That’s not good news but it’s news you should know anyway.

Because if you know high blood sugar levels could lead to you not having healthy sexual relations with your wife, then where do you think that your marriage is headed?

Okay, now I’m sure that there are some of you out there who would say … hey, that’s not a big issue to me; we stopped having sex a few years after the babies started coming. And she’s never in the mood anyway!

Well, that may be the case but if you think about it, your marriage will improve immensely if you show a little more interest and romance in your wife. You have the potential to change your relationship by what you do and sure, it may take some time and some rejection along the way, but it is entirely possible. God does restore relationships, you know.

What’s the connection of diabetes to impotency? Well, it’s actually quite simple. As the diabetes progresses (due to unstable blood sugar control), so does the plaque buildup on the inside of the arteries. There is a primary artery that nourishes the penis called the penile artery. This artery is not unlike every other artery in your body and it has a big chance of getting plugged up with plaque as well as the others. When it does, the penis won’t respond as well as before.

Another aspect of what happens physiologically is that blood sugar deposits on them can damage the nerves. When nerves are damaged in the feet, this results in loss of sensation and you don’t know where your feet are in space. When it happens in the penis, you will have trouble getting an erection.

What’s the solution? It always is the same: reverse the diabetes. And only you can do it. Doctors can’t do it for you. They can only give you drugs that help you manage various aspects of Type 2 diabetes. But those drugs aren’t good enough. They will never give you sexual power.

Reverse Type 2 diabetes and regain your sexual power!

1. Wear skimpy clothing; otherwise you’ll want to remove it all! The sauna is never the place for jeans. A bathing suit is appropriate.
2. Drink water during your sauna session. If you can drink a quart of water before your session (about an hour prior), you will have a much easier time.
3. If you tend to be queasy in the sunshine … that is, you seem to be affected by the heat … take two salt tablets and one potassium tablet. Your body needs electrolytes and sweat increases their excretion.
4. Drink plenty of water after your sauna session, too. You will most likely be thirsty.

Canadian researchers gave their patients a survey to take before they started sauna therapy. They asked them to rate their general health, their physical health, socialization habits, stress levels and fatigue levels. Then the patients completed their sauna sessions for 3 months and they were asked to take the same survey again.

They found an improved quality of life in the people with Type 2 diabetes. In fact, the researchers commented that the compliance was a lot better than those that changed their diet, started exercising regularly, or getting more sleep.

This tells you something pretty interesting … that something as simple as a far infrared sauna can be extremely helpful for diabetes. Sweating out the toxins is something we all have to do if we want to stay healthy in today’s environment … full of chemicals and pesticides.

Well today, I just found out about research that offers a very easy way that you could increase your quality of life as a diabetic … it’s with the use of a far infrared sauna.

If you have ever gone to a sauna in the past, you may know that there are a few different types of saunas. One is a ‘regular’ sauna that uses steam. These can be a little overwhelming at first and the heat can hit you hard when you first walk into a steam sauna … you normally find steam saunas at many health clubs.

The other type of sauna is called a far infrared sauna. When manufacturers came up with this one, they must have said to themselves … ‘enough of the steam! I’m tired of dealing with it! And it uses far too much energy! My energy bills are enormous!’

Well, Canadian researchers at a clinic offered their Type 2 diabetic patients the opportunity to use their infrared sauna for 20 minutes three times a week for three months at no expense, just for sake of the study.

The far infrared sauna, I must say, makes you feel like a king or queen. It looks like a little hut made of wood with a little window in it so you can look outside the sauna. There are wooden benches inside for you to sit on or to lie down on during the short session. Some units have light therapy where different colored lights shine on you or a light show occurs. Others have music you can listen to as you are sweating in the sauna.

A far infrared sauna heats your body up quickly and it’s without the sticky feelings associated with ‘regular’ saunas.

Sauna time is relaxation time. You can’t plan on writing a letter to friends while in the sauna because most pens won’t write in the high heat. You can’t use your computer because the high heat will fry the computer. You can’t read a book in the sauna either, because the high heat will cook the pages and you’ll drip sweat on them. The only thing left to do in a sauna is to bring a friend in with you to have pleasant conversation with, or maybe you can just relax.

Tomorrow’s blog will talk about what researchers in Canada discovered with their study.

Did you know that you have what’s called circadian rhythms in the body that determine what enzymes are produced at what time? The circadian rhythms are part of your internal molecular clock. Your clock gives you the ability to maintain energy levels.

When you are eating, cells of the pancreas produce insulin to keep your blood sugar or glucose levels regular and within a normal range. Scientists at the Department of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, discovered that the islet cells of Langerhans in the pancreas (the ones that produce insulin) have circadian rhythm genes. There are certain times of the day and night that the islet genes are involved in growth, glucose metabolism and insulin signaling. Type 2 diabetes impairs glucose tolerance and causes insulin secretion to decrease. It also causes the cells to shrink with age. And when the circadian rhythm is disrupted, the genes involved in growth, survival and synaptic vesicle assembly are altered.

The scientists concluded that messing up the circadian rhythms in the pancreatic clock causes Type 2 diabetes by interfering with insulin secretion during the sleep-wake cycle.

Now when was the last time you got to bed on time and what time are you going to bed tonight?

Source: Nature, June 18, 2010. Disruption of the clock components CLOCK and BMAL1 leads to hypoinsulinaemia and diabetes.

1. PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS:
When you look at a cactus plant it’s difficult to imagine that the plant can have any benefits especially after one of the spines in it has pierced your hand!

However, scientists have discovered that blood sugar levels can decrease 17 to 46% in Type 2 Diabetes when the cactus pad is eaten on a regular basis. The fruit also has similar blood sugar lowering properties.

2. TURMERIC:
Turmeric is a yellow herb that is often found in Indian dishes. There is scientific research that suggests that using this herb may block enzymes that convert carbohydrates into glucose.

3. MILK THISTLE:
Many people are familiar with milk thistle and use it to help cleanse their liver of toxins that have been accumulated. Milk thistle has also been found to decrease blood sugar levels, cholesterol, HbA1c, and triglycerides.

4. HOLY BASIL, also called Hot Basil
An extract of Holy Basil may decrease fasting blood sugar levels 17.6%. That means if your levels are 160 mg/dL (8.9 mmol/L), they will drop to about 136 mg/dL (7.5 mmol/L). Holy Basil also helps decrease you blood sugar level if you eat too much food at a meal.

5. PSYLLIUM:
Are you familiar with the over-the-counter product called Metamucil? It’s designed to help keep you regular. This product basically contains psyllium, a plant that is high in fiber, and some additives and preservatives. Psyllium is similar to other fibers that reduce serum glucose levels and insulin levels. The extra benefits of psyllium include lowered total cholesterol levels and lowered LDL cholesterol levels.

6. BILBERRY:
Many people are jumping on the nutritional bandwagon for becoming crazy about berries. They consume acai berries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, hawthorne berries and exotic berries as well that are often prepared in fruit drinks that tend to be pricey. These berries certainly have high nutritional value and are packed with antioxidants.

The berry called bilberry has also been found to reduce blood sugar levels. Its added benefit is that it can also improve eyesight.

If you’re interested in these herbs for lowering blood sugar, the next step is to investigate their dosages, contraindications, and length of time the herbs can be used.

There are six ways you can tell if your type 2 diabetes program is successful. Each one of them must show real progress; otherwise, you risk regressing in your diabetes.

Here are the six:

1. BLOOD SUGAR: Your fasting blood sugar level has to be in the normal range for a significant period of time in order for you to be considered healed. As long as your blood sugar levels are coming down to the normal range 80 to 120 mg/dL (4.4 to 6.7 mmol/L), you are making progress.

2. HEMOGLOBIN A1c (HbA1c): When your HbA1c level falls into the normal range, you have achieved success. While it is falling, you are making progress.

3. WEIGHT: Any extra weight creates a condition known as insulin resistance where the insulin your body makes has a difficult time getting into your muscle cells. This can eventually wear out your pancreas and create a dependence on insulin injections. For every 10% of body weight you lose, you gain ground on beating your diabetes. Consider every 10% body weight loss as progress and achieving your ideal body weight as total success.

4. BLOOD PRESSURE: When blood pressure is too high, there’s a risk of developing heart disease. High blood pressure in itself is a form of heart disease. Get that blood pressure level down to normal! You have achieved total success here in this category when your blood pressure is in the normal zone consistently for three months or longer. Consider it a success milestone when your blood pressure starts falling.

5. EXERCISE: Regular exercise can be a difficult habit for some people to develop. When you have a normal routine established, you have achieved a success milestone in this area. When you even choose to exercise on holidays and on vacations, you have achieved total success in this area.

6. HOW YOU FEEL: When you are totally healthy once again, the way you feel when you have type 2 diabetes will be a thing of the past. You’ll feel great most days and love it! Monitor your progress by marking a calendar with a rating for each day. As you gain success in this area, the numbers will increase to a perfect 10 most days of the week.

As the animal lives outside most hours of the day, it can come into contact with flies. Flies can choose to lay their eggs under the skin of the animal and within days, maggots appear. Finding them in the fur of your animal is surprising and disgusting at the same time. It’s also disheartening to have to pick out the maggots one by one from the animal and then deal with the horrible slime the maggots leave behind. And then there’s the wretched smell, too!

Well, doctors in Ohio at the Ohio State Medical Center must have been enamored with the life cycle of the maggot or something because it became the subject of their research that appeared in the journal, Int Wound J in April 2010.

They reported that wound infection is a major factor that interferes with proper wound healing, especially in diabetic foot ulcers. Their answer: use maggots because they have unknown antimicrobial properties!

The researchers used antibiotic resistant microbial organisms in cultures and applied maggots to the cultures. Twenty four hours later they checked the culture plates for bacteria. The maggots killed bacteria for more than 5 days. Complete killing of the bacteria or fungus was evident and the scientists are now considering using the maggots for those who have diabetic foot ulcers.

Still not convinced you should get rid of your diabetes? Start today!

Source: Int Wound J, Apr 23, 2010, Assessment of the antimicrobial properties of maggots by L. Margolin and P. Gialanella.

If you’re a diabetic that is only 5’1” tall, then 30 grams carbohydrate a meal can help you gain a little better blood sugar control in many cases. But if you’re 6’1” tall, then 45-60 grams per meal may be better for your height and body weight.

For each gram of carbohydrate a food contains, there are 4 calories. So in a meal with 30 grams carbohydrate, 30 times 4 = 120 calories from carbohydrates. If you eat three meals a day, that’s 90 grams carbohydrate as a minimum for the day, not counting any extra snacks.

Many people ask the question – what’s the lowest amount of carbohydrate that my body needs? Researchers have found that 60 grams per day is a minimum level that prevents diabetic ketoacidosis. But always check to make sure. Experimenting with this is not recommended if you are on insulin.

Some physicians believe that we can live without carbohydrates in our diet at all. They say that people who were stranded in the ocean or stranded on a mountain because of a plane crash have subsisted on low or no carbohydrate meals for many days without dying. Carbohydrates are the ultimate free radical producer, due to the chemical composition, which is C6H12O6. It’s the oxygen in the carbohydrate that can easily become a free radical, producing hydrogen peroxide radical, superoxide radical and oxygen with only one electron, all highly reactive in the body. Wherever these free radicals go, they cause destruction. Antioxidants are needed to counteract the free radicals and prevent the damage.

If you’re a Type 2 Diabetic, you should be journaling about your diet each day, and including the symptoms and fasting blood sugars each day. It is also helpful to choose at least one meal of the day that you will test your blood sugar afterward. About one hour works best. The purpose of this is to see whether or not your level of carbohydrates, fat and protein were sufficient to prevent a large rise in the blood sugar level. Once you begin to adjust your diet to that level, you can gain the best control of your blood sugar level.