallon container; it’s for blending the herbs before stuffing the bags)
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a small bowl or glass measuring cup (to measure ingredients)
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measuring spoons: teaspoon or tablespoon (depending on whether you’re making Dad’s Blend or Anthony’s Blend)
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a measuring cup (preferably stainless steel) in half cup and quarter cup sizes or a scoop to measure out herbs.
Ingredients for Tea for Yer Peepers: Dad’s Blend
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Houjicha 43g
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Green Rooibos (not camelia sinensis, but a member of the legume family [believe it or not]) 18g
The herbs, roots, berries, and such-like— all dried:
Carefully measure out each of the ingredients and add to your container, except for the bilberry fruit. Into the spice grinder that goes to grind to a semi-coarse powder. Add that to your container. Using the brush, get all the bilberry powder out of that grinder and into your blend. Screw the top onto the container tightly and vigorously shake that up for at least 2-3 full minutes, turning and shaking to get everything combined. Set it aside for another few minutes. If you open right after shaking, you’ll get a face full of dust and it won’t be pleasant.
Find yourself a comfortable, DRY spot and begin filling your teabags. It’s imperative that your workspace is clean and dry, and that your hands are clean and dry. If you have sweaty palms, you can ruin the batch by getting the teabags or the ingredients damp. Wear disposable gloves if necessary. This batch calls for 2 rounded teaspoons per teabag.
Store the teabags in a zip-lock bag out of direct light and heat. I prefer storing them in an opaque, screwtop container or a tin. Dosage 1 teabag minimum per day. Do not add milk. Try unsweetened. If you must have sweetener, try stevia or splenda. Anything artificial gives the tea a slightly metallic taste. It’s also nice with a squeeze of lemon and a lemon slice or a bit of lemon zest.
Ingredients for Tea for Yer Peepers: Anthony’s Blend
This is a stronger blend, higher caffeine content, and with a punch.
The teas:
The herbs, roots, berries, and such-like—again all dried:
Repeat procedure for filling teabags as noted above. For this blend, I use 2 rounded tablespoons of the blend. Initially, I used 1 rounded tablespoon. But, as I said hubby likes strong tea and when I found him using 2 teabags per cup, I just doubled the amount.
If you like the added teas, but are uncertain as to the dosage that you want to try, you could make this blend but use 2 teaspoons as the measurement. If you don’t see any benefit within a month, you could try increasing the amount to 1 tablespoon. Keep in mind 1 tablespoon equals 3 teaspoons. So with the super strong blend, each teabag Anthony takes roughly equals 6 teaspoons or triple the dose of Dad’s Blend.
Additional Supplements to consider
As I said, Anthony’s regimen is a more complete one—a combination of herbal remedy in the form of tea, dietary changes, supplements, and exercise—which may account for his positive results. I’ve already noted the tea blend and our diet. Here’s a list of his full supplements, the dosage per capsule, tablet, or gelcap, the number of caps he takes per day, and the reason he takes each. This is not a complete list of the benefits of each supplement, but the reason he takes them. There are other benefits of each supplement that aren’t noted. And there are side effects. For example, astragalus, in high doses can aggravate skin conditions or auto-immune disorders in some people and has interactions with medications for psoriasis. Bromelain, Flaxseed oil, and stinging nettles all will promote bleeding so are strictly NOT recommended for anyone at risk for bleeding, anyone taking blood-thinners, or anyone about to undergo surgery. Ginger will increase the ability to form blood clots, so again anyone at risk for clots shouldn’t take Ginger.
None of these are recommended for anyone pregnant or seeking to become pregnant. Several herbs will flow through breast milk. Others are used to induce menstruation and others are even abortifacents. This list isn’t a recommendation for you, but a list of what has worked for my husband.
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Ginger root, 550mg (1); tonic herb, reduces inflammation
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Flaxseed oil, 1000mg (2); heart tonic, reduces cholesterol, Omega 3
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Bromelain, 500 mg (1); digestive enzyme, anti-inflammatory
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Oregano Oil, 1500mg (1); fights bacteria, prevents infection, fights colds/infection
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Turmeric, 800mg (1); anti-inflammatory, tonic, reduces blood sugar
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Quercetin, 250mg (also contains 500mg vitamin C) (1); allergies
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Magnesium, 500 mg (1); eye health and circulation
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Bilberry, 1000 mg (2); eye health, reduces diabetic complications, reduces blood sugar
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Vitamin D, 2000 i.u. (1); doctor recommendation since vitamin D levels are low
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Dandelion Root, 520 mg (1); enhances body’s ability to detoxify; liver support
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Saw Palmetto, 450mg (1); hormone regulation, urinary tract and prostate health
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Cinnamon, 1000mg (2); regulates blood sugar
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Bitter Melon, 450mg (4); regulates blood sugar, helps reduce diabetic complications
As I said earlier, Anthony takes supplements in the morning and evening. As you can see from the list, it got confusing very quickly so it was necessary to get a weekly pill organizer.
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| Do NOT get an organizer like this. It will get tedious having to dig out the individual supplements. This was renamed to accommodate individual vitamins, but you get the idea. |
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Again, don’t go fancy shmancy. The fancy ones usually are the first to break or require you to open the entire organizer, which is a pain. You want one that has individual compartments that close individually. The reason for this becomes clear when you start using one: you can keep all the compartments closed firmly while you open that specific day’s dosage and tilt the entire organizer to easily deposit the supplements into the palm of your hand. We got a 2-pack of organizers in CVS for something like $4.
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| This style is perfect. You just want one large enough for the P.M. supplements to accommodate all the individual supplements. |
Supplements taken for Diabetes, A.M. regimen (with breakfast)
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Flaxseed oil, 1000mg (1)
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Bilberry, 1000 mg (1)
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Cranberry, 4200mg (1)
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Cinnamon, 1000mg (1)
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Bitter Melon, 450mg (2)
Supplements taken for Diabetes, P.M. regimen (with dinner)
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Astragalus, 1000mg (1)
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Stinging Nettle, 300mg (1)
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Ginger root, 550mg (1)
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Flaxseed oil, 1000mg (1)
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Bromelain, 500 mg (1)
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Oregano Oil, 1500mg (1)
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Turmeric, 800mg (1)
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Quercetin, 250mg (1)
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Magnesium, 500 mg (1)
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Bilberry, 1000 mg (1)
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Vitamin D, 2000 i.u. (1)
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Vitamin C, 1000 mg (1)
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L-Theanine, 100 mg (1)
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Dandelion Root, 520 mg (1)
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Cranberry, 4200mg (1)
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Horny Goat Weed, 1000mg (1)
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Saw Palmetto, 450mg (1)
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Cinnamon, 1000mg (1)
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Bitter Melon, 450mg (2);
And that’s pretty much that. When he gets his a1c redone later this month, I’ll update this with his results. But, after doing this regimen his a1c went from 14 to a 6.5 inside of 3 months. When our doctor called with that last result, he was thrilled, initially thinking the Metformin had done it’s job, but skeptical because, as he said, often those with readings as high as Anthony’s needed insulin to regulate their blood sugar. He was even more dumbfounded when we told him Anthony hadn’t had Metformin in 2 months. He thought that the endocrinologist had switched Anthony’s meds or perhaps prescribed insulin. We told her she tried to do both, adding more meds, increasing the Metformin dosage, and keeping the option of insulin on the table. I told him that Anthony wasn’t on any prescription medication and that his readings were purely the result of diet, exercise, supplements, and herbal remedies. I doubt he believed us. I wouldn’t have either, without seeing the results. I don’t know what the future will bring, but I do know that my husband’s daily struggle with diabetes will still be a daily struggle. But, his blood sugar is more than controlled, his neuropathy pain has been radically reduced, and his outlook is much better than we could have expected.
I’ll continue this series with my own regimen for chronic pain and epilepsy.
Source:
http://www.green-and-growing.com/2015/01/the-cure-is-you-dealing-with-chronic_21.html
