Diabetes is a health condition that affects the blood sugar levels. If glucose is allowed to stay too high for too long, health complications can result. While some diabetics need to use insulin to help the body use glucose (blood sugar), others can control blood sugar levels with diet and healthy lifestyle. Home remedies for diabetes can often be used with your treatment plan to help stabilize blood sugar.

How to Deal with Diabetes Naturally 

Diabetes has no cure, but those who suffer from it can have a good quality of life if they take steps to manage their blood sugar levels. All-natural remedies can help you manage your blood sugar better.

1.  Eat a Healthy and Balanced Diet

It is a good idea to visit a diabetic nutritionist to make a healthy eating meal plan. Lower your intake of sugar, salt, fat, and calories. Increase foods that have high fiber like whole grains, whole grain pasta and brown rice instead of white. Add in plenty of fresh vegetables, high fiber fruits, and low-fat dairy products.

Practice calorie counting, carbohydrate counting and control your portions. Make sure that you eat at the right times each day and coordinate your meals in accordance with medications.

The following video explains food GI (glycemic index) and what you should eat and avoid in a diabetes diet as one of the home remedies for diabetes:

2.  Start Exercising

Set goals for exercise so that you are exercising at least a few days a week. Begin your program slowly with short walks a few times daily. At least two times during the week do some strength training exercises. Keep your weight in a healthy range by combining exercise with your healthy eating plan.

3.  Develop Healthy Lifestyle Habits

 Follow these points to help yourself live a healthy and safe lifestyle with diabetes:

• Check your blood sugar on a regular basis and write them down for your doctor
• Avoid alcohol and cigarettes
• Wear an emergency alert bracelet
• See an eye doctor at least once yearly
• Check your feet for wounds. Keep them clean and dry and report any sores or cuts to your doctor
• Keep your teeth in good condition. Brush and floss a few times a day and get regular dental check-ups
• Make sure you keep up on your yearly influenza and other needed immunizations
• Keep your blood pressure and cholesterol levels in normal ranges

4.  Try Cinnamon

Herbal home remedies for diabetes are a good way to help your body naturally process blood sugar. Be sure to check with your doctor before using.

Benefits: Cinnamon can help the body increase the activity of insulin in type 2 diabetes. If you use cinnamon, make sure it is not the type in grocery stores made from Cassia, which can be toxic to the liver. Ceylon cinnamon is safer and can be found in health food stores.

Instructions: Take ½ to 1 teaspoon cinnamon and mix it into one cup of warm water and drink once a day. You can also boil 2 to 4 cinnamon sticks in 1 cup of warm water. Let it steep for 20 minutes and drink daily. Try adding a little cinnamon into your tea, baked items and smoothies.

5.  Drink Bitter Gourd Juice

Benefit: Bitter gourd helps the body use glucose in all of the cells of the body. While it can’t replace insulin, it helps your pancreas produce more insulin.

Instruction: First thing in the morning before you eat, take the seeds out of a bitter gourd and juice the fruit. Mix it with water and drink it daily for two months. You can also include bitter gourd in cooked foods once daily.

6.  Drink Okra Water

Benefit: Studies show that okra peel and seeds are antidiabetics and can help reduce blood sugar levels.

Instruction: You can eat cooked okra daily to reap the benefits. They are also good if you trim the ends and pierce them with the tip of a knife. Then soak them in water until morning. Before you eat breakfast, take the okra out and drink the water. You can do this every day.

7.  Eat Fenugreek

Benefits: High fiber foods can help slow the digestion of carbohydrates and fenugreek is one of them. It also has properties that can lower blood sugar levels. It can help the body secrete insulin and increase the body’s tolerance to glucose.

Instructions: Fenugreek works best if you soak the seeds overnight in water. When you get up in the morning and before breakfast, just drink the water and seeds. You can also mix them with your cereal and milk and eat it as the first thing in the morning.

8.  Season with Curry

Benefits: In Ayurvedic medicine in India, curry is known to help slow the rate at which starches are turned into blood sugar. Many Indian food recipes contain curry and there are also lots of American foods that use curry powder as a seasoning. Using this daily can help your body keep blood sugar levels lower.

Instructions: Use curries to season foods or try chewing on raw curry leaves daily.

A Word About Lifestyle and Diabetes

Most of all, one of the best home remedies for diabetes is making the needed lifestyle changes to help keep your body healthy. Unhealthy lifestyle practices can lead to serious diabetic complications such as kidney failure, amputation of limbs and heart disease. Increased blood sugars over time, wear out tiny blood vessels. Doing everything possible to keep blood sugar levels under control is the best thing you can do for your body.