People who suffer from diabetes have high blood glucose after eating. Those who don’t have diabetes, have a metabolism that functions differently. First, the food enters the gastrointestinal tract. Here, the glucose that the food contains enters the bloodstream. Then, the glucose stimulates insulin production, and the cells take in the glucose, causing its level in the blood to lower. Glucose gives cells energy to function.
Two types of diabetes
There are two types of diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2.
Type 1 was known as juvenile diabetes because it is more prevalent among children and adolescents. The reason for this type of diabetes is a physiologic problem – there is not enough produced insulin in the body to meet its needs. Due to the lack of insulin in the cells, the level of glucose in the blood remains high. A healthy diet cannot help to solve this issue, so people that are affected by type 1 diabetes need regular insulin injections.
Type 2 diabetes is caused by unhealthy diets and bad lifestyle choices. Eating too many carbohydrates and sweets raises the blood sugar levels that can cause this type of diabetes. Body cells can become resistant to insulin and even unable to produce it due to an unhealthy diet.
Millions of people suffer from diabetes worldwide. According to the WHO, in 1980 there were more than 100 million people diagnosed with diabetes, and in 2014 the number reached 422 million. Since 1980, the number of adults who are affected by the disease has almost doubled, from 4.7% to 8.5% in 2014. It is estimated that this is more prevalent in middle and low-income countries. The mortality rate is also big. Only in 2016, 1.6 million people died because of diabetes, and in 2012, 2.2 million mortalities were attributed to high blood glucose.
How is diabetes managed?
Generally, there are two ways to manage diabetes: medication and lifestyle adjustments that include a healthy diet and exercise. Doctors usually prescribe oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs) and insulin injections. But these medications also have side effects that people need to be careful of.
Fortunately, there is a natural remedy for diabetes.
Broccoli and diabetes
In 2017, American Association published a study that investigated how to manage diabetes without conventional medication. Researchers found that the substance called sulforaphane that is taken from broccoli, is able not only to suppress glucose products from cells in the liver but also to reverse the disease in animals who suffered from glucose intolerance and increased glucose production. Sulforaphane is number one on the list of all drugs that were included in the study. This substance reduces the risk for diabetes, and also reverses it.
Another study from 2016, discovered that sulforaphane also protects the heart from diabetic cardiomyopathy through antioxidants upregulation.
A more recent study published by Mazarakis, et. al. in 2019, proved that this substance improves significantly breast cancer, diabetes, and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).
