There is a misconception that diabetes reversal is possible only for those who have more time at home or are retired. But the fact is that everyone can manage to follow the four pillars of diabetes reversal. The four pillars of diabetic reversal are diet, exercise, acupuncture, and stress management.

Tip 1.
BREAK FROM SEDENTARY LIFE/EXERCISE
Sitting in a place is equivalent to smoking. Smoking can cause cancer, heart attacks, arthritis, gangrene, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and all kinds of diseases. Sitting also produces all these diseases. By sitting in one place, your sugar will increase, your weight will increase, your blood pressure will increase, and you will increase your risk of heart attack, arthritis, indigestion, varicose veins, and a lot of other diseases. Lifestyle is an important cause of disease

Get up from your seat at least once in an hour, just walk around, wash your face and eyes with water, you may say something different, you may watch the sky and trees outside. Just make a break in your’s edentarism’, a shift, from the routine. Your fatigued brain will get a break, and you will come back to the seat with renewed energy and a new spirit, and you can perform better. A break for 1-2 minutes every hour is very important for your health. And it should be regular.
Some people say that they exercise in the morning; they do walking, playing, swimming, dancing, etc. in the morning or evening. That is good. But let me tell you, even if you do running, playing, dancing, or walking for one hour in the morning and sit at a desk for 7-8 hours without movement, it is an independent risk factor for your heart and diabetes. So apart from the morning or evening walk, you must still break that sitting habit.

Exercise is very important to burn out oxygen. It will reduce insulin resistance. Do aerobic exercises, resistance exercises, anti-gravity exercises, and flexibility maneuvers daily to keep your muscles strong. Flexibility is very important to keep you fit. Practising mild yoga will make you flexible and supple and will keep you from falling when you grow older.

As you get older, your muscles tend to go away, and they get replaced by fat. We call it sarcopenia. It is the cause of most diseases that occur in old age. If you have strong muscles, then your insulin resistance comes down, your blood pressure comes down, and you can prevent heart attacks and keep your diabetes under control.

Tip 2.
SMOKING & ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION
If you have diabetes and smoke, you may not be able to control or reverse your diabetes. Because smoking is going to kill you in more than one way, either by getting heart attacks, by producing blocks in your arteries, or by producing cancer. It may make your blood pressure high and your sugar also go up. So for a diabetic person, smoking is a strict no.
Same applies with the case of alcohol. Some studies done in France shows that red wine may be good to some extent, in southern France. But it may not be the same in case of people consuming red wine in India. But cohort studies done in various industrial areas all over the world still shows alcohol is actually bad. So avoid alcohol.
Tip 3.
SLEEP
Going to bed on time, is important. Sleeping 6-8 hours a day roughly at the same time, is possible. But people having night shifts may try to get that amount of sleep during the daytime. Make sure that, during Day duty time you follow ‘that’ pattern, night duty time ‘this’ pattern. But at least try to make it a pattern, so that the brain will know, ‘I’ will adjust to both those patterns. Make it regular. Don’t make it irregularly irregular. Otherwise your brain will get confused and your biological rhythms will get totally upset.
Tip 4
DIET
You cannot over emphasise the importance of
What you eat,
How much you eat,
At what time you eat,
The speed at which you eat, all are very important.
If you cannot cut down the portion size it is okay, but what is there in the portion size. That is also very important. Without some mindful eating and healthy eating, there’s no treatment for diabetes at all. The first pillar in the management/reversal of diabetes is Diet control or healthy eating.
Lifestyle is very important. The most disciplined person lives the longest and has the healthiest and happiest life. This is what I have learned in my life after 25 years of working as a doctor. Many of my patients (believe it or not) have celebrated their 90th birthdays even after getting diabetes 30/40 years back. They lived 60/70 years after getting diabetes. How they made it possible? They learned the secret of longevity, of happiness, of healthy life. They know the meaning of ‘moderation mantra’.
They do moderate exercise every day; they do eat sweets once in a while. They do enjoy everything available in world in a moderate way. But yes…. you can have a CHEAT DAY, but do it in moderation. If you want to cheat yourself: Yes you can, but not so much, only little, just to satisfy your greed.
Human beings are like that. We need a little encouragement, motivation, cheat days… We are not Saints who can consistently follow strict rules in life. But at the same time, if you have no discipline at all, if you don’t get up in the morning, don’t go for walking, don’t do your exercise, don’t watch your diet, don’t do your yoga, don’t do your pranayama…. then nobody can help you.
Tip 5
PRANAYAMA
It’s the breathing (with awareness) that keeps you healthy, that keeps you happy, that keeps you tension free, and that reduces your sugar and blood pressure. Yogic practises are also importance. Bringing attention to even the smallest daily tasks or routines, like bathing, washing, walking, observing nature, folding your clothes and making your bed will definitely uplift your moods and energy levels throughout the day.
Exercise for your mind is also important to keep yourself fit. My healthy old aged patients are healthy because they keep their mind active by getting engaged in doing puzzles, crosswords, sudoku, chess, drawing, writing diary etc. They did not develop memory loss or dementia.
So keep your mind and body active and healthy. Start doing now itself. Start today. Don’t wait to get old. Don’t wait to get your studies finished, to get your exams over, to get your transfer back to your home town, to get your kids married off. Start early, when you in your twenties, thirties, forties … There’s no age limit to start. You can start even if you are seventy plus. If you start doing it sufficiently early, I can assure you that none of the life style diseases that are killing people today will affect you. Wish you all the best. Hope you will find my next article in my blog/website.
IDRP gives all support for your lifestyle change. Keep in touch.
Dr Arun Vasudevan
BHMS, MBS (UK), DAcu.
9447554207
www.drarunvasudevan.com