Curated Paper 1: Imbalanced Energy in the Body

 Curate Paper #1

Emerald Lane

October 09, 2020

Biology of Disease

Imbalanced Energy in the Body

Ayurveda is an alternate medicine, instead of relying on western medicine to keep their body in homeostasis, Ayurveda uses herbs, food, and yoga, to keep the energies called doshas in balance (What is Ayurveda, n.d.). Western medicine helps a person become healthy by the use of pills that were specially created to target a certain problem area with side effects that can affect other areas of the body. Ayurveda uses herbs and food, a more natural means, to target the problem area. Such as if a person has acne, western medicine would prescribe pills to target the bacteria causing inflation. Ayurveda also targets the bacteria but through a means of food that controls inflation with the use of natural antioxidants. But there are ways that western medicine and Ayurveda can both help a person. Diabetes is one of those diseases that both can help by managing it.

Diabetes occurs when the body's blood glucose levels are high and the body cannot metabolize it. It is presented in two ways, Type I and Type II. Type I affects the person because their body can no longer produce insulin or produce it in low amounts. This is caused due to age and is a gradual onset. Type II is a gradual onset, it's caused by lack of exercise and an increase in food that the body cannot metabolize or there is too much glucose (Diabetes, 2020). In an Ayurveda explanation, Type I is caused due to excess air and wind (doshas or energies in the body) and Type II is from excess water and earth. This imbalance in their doshas affects the digestive fires and causes diabetes. In both western and alternate, there is an imbalance in the body and that is why a person may get diabetes. 

Glucose gets stuck in the bloodstream because insulin is no longer working properly or there is a lack of insulin. The role of insulin is important to the metabolism of glucose because it's essentially the key that opens the cell to allow glucose to be utilized as energy. Glucose enters the body through food, it is absorbed in the intestines to be transferred to the blood circulation so that it can reach the target cells. As more glucose enters the blood the body detects the high levels and tells the pancreas to release the insulin (Cotton, 2019). For every one glucose, there needs to be two insulins to open the cell. The cell then metabolizes the glucose to form ATP which drives anabolic reactions within the cell. Glucose in its raw form is too big to enter the cell by itself that is why insulin is needed. But the imbalance of insulin and the bodies inability to metabolize the glucose wreaks havoc on the body 

This imbalance in the body can affect many areas. Diabetes can cause the blood vessels to contract due to the increase in lipids and glucose which then causes oxidative stress. This stress in turn creates free radicals in the blood which then causes damage to blood vessels. Because of the damaged blood vessels, the blood cannot circulate the body like it used to, especially to the feet which become swollen because of the amount of blood stuck. Not only does the damaged blood vessels affect the legs and feet, but it also affects the peripheral nervous system due to a lack of blood circulation. The damaged peripheral nervous system causes pain and numbness. This cascade of problems occurs all because the excess glucose and lipids are in the bloodstream. (Bai, 2011)

To help the body rebalance itself western medicine uses insulin shots for Type I because the cells already know how to metabolize glucose. To help alleviate the blood vessels western medicine also prescribes anti-coagulant medication to create a much better flow of blood. Western medicine doctors also suggest exercise to not only decrease weight but to increase cell insulin sensitivity. They also suggest avoiding certain foods so that the glucose levels won’t get out of control. The foods to avoid are white bread, trans fat, fruit-flavored yogurt, sugar drinks, and sweetened cereals. The common thread with these foods is that they are considered to be bad glucose. It's bad glucose because it is not common to the human body and it does not know how to metabolize the food and the glucose it comes with. 

The good glucose that doctors suggest is wheat bread, vegetables, fruit, greek yogurt, milk, fish, cheese, and peanut butter. All of the good glucose has been in the human diet for years and some since humans have been humans. Ayurveda treatments or ways to manage diabetes do not include medicine like pure insulin, but they do suggest similar foods as western doctors suggest. Ayurveda’s suggestions include leafy greens, turmeric, and drinking water from copper cups with more ginger tea. This is meant to stoke the digestive fires and rebalance the body. Ayurveda also suggests that people should exercise to maintain balance. The exercise suggested for diabetics is called “balaardh”. It's a low impact, “half capacity” type of workout, the movements depend on the dosha type a person is (Sengupta, 2018). It's meant to help bring the body back to balance based on the type of earthly energies you have. Balaardh for diabetics decreases blood sugar, increases circulation, and helps the endocrine system work properly. The balaardh also suggests breathing exercises to increase metabolism activity.

Reference

Bai, N. (2011, February 18). Mouse Study Reveals Mechanism behind Diabetes Blood Vessel Damage. Scientific America. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/diabetes-blood-vessel-damage/#:~:text=As%20a%20metabolic%20disease%2C%20diabetes,vessels%2C%22%20according%20to%20Semenkovich.

Cotton, M. (2019, January 03). How our bodies turn food into energy. Kaiser Permanente. https://wa.kaiserpermanente.org/healthAndWellness?item=%2Fcommon%2FhealthAndWellness%2Fconditions%2Fdiabetes%2FfoodProcess.html

Diabetes. (2020, August 26). Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20371444

Sengupta, S. (2018, May 22). Ayurveda For Diabetes: 8 Ayurvedic Tips And Food To Help Manage Diabetes. NDTV Food. https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/ayurveda-for-diabetes-8-ayurvedic-tips-and-food-to-help-manage-diabetes-1855905#:~:text=In%20Ayurveda%2C%20diabetes%20is%20referred,also%20instrumental%20in%20managing%20diabetes.

What is Ayurveda. (n.d.). National Ayurvedic Medical Association. https://www.ayurvedanama.org/what-is-ayurveda