Blueberries with diabetes mellitus

The diet of a healthy person is quite easy to make full and varied, because such people do not experience special restrictions in the choice of foods and dishes. But any health disorders usually make their own adjustments not only in the way of life, but also in the patient's menu. For example, in diabetes mellitus, a person has to limit himself in carbohydrates and in particular in glucose. But a brain without a sweet can not, besides, it's so hard to give up these little joys of life. It's good that there are such natural sweet foods as some popular berries that are allowed to be consumed by people with high glucose levels in the body. For example, blueberries in diabetes not only do not harm patients, but even helps to stabilize the patient's condition.

Diabetes and its limitations

Diabetes mellitus is a condition in which an increased glucose content is detected in body fluids. It becomes a consequence of the violation of metabolic processes. Violation of the metabolism of carbohydrates and water in turn causes a malfunction in the pancreas, which produces insulin, a hormone that takes an active part in the metabolism of sugars.

We must understand that the development of diabetes and disruption of the pancreas are interrelated. So prolonged inflammation of the body (chronic pancreatitis) worsens its functionality, and the pancreas produces less insulin. The longer the process lasts and the more frequent exacerbations occur, the worse the organ works. In the end, in one not the best moment, blood and urine tests can show the presence of elevated levels of sugar in them.

Sugar under the influence of insulin is converted into glucose, which is used as an energy component of our cells. When insulin is not enough, a portion of the sugar in unchanged form is discharged into the blood and urine, and then it is simply excreted from the body without doing any good.

It would seem that a sufficient amount of glucose should enter the body with food products, but in fact the cells test its deficiency, which negatively affects the state of various organs. On the patient's body over time appear abscesses, the wound appears poorly heal, there are problems with the vessels (atherosclerosis and hypertension) and the nervous system (neuropathies develop), vision deterioration (retinopathy), dental and skin conditions.

Because of a metabolic disorder, cells lose the ability to retain water, and it is excreted in large numbers by the kidneys. A person at the same time is constantly thirsty, and the kidneys are overloaded. It is clear that over time this leads to a weakening of the organ and a violation of its work. Kidneys now can not cope with the excretion of large volumes of fluid and edema is formed.

Blueberries in diabetes can be considered as a source of carbohydrates, without which the body can not function properly.

Diabetes mellitus can develop in two directions, the result of which will be the same increase in the level of sugar in the blood. In medicine, there is a conditional division of the disease into 2 types, which differ in the mechanism of development of insulin deficiency and therapy.

Diabetes mellitus type 1 implies the cessation of insulin production by the pancreas. This is due to the cells of the immune system (antibodies) that perceive pancreatic cells that synthesize insulin as foreign. Antibodies significantly reduce the production of insulin until its complete cessation.

This type of diabetes, called insulin-dependent, is characteristic of young people with lean physique. It has a severe course, and without the introduction of a dose of insulin, a person can die in a short time. In patients, a strict low-carb diet lasts virtually all of life, because cure cases are the exception to the rule.

Diabetes mellitus type 2 is a disease of people aged 40 years and above. Most often it is diagnosed in people with excess weight. In most cases, the cause of the development of the disease lies not in the violation of the pancreas, but in the loss of the sensitivity of cells to the insulin produced by it. Cells, satiated with nutrients, otherwise interact with insulin, which leads to a decrease in its production as unnecessary.

Less often the disease develops on the background of chronic pancreatitis or other pancreatic diseases, as a result of which the functionality of the organ decreases, insulin production decreases and insulin-independent diabetes mellitus type 2 develops. Treatment of the disease in this case consists in the oral administration of hypoglycemic agents and diet compliance.

In the pathogenesis of diabetes, the hereditary predisposition and age play a decisive role (the risk of the disease is doubled). But the push to develop the disease usually become overweight, stress, viral diseases (along with a hereditary predisposition they increase the risk of developing type 1 diabetes), pancreatic disease.

Regardless of the type of disease, the diet provides for the restriction of the consumption of sweet foods, the assimilation of which in the body is violated. Therefore, the question arises whether it is possible to bilberry with diabetes, because this berry is considered a sweet product.

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Getting to know a useful berries

Blueberry is a wild shrub of relatively small size, which gives us very useful fruits. Since in our region this plant is not common (its habitual habitat is central and northern parts of Russia), many of us got acquainted with blueberry berries in absentia, considering drawings on yoghurts and other sour-milk products with fruit and berry additives or on candy wrappers. We know about their benefits only by hearsay, when they tell us that yogurt with blueberries is one of the most useful. But the benefit is all in these small dark blue berries, shaped like beads.

Few know that tasty blueberries are not only in the composition of fermented milk products. Based on these berries, called blueberries for their ability to leave on the skin of hands difficult to wash away dark spots, reminiscent of ink, you can prepare delicious jams, jams, kissels, juices. During flowering the plant is valued as a rich honey, and ripe fruits can be used as a natural food coloring with useful properties, because blueberries are classified as medicinal plants.

It is important to know that not only berries containing easily digestible natural sugars, organic acids (citric, malic, oxalic, quinine, chlorogenic, lactic and amber), pectins, natural defenders of flavonoids, inulin, a lot of useful vitamins and minerals have medicinal properties. Shrub leaves, in which the amount of sugar is limited, also contain in their composition all the same useful components, vitamins (A, C, PP, E, group B) and mineral components, as well as tannins and glycosides, especially useful for normalizing the sugar level in blood.

Bilberry fruits, despite the sweetness, are considered a low-calorie product and have a small hypoglycemic index (GI), which means that the increase in blood sugar can be expected only if you consume the berry in large quantities.

Low caloric content of the product makes it possible to use it for the prevention of diabetes and the treatment of a borderline condition called prediabetes, which is often diagnosed during pregnancy. High content of pectin and fiber helps improve the digestion process and prevents the appearance of excess weight (or helps to fight it). Berries can be successfully used in medical diets and include in the children's diet, because it belongs to the category of hypoallergenic products, which means that almost all people can improve their health with it.

Since with diabetes mellitus type 1 and 2 there is a metabolic disorder that adversely affects the state of various organs and systems, due to the high carotene content, blueberries help prevent complications of diabetes, such as retinopathy and maculopathy, which are manifested in impaired vision in the patient.

Even healthy people know blueberries as a means to restore vision. On the pharmaceutical market, a lot of drugs and supplements on the basis of this useful berry, which helps treat visual disturbances and prevent its loss. In a day you usually need to use 3-6 such tablets or 0.2 kg of berry, so that vision is always normal. Blueberries contribute to the strengthening of blood vessels, which provide blood supply to the eyes and metabolism in them, which makes the body work more efficient.

What is useful for blueberries for diabetes? In addition to controlling weight and reducing the concentration of sugar in the blood, blueberries contribute to:

• normalization of the immune system,
• prevents the occurrence of inflammation in the area of wounds on the skin,
• stabilizes the pancreas (with pancreatitis it stops inflammation and fights infection),
• improves blood circulation by strengthening blood vessels and prevents late complications of diabetes mellitus in the form of neuropathies and microangiopathies,
• decrease cholesterol in the blood due to the content in the plant of natural flavonoids,
• reduces the negative impact of free radicals that cause oxidative stress, which becomes one of the risk factors for the development of diabetes mellitus (blueberry is an important product for disease prevention).

Thanks to these beneficial properties of blueberries, it is not only possible, but even recommended for use in diabetes. It is believed that it helps to treat type 2 diabetes, and with incurable and extremely severe insulin-dependent diabetes, the use of bilberry in small amounts helps to safely diversify the diet of patients, reduce blood sugar, which will reduce the dose of insulin administered, prevent various complications of the disease in late period.

The benefits of blueberries in diabetes are obvious, but in addition to diabetics, it will be very useful for other people, including those who do not yet have serious health problems. After all, blueberries are considered not only a medicinal plant, but also a preventive tool that helps to avoid possible health problems.

If a person has a predisposition to diabetes mellitus (there were cases of illness in the family), the use of blueberries will help prevent the development of this dangerous by its late complications and intractable illness. With a neglected form of diabetes with an excessively high sugar content in the blood, when the use of any sugars can be of unsatisfactory service, a blueberry leaf that, like berry, is able to reduce the concentration of glucose in the blood and urine in both pre-diabetes and diabetes of any degree .

It is clear that to limit oneself to medicines based on berries and blueberry leaves with severe forms of diabetes is meaningless. But the plant will help pharmacy hypoglycemic drugs maintain an acceptable level of glucose in the body, supply it with useful vitamins and minerals, which will reduce the risk of various complications.

Normalizing the state of blood vessels throughout the body, blueberries contribute to the normalization of blood circulation and blood pressure. She also participates in the synthesis of hemoglobin, improves the work of the liver, kidneys and intestines, prevents the deposition of salts in the joints and cholesterol on the walls of the vessels, has an antitoxic effect, helping to remove salts of heavy metals from the body.

Blueberries have a hemostatic effect, which makes it possible to use it in case of bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract. It also helps fight diarrhea in food poisoning and bacteria hidden in the depths of the mouth and nasopharynx. The broth of blueberries is fighting with the pathogens of typhoid fever.

Vitamins A, C and E, as well as chlorogenic acid contained in bilberries are considered to be good natural antioxidants that slow the aging process and help in the fight against certain bacteria and viruses, because they restore the body's defenses. Although there is no rejuvenating effect over berries, their regular use makes it possible to look younger for several years. In addition, the strengthening of blood vessels due to vitamin C improves blood circulation, blood supplies oxygen and useful substances to the tissues, which prolongs the period of their normal functioning.

If we consider blueberries from the point of view of its antioxidant properties, then we can conclude that it is an excellent preventive against such diseases as atherosclerosis of vessels, Alzheimer's disease, IHD, hypertension, oncological diseases and diabetes mellitus, to which the aforementioned free radicals are involved.

Bilberry is a hypoallergenic medicinal plant useful for many diseases and is a delicious dessert that has been solved with diabetes. But when there are any violations in the body, you begin to treat even medicinal plants with extreme caution. It is clear that sweet berries, including bilberry, are not the dessert that can be consumed in excess in diabetes. Therefore, a diet is a diet, and if it involves limiting the consumption of sweet foods, this applies not only to confectionery, but also fruits and berries.

Leaflets or berries?

It is believed that any part of the plant, called blueberry, is useful in diabetes mellitus. They differ only in the content of sugar, so sweet fruits are sick, for which sugar is a kind of poison, try to avoid it. Do not do this, because most of the carbohydrates in the berry is fructose, which is not prohibited in diabetes, plus fruits and shoots, on the contrary, reduce blood glucose.

But if you still have concerns about berries, then everything is much easier with leaves and shoots. To survive in occasion of increase of a sugar of blood in this case it is not necessary. However, the question arises,  how to brew leaves of blueberries in diabetes, because these are not delicious berries, which can be eaten raw.

Decoction of the leaves of blueberries is a medicine, the medicinal properties of which are recognized not only folk, but also traditional medicine. To make it with diabetes, you can use leaves and young  shoots of blueberries. At the same time, fresh and dry raw materials prepared in advance for the medicinal broth are suitable.

For a glass of boiling water, you need to take a table spoon of chopped leaves and shoots full with a slide. To make the composition well brewed, and the leaves are softened enough and gave all the useful substances to water, it is recommended to steal it in a water bath with the lid closed. The cooking time is 40 minutes. The composition removed from the fire is cooled and filtered. Apply only the liquid part of 2 tablespoons. Three times a day.

Cooked according to this recipe, the  decoction of blueberries  is considered therapeutic for diabetes, as it helps to stabilize the level of glucose in the blood and prevent various complications of this serious disease. But this does not mean that the diabetic should be limited only by this natural medicine.

Bilberry leaves can be used to make fragrant herbal teas and decoctions based on several herbs, which will also have a curative effect on diabetes.

For example, you can take in equal quantities leaves of blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. 1 tbsp. Crushed herbs pour 1.5 cups of boiling water (300 g) and boil on a low heat for a quarter of an hour, then remove from the plate and leave to infuse. When the composition cools, it is filtered and taken before each meal (for 20-25 minutes) for 2 tablespoons.

You can also use the following composition: the leaves of blueberries, mint, chicory, dandelion and St. John's wort are mixed in equal proportions. A large spoonful of collection is filled with 1.5 cups of boiling water. We prepare and apply according to the previous recipe, as well as other similar compositions:

• leaves of blueberry, plantain, dandelion and nettle,
• leaves of blueberries, primrose, mulberry and dandelion,
• leaves blueberries and grass horsetail field,
• sheets of blueberries and nettles, plus the root of a dandelion,
• blueberry leaves and burdock roots,
• leaves of nettle and blueberry, plus flowers of elderberry,
• leaves and bark of mulberry, flowers of barberry, fox bilberries,
• leaves of blueberries and strawberries, bean pods, yarrow, hips,
• upper shoots of blueberries, beans and medicinal galleys.

There is also a recipe for a complex herbal decoction used to treat diabetes mellitus. A decoction is prepared on the basis of a herb collection containing equal parts of the leaves of blueberry, empty pods of beans, flaxseed and oat straw. Take 2 glasses of 200 ml of water, pour it 2 tablespoons. Our collection, boil for a quarter of an hour and leave to infuse for another 55-60 minutes. Next, the broth should be filtered and brought to the original volume cooled with boiled water.

Within 2 weeks, the broth should be drunk before meals three times a day. The recommended single dose is ½ cup. After a 2-week course of treatment, a 7-day break should be done, after which the treatment is repeated. Repeat a course is worthwhile if the treatment has yielded positive results.

With diabetes, you can try and take the next multicomponent infusion. As part of a mixture of herbs, we find equal parts of the herb horsetail, string and St. John's wort, the root of elecampane and zamanichi, leaves of mint and mulberry, the color of chamomile and elderberry, berry of the dogrose. In the composition, add the leaves of blueberries (2 parts). For a glass of boiling water, take 1 tablespoon. With a slide of herbal mixture and insist for a quarter of an hour in a warm place with the lid closed. The prepared composition should be drunk during the day in 3 divided doses.

As you can see, a blueberry leaf with diabetes can also be used to make delicious tea, which you can pamper yourself daily without special restrictions, and for the manufacture of medicinal formulations that are recommended to be taken according to the prescription.

Blueberry berries for diabetes

Blueberries are one of the few sweet berries that are not only allowed but also recommended for diabetes mellitus. Thanks to its unique properties to control the level of glucose in the blood, blueberries can be eaten regularly, without fear for their condition.

Blueberry berries can be included in your diet in fresh form, as well as in compotes, jelly, jam, and added to desserts and fillings. However, people with an excessively high level of glucose, the amount of eaten fruits should be somewhat limited. With type 1 diabetes mellitus and severe type 2 diabetes, you can eat a few fresh berries and drinks based on bilberry fruits cooked without the addition of sugar.

But blueberries can help those who have low blood sugar, which means that the drugs taken can provoke even a deficiency of glucose (hypoglycemia). These are the initial stages of the disease and the pre-diabetic condition. Such people in the diet can include even blueberry jam, cooked on sugar substitutes.

Recipes of jam from blueberries, recommended for type 2 diabetes, include not only fruits and sugar, but also fresh bush leaves, and sometimes leaves of other plants.

Delicious and useful dessert (jam) can be prepared as follows: take a half a kilo of fresh berries and boil them on a small fire with regular stirring to a viscous state. This will take 1-1.5 hours or more. When the bilberry mass becomes sufficiently viscous, add to it 30 grams of crushed blueberry leaf and leave the jam to cook for another 10 minutes, then add the sweetener (sorbitol, etc.) to taste and stir so that its crystals completely dissolve.

What else can you add to the jam for diabetics? Together with the leaves of blueberries in the blueberry mass, you can add an equal amount of fresh leaves of the viburnum, a small amount of vanilla or cinnamon powder (to your taste). This will help diversify the table of patients with diabetes and give a new taste to the familiar dishes.

But no matter how useful the blueberries are, jam is a jam, and this is a concentrated sweet product, with which you need to be very careful. It is believed that such a dessert will not cause harm in any type of diabetes, if it is consumed in a total of not more than 3 tsp. Per day.

Such a thick jam, if it is well boiled, will be an excellent filling for baking, made from rye flour. Of the more liquid jam, you can prepare delicious drinks, diluting the sweetness with water or tea without sugar. This is the best way to use the product.

With type 2 diabetes, you can try a recipe that has good reviews. We take equal quantities of berries (dry or fresh) and leaves of blueberries, cowberry leaves and chicory grass. We type 1 tbsp. Mixture of herbs and fill it with 1 tbsp. Boiling water. Boil the composition for 10-15 minutes on low heat and remove insist. Cool the broth filter, divide into 3 parts and drink for 3 admission. To drink "medicine" you need 30 minutes before eating.

And still, if there is such an opportunity, it is better to consume blueberries fresh, because thermal treatment always destroys some of the nutrients, in particular vitamin C. And in fresh fruits there is everything that is given to us by the generous hand of mother nature.

Alas, blueberries grow on the limited territory of our huge planet, and not everyone can eat fresh berries and brew fresh leaves of the plant for medicinal purposes. And even if you get to buy at the outlet a fragrant dark blue berries, you can keep them fresh for a long time only with the help of freezing. But even here some of the useful substances go away.

A good option in this regard are dried berries. They can be cooked independently in the oven at a temperature of no more than 70 degrees to preserve useful vitamins. As an effective antidiabetic remedy and natural remedy for vision improvement, helping to prevent such a complication of diabetes mellitus, like retinopathy, use a decoction of dried blueberry fruit.

For its preparation 1 tbsp. With a hill of dry berries pour a glass of boiling water and keep with a light boil on the fire for about 10-12 minutes. After that, the composition is removed from the fire and placed in a warm place (you can use a thermos bottle) for several hours. Take the broth four times a day. This should be done half an hour before a meal. Single dose - 1 tbsp.

The decoction should be continued for at least 2 months, followed by a two-week break and, if necessary, repeated treatment.

It would seem that blueberries are a good solution for the treatment of diabetes mellitus, which makes it possible to control the blood sugar level, but how can it be done if there is no plantation of shrubs nearby and there is nowhere to buy healing berries, shoots and leaves? In pharmacies or the Internet, you can look for a dry blueberry extract containing crushed bits of berries and plant leaves. Preparations from the extract of a useful plant with diabetes are usually issued in the form of capsules or tablets. Take them need courses for therapeutic purposes to normalize blood glucose, especially if hypoglycemic drugs have an excessive effect and lead to the development of hypoglycemia.

On the Internet you can find information about another interesting product, produced by the company "Lickberry". This is a blueberry paste containing in its composition crushed berries blueberries and useful components contained in fruit bones that are not available when eating fruits, because the pits in the body themselves are not digested and are removed from it in an unchanged form.

Due to the inclusion of the contents of the pits in the paste, the amount of chlorogenic acid in it is more than 10 times greater than in the flesh of the berries. Pasta is also distinguished by a high content of omega-acids and vitamin E.

Pasta is produced by hydrolysis of berries, due to which pectin (natural gelling agent) is released, and the composition acquires the appearance of a thick jelly, which is almost completely absorbed by the intestine.

Pasta can be consumed with any type of diabetes after eating. Patients with type 2 diabetes should take 1 tbsp. Pasta, diluted ½ cup of water, morning and evening. For those diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, it is recommended to use paste in the morning and during the snack, starting with 1 coffee spoon and bringing a single dose to 1 tablespoon (the children are given a dose of up to 1 dessert spoon).

In the absence of effect during 14-21 days, the drug begins to take on a different scheme. The first paste is taken after lunch, the second - half an hour before going to bed.

The information about the blueberry paste is given for informational purposes only. This is not advertising products, and information about one of the opportunities to help people with diabetes, if they get difficulties with the acquisition of raw bilberries. How to control the level of sugar in the blood, everyone decides for himself, especially since the use of blueberries and preparations on its basis does not replace the main treatment prescribed by a specialist doctor, but only complements it, making it more effective and pleasant (or tasty, like).

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Contraindications

Blueberries are among the medicinal plants with a minimum of contraindications to use, which allows it to be used by people with various diseases or without them. Despite the noticeable sweetness of the berries, diabetes mellitus, when a person is forced to adhere to a low-carb diet and monitor blood glucose levels, is not included in the list of restrictions on the use of blueberries. Moreover, the fruits and leaves of blueberries are recommended for high blood sugar, as they have the peculiarity of adjusting the blood composition and preventing possible complications of the disease, manifested in impaired vision, impaired kidneys and vessels, etc. Blueberries in diabetics are not just delicious desserts, many of which are not available to sick people, but also a real medicine.

Problems can be mainly for those who suffer from constipation. The fact is that in addition to reducing blood sugar and improving vision, blueberries have the ability to stop diarrhea caused by food poisoning, gastrointestinal infections, malfunctioning of the digestive system. The people even know the prescription for diarrhea in the form of an alcohol tincture of dry fruits of blueberries.

It is not necessary to use blueberries and people who have oxalate stones in the urinary system or are addicted to their formation. Oxalic acid in the composition of blueberry berries contributes to the formation of such concretions.

Possible risks

It is clear that any plant can act as an allergen for people with a predisposition to allergic reactions. If the use of berries or medicine on the basis of leaves causes unusual reactions (itching, rashes on the skin, runny nose, etc.), it is better to abandon them.

Reviews

Blueberries are a very tasty, fragrant and healthy berry, which also helps people with high blood sugar to stabilize their condition and avoid dangerous complications. But to say that bilberry is a panacea for diabetes mellitus would be wrong, even despite the benefits of berries and shoots. With pre-diabetes, when blood sugar is elevated slightly, a diet with the inclusion of blueberries will help keep the sugar in the normal state. But if the glucose values are high, then the plant will help only to reduce them a little and diversify the patient's diet, but no more.

Some  reviews  have a slightly negative color, despite the fact that even doctors do not deny the benefits of blueberries in diabetes. The reason for such an incident is that people place too high hopes on the plant, forgetting about other medications that diabetics simply need. With high sugar in the blood, blueberries can only help a person prevent complications and reduce the dosage of medications, but not normalize blood sugar.

Another mistake of many patients is that they expect the result from a single use of berries. But this does not happen. To feel the result, you need to consume fresh berries jam and collections with blueberries daily for a long time.

But there is one important point. Do not think that the more you take the drugs, the more effective the sugar in the body will decrease. There is such a thing as the recommended dose, which when used and will show the maximum effect. It is this dosage that must be adhered to, so as not to harm yourself, especially if it concerns berries. Still, blueberries are a sweet berry, and many people with diabetes can not eat a lot of sweets.

Blueberries in diabetics are a plant in the use of which one can not doubt if you include berries and compounds on the basis of berries and leaves in the daily menu. The main thing is to consume the natural medicine regularly, but do not exceed the recommended dosages. Delicious drinks and desserts with blueberries combined with diet and medication (if necessary) will help to avoid various unpleasant consequences and complications of such an extremely unpleasant illness as diabetes.