The Native American Remedy for Low
Blood Sugar and Diabetes
By Gayle Eversole, DHom, PhD, MH, NP, ND
A project I have been working on for
quite a few years, I guess going back as far as the early 1990s, is
helping educate our people about preventing and assisting in the
natural care of diabetes.
More than any other group of people
American Indians are plagued with this dreadful disease.
When I was researching the educational
program I designed when I was completing my doctoral coursework I
found an interesting fact. Attributed mainly to Plains people, but
not absent in tribes from other geographic areas in the Southwest and
other regions, diabetes was considered somewhat of a survival
mechanism.
Many traditional foods and locally
found herbs have historically been helpful in the care and treatment
of diabetes.
The last program I presented was at the
Indian Health facility located in the Blackfeet Nation at Browning,
Montana. As a gift I was given a book on the Ethnobotany of the
Blackfoot Tribe. I refer to this book still today. It was a
reference source while I was compiling a guide for diabetes based on
natural care during The Longest Walk 3. The Diabetes Diary is that
book.
A new project I am searching for
support and funding is a nutrition program for Indian children to
help them learn more about traditional food, traditional ways of
preparing the food, and the nutrition behind the foods. If you would
like to support this project, please donate here.
Now back to a bit of history.
The garden green bean we know as snap
beans or string beans was a part of American Indian tribal
cultivation when the Spanish and Portuguese arrived some 500 years
or more ago. Along with the Jesuits the beans were taken to other
parts of the world by these explorers. Today there may be more than
500 varieties of common beans.
For many years I was able to get bean
pod tea and I sold it in the health store I had in Granite Falls,
Washington. Then the bean pods became very hard to find so I
discontinued the item even though I had many requests for it. I then
provided people with information about growing their own beans and
making their own tea.
These beans are full of healing
nutrients. Fresh picked string beans have 41 mg of calcium, 42 mg
of phosphorus, 1.14 mg of iron, 6 mg of sodium, 230 mg of potassium,
735 IU vitamin A, 40 mg folic acid (vitamin B9), 17.9 mg vitamin C,
and 27 mg magnesium in one cupful.
Many of the old time natural healers
used green beans in the care of people with diabetes (PWD). One of my
teachers, Paavo Airola, ND, PhD, always emphasized the importance of
string bean juice for anyone with diabetes. His clients drank it
five times a day with their five small meals.
He believed in this because he knew of
nothing that was more important in rejuvenation the spleen, liver and
pancreas. His research proved that this juice stimulated the Islets
of Langerhans in the pancreas.
In addition to diabetes, this wonder
juice can help people with alcohol dependence, uremic poisoning, and
drug addiction.
Using a juicer such as the Vita Mix or
any other juicer you may have, add the whole beans after washing and
draining. Any part of the plant is good so don't be too fussy. Add
about half a cup of water and turn the juicer on.
You can mix in some beet powder, greens
powder, or some carrot powder with your String Bean juice for additional therapeutic benefits.
More about Diabetes
More of my articles may be found at
leaflady.org, Natural Health News, and Rense.com.
