Incorporation of Suitable Nutrition in the Management of Diabetes: A Case Study

Diabetes upsurge is closely linked to climate change due to environmental degradation, negatively impacting on agricultural production. Related lifestyle diseases include Hypertension and cancer. Diabetes is a pandemic, with huge economic burden, affecting close to 2.3 million people in Kenya, with 50% undiagnosed. In children, 55% are either mis-diagnosed or underdiagnosed. Most Diabetic cases (90%) are of type2. The good news is that type2 Diabetes could be reversed, with proper management involving ardent monitoring for blood sugar, appropriate and healthy nutrition, exercise and lifestyle change. Challenges include: Lipid cholesterol risk, glycemic control, care and affordability of treatment. There is dire need for greater awareness and prevention efforts. Delving into this, a case study was contacted on a volunteer diabetic individual for blood sugar monitoring after the initial insulin injection. Limited precision drugs were prescribed accordingly and a rich mixed diet, as per the World Diet classification, consisting of fruits and vegetables, introduced, in addition to exercise. Results from routine Monitoring for blood sugar stability, on a diabetic individual, incorporating mixed nutritious diets (Mediterranean, Indian and Kenyan) with exercise, showed reduction from high blood glucose reading of 7.6 to 5.2 mg/dL. The acceptable range of sugar in the blood is 4-7 mg/dL The greatest positive impact from fruits and vegetables was achieved with the consumption of: Cucumber, Cucumis sativa Linneaus; Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus; Jew’s mallow, Corchorus olitorius Linneaus and Crotolaria, Crotolaria brevides, separately or in combination, in the lowering of blood sugar level. The inclusion of honey, specifically the stingless bee honey, had an additive benefit as a lower glycemic index (GI) product, producing a steady rise in blood glucose instead of a spike, hence able to manage Diabetes type2. Honey and other hive products, contribute tremendously to food security, nutrition and improved health, by complementing conventional medicine through Api-therapy. Medicinal herbs exhibit great potential, singly or in combination, to drug development to treat or manage: Diabetes, cancer and hypertension. This concurs with other researchers, working on Coriander, Coriandrum sativum and Rosemary, Murraya koenigii, for cancer cure.