The best diabetes care involves a multidisciplinary approach. Drugs alone cannot cure type 2 diabetes... they can only treat the symptoms. However, type 2 diabetes can often be controlled or even reversed completely through diet and exercise that reduces weight, increases insulin sensitivity and manages blood sugar levels.

Type 2 diabetics who are overweight can quickly and positively affect their condition by adjusting their diet to balance their blood sugar and lose weight. Type 2 diabetics who are not overweight can use exercise and diet to increase insulin sensitivity. If the individual is only in the early stages of type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, the condition may go away completely.

There are several different classes of drugs commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes. Hypoglycemic agents allow your pancreas to release extra insulin into your bloodstream:

• glucose reducers limit the amount of glucose produced by food
• starch blockers slow digestion, preventing your blood sugar levels from rising quickly after meals
• other drugs can sensitize muscle cells to insulin, stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin based on the amount of glucose in your blood, or block enzymes to help lower blood sugar

All of these drugs have side effects, ranging from mild gas or diarrhea to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Many type 2 diabetics use medication to initially help control their condition while they formulate a game plan to manage their blood sugar naturally.

The goal of any type 2 diabetic is to stop or reverse the progression of diabetes, and many individuals initially put on medication are able to eventually live drug free if proper diet and exercise protocols are met.

Eating the right amounts of the right kind of foods can encourage weight loss as well as train your body to more capably manage its blood sugar levels. Mild to moderate exercise can increase your sensitivity to insulin, making this process easier as your body uses its own resources more efficiently. Over time, medications and frequent testing of blood sugar levels may no longer be needed, as you learn more about your body's reactions to food and activity and form healthy habits to keep yourself fit.

If the condition is recognized and addressed early enough, many pre-diabetics and type 2 diabetics are able to reverse their condition and live virtually free of type 2 diabetes and the associated medications for many years. A healthy diet will not have unpleasant side effects, and can in fact increase heart health as well as increasing the effectiveness of your circulatory, respiratory and digestive systems.

The weight loss that almost always accompanies the switch to healthy eating is also a welcome benefit of a natural diabetes diet and exercise program.  Beverleigh H Piepers