Ayurvedic treatment for diabetes

Ayurveda cannot cure diabetes, nor can it replace conventional hypoglycemic drug treatment. It can only be used as an auxiliary intervention for type 2 diabetes to improve glucose metabolism through individualized physical adjustments. There are obvious differences in the intervention plans of different schools of Ayurveda. At present, its hypoglycemic effect has not been supported by large-scale evidence-based medical evidence.

A few years ago, I stayed in a traditional Ayurveda clinic in Kerala, India, for three months. I followed a local Ayurvedic practitioner, Vaidya, who has been practicing for more than 40 years. I had contact with more than 20 patients who came to treat diabetes, and I felt very deeply about this. The one who impressed me the most was a 42-year-old local coconut oil businessman who was abdominally obese. His fasting blood sugar fluctuated around 7.8-8.5mmol/L all year round. He took metformin for 2 years and it has not stabilized. When he came, he still had a blood glucose meter on his waistband. Old Wadia identified his Kapha constitution, saying that he drank iced coconut water and ate sweet rice cakes all year round. The phlegm and dampness piled up in the spleen and stomach so that he could not use up the sugar. He neither prescribed expensive supplements nor asked him to do a complete detox immediately. He asked him to stop all ice, sweet and fried foods first, cook millet porridge with ginger and black pepper in the morning, and come to the clinic three times a week for a full-body massage (Udwarthanam) with dried herbal powder. Every time he was rubbed, he was sweating. When he came back 3 months later, his fasting blood sugar was stable at around 6.2mmol/L, the dose of metformin was still the same, and even his old problem of sticking to the toilet bowl was gone.

But if you say that Ayurveda is effective for all sugar lovers, that is pure nonsense. I also met a type 2 diabetic who flew over from Germany. He had stayed at an Ayurveda center in North India for half a month. He drank bitter melon juice and ate amla powder every day, but his blood sugar spiked higher and higher, and he also suffered from stomach pain. Old Wadia felt his pulse and said that he had Vata-pitta constitution. He had a weak intestines and internal fire, and the North Indian recipe was too cold, which messed up his metabolism. Later, he changed the herbs to warm peppermint and cardamom, and combined them with warm sesame oil baths twice a week. After about 10 days, his blood sugar slowly dropped back to the normal range. This is also the most controversial aspect of Ayurveda - there is no standardized plan, and it all relies on the diagnosis and treatment experience of doctors. The traditional school in Kerala focuses more on herbal medicine + detoxification (Pachakarma) conditioning, and many schools in North India pay more attention to diet and daily routine adjustments. The improved version of Ayurveda spread to Europe and the United States even provides guidance with a glycemic index table. The plans given by different schools may be completely opposite, and the probability of being wrong is indeed not low.

To be honest, it is not unreasonable for most doctors in mainstream endocrinology departments not to recommend patients to try Ayurveda intervention casually. A few years ago, the WHO reported a batch of unqualified Ayurvedic anti-diabetic products, which secretly added a large dose of glyburide, which was higher than the dosage of ordinary anti-diabetic drugs. There are people with diabetes around me who blindly bought the "Ayurvedic anti-diabetic medicine" online. After eating it, they fainted and were sent to the emergency room for hypoglycemia. There are also many people who stopped taking hypoglycemic drugs after listening to the propaganda, and ended up in the hospital with ketoacidosis. This kind of blame should not be left to formal Ayurveda therapy. Among the small sample clinical studies that can be found so far, there is indeed data showing that accurate Ayurvedic intervention can reduce the fasting blood sugar of type 2 diabetes patients by an average of 1-1.5mmol/L, and can also reduce insulin resistance. However, the sample size of the studies is not large, and there is no long-term follow-up data. To say that it can "radical cure" is purely IQ tax.

Oh, by the way, I have a friend who is pre-diabetic. His fasting blood sugar fluctuates around 6.1mmol/L all year round. He did not take any medicine. He adjusted his body constitution according to Ayurvedic Kapha for 3 months: he stopped drinking iced milk tea, took 1 small spoonful of amla powder every morning, and walked for 20 minutes after meals. Now his fasting blood sugar is stable at around 5.4mmol/L, and he has lost 8 pounds. If you ask him whether Ayurveda is more effective or if keeping your mouth shut and moving your legs is more effective, he himself can’t tell. In fact, the most valuable part of Ayurveda is that it treats people as a whole. It does not prescribe the same diet to all people with diabetes, nor does it focus solely on adjusting blood sugar levels - after all, some people still have high blood sugar levels after eating brown rice every day, while some people still have stable blood sugar levels after eating a piece of cake occasionally. This is where the physical differences lie.

In fact, in the final analysis, dealing with diabetes is a long-term individualized project. There is no need to boast about Ayurveda, and there is no need to beat it to death with a stick. If you really want to try it, you should first find a qualified Ayurvedic doctor to diagnose the symptoms, then communicate with your endocrinologist, monitor your blood sugar regularly, and don’t buy supplements on your own or stop Western medicine at will, which is better than anything else.