The eye is the most sensitive organ in our body. Poor eyesight reduces the self-confidence and quality of life of an individual. On the career front, it poses a negative impact and a significant threat to employment opportunities. Light exposure or high metabolic rate along with exposure to chemical and environmental toxins induces oxidative damage. These are some fundamental reasons for growing vision impairment cases all over the world. In 2002, the government of India collaborated with the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness to fight against untreated eye health issues. Evidence from clinical research recognized that nutritional intervention could be one of the measures to avoid the underlying cause of vision damage. Moreover, proper nutrition can impede the progression of eye diseases.

Nutrients for Preventing Eye Disease

Negligence of early preventive initiation and inadequate nutritional balance are primary reasons for eye disease. Essential nutrients such as vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin A (β-carotene), zinc, and copper are playing a role in maintaining the integrity of eye functionality. Although the general population is aware of the importance of these nutrients for eye health, but still, an emergent needs require knowing the exact dosing to obtain a significant effect. National Eye Institute of America has recommended daily dosage of these nutrients for people having a higher risk to develop age-related macular degeneration. However, the daily requirement can vary from an individual’s perspective. In general, the daily dosage of these nutrients is as follows: 

• Vitamin C – 425 mg
• Vitamin E – 400 IU
• Vitamin A – 28,640 IU
• Zinc – 69.6 mg
• Copper – 1.6 mg

All the nutrients follow some specific mechanism of action to prevent eye diseases and maintain eye health. Carotenoids, vitamin C & E, and zinc have potent antioxidant properties. Omega-3 fatty acids provide an anti-inflammatory effect that prevents the risk of age-related eye diseases.

Vitamin C

Oxidative stress damages fundamental structures of the body like protein, DNA, and RNA. The metabolic rate in the eye is high and tends to get intense oxidative damage. Vitamin C has sufficient antioxidant properties. Therefore adequate vitamin C in the diet can minimize oxidative stress damage. Vitamin C can be easily absorbed in the blood because of its water solubility. And reaches the eye tissues and prevents oxidative damage. Sufficient vitamin C consumption also enhances vitamin E production. Vitamin E is another essential nutrient with antioxidant properties. Different fruits and vegetables like orange, grapefruit, papaya, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, broccoli, cabbage, and tomatoes are natural sources of vitamin C.

Vitamin E

Light-sensitive cells of the retina present in the inner structure of the eye play a primary role in visual perception. The retina is made up of fatty acids and is vulnerable to oxidative damage. Vitamin E is a potent antioxidant that prevents lipid oxidation and also acts as a free radical scavenger. It also acts as a vasodilator and inhibits platelet aggregation. Vitamin E prevents inflammation by regulating the immune system’s functioning. There are different natural food items like almonds, peanuts, wheat-germ oil, soybean oil, and sunflower oil which are good sources of Vitamin E.

Carotenoids

β-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin are three important carotenoids essential for healthy eyesight. Each of these carotenoids has a significant role in eye health and that are as follows:

β-carotene

β-carotene is present in different dietary products, acts as a pro-vitamin A in our body. This nutritional element assists in vitamin A levels maintenance in blood plasma. Vitamin A is essential for preventing eye dryness and night blindness that can occur in any age group. Lettuce, spinach, kale, carrot, apricots, broccoli, pumpkin, sweet potato are examples of certain fruits and vegetables that contain a sufficient amount of β-carotene. Individuals who have a higher risk to develop lung cancer should avoid excessive intake of β-carotene.

Lutein and zeaxanthin

Lutein and zeaxanthin are two carotenoids collectively referred to as macular pigments. They are primarily present in the retina and lens of the eye. The deficiency of these carotenoids can disturb the normal functioning of the eye. These two nutritional components are carotenoids. But they are not pro-vitamin A. These carotenoids also have antioxidant property decrease the risk of vision impairment. Dietary food items like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, sweet corn, peas, kale, lettuce, spinach are few rich sources of lutein and zeaxanthin.

Omega-3 fatty acids

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are two common omega-3 fatty acids. They have potent anti-inflammatory properties. Both EPA and DHA can effectively reduce the risk of eye diseases and other related visionary disturbances. These two omega-3 fatty acids can prevent oxidative stress and improve vascularization. Omega-three fatty acids assist in proper blood circulation in the retina. 

DHA is one of the primary fatty acids abundantly present in the retina and regulates thickness, permeability, fluidity, lipid-phase properties. Thus, DHA plays a significant role in photoreceptor-membrane functioning. Fish oil supplement is one of the most convenient ways to achieve the required amount of EPA and DHA.

Besides maintaining eye health, both of these omega-3 fatty acids can also prevent cardiovascular diseases. Omega-3 fatty acids have a preventive effect against atherosclerosis.   

Zinc

Zinc is an essential mineral. It can boost immunity and improve the functionality of the natural antioxidant of the body. It reinforces the eye’s functioning by upholding the cell membrane structure. It also has a role in nerve signal transmission, which is essential for sense organ functionality. Multigrain cereals, cooked chicken, yogurt, milk, cheese, corn flakes, cashew nuts, peanuts, and almonds contain an adequate amount of zinc. You should include these items in our daily food consumption list to fulfill the requirement of zinc.

Protein malnutrition is another primary reason for vision impairment, apart from the insufficiency of these micronutrients and bioactive dietary ingredients. Besides leafy green vegetables and colorful fruits, an egg on the plate every day helps to retain strong eyesight. Research evidence supported that the regular intake of sufficient green vegetables and an egg could reduce 18 percent of cataract incidences. This regimen is also highly recommended for growing children and adolescents.

Several dietary supplements are available in the market. But NitaNaturale promotes natural sources for nutrition because of the most cost-effective measures to keep our eyes healthy.

References

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3693724/
• https://jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(15)01183-1/fulltext
• https://www.macularsociety.org/sites/default/files/downloads/Accessible%20Nutrition%20JAN17.pdf
• https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/0911/
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266854432_Certain_Nutrition_Can_Help_Maintain_Vision_and_Eye_Health
• https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/files/Improving_health_worldwide_India.pdf

What is diabetes? 

Diabetes is an abnormal health condition and indicative of a high blood sugar level. Broadly, diabetes is two types- type I and type II. Type – I diabetes occurs due to an immune system attack that damages the pancreatic cell and causes insufficient insulin production.

Type II diabetes is the condition in which the body unable to utilize or produce insulin. However, type II diabetes is not an auto-immune condition. Diabetes can occur at any age.

Apart from these two types, gestational diabetes is common among pregnant women, but after childbirth the disorder usually self-corrected. [2]

Diabetes become a global health concern

Administration of insulin is the primary treatment for type -I diabetes, whereas different conventional hypoglycemic medications prescribe to control type II diabetes. The uncontrolled diabetic condition leads to a variety of health complications, such as foot problems, nerve damage, heart disease, kidney failure, stroke attack, eye disorders, dental problems, etc. The incidence rate of diabetes increases day by day. It is assumed that worldwide 380 million people will be affected by diabetes by 2025. [3] This increasing incidence and diabetes-associated vital organ disorders make this a global health issue.

What are the Herbs and Superfood act as adjuvant therapy in diabetes management? 

Obesity and dyslipidemia are common in type II diabetes and underlying causes of many complications. Following are some herbs and Superfood complement the blood-glucose-lowering effect of hypoglycemic medicines and also control the underlying complications. But I never suggest these can be used as a substitute for conventional diabetic treatment and stop using prescribed medicine without consultation with a doctor.

Cinnamon

The sweet aroma of cinnamon bark is not only a food flavoring spice but can improve glucose utilization in our body and increase insulin secretion. Cinnamon provides an ‘insulin-like’ effect. The bioactive ingredients present in cinnamon able to lower blood sugar level by following way:

• increase cellular utilization of glucose (a type of sugar)
• converts more glucose to glycogen and stored them for future utilization
• reduce the conversion of glycogen to glucose by decreasing the activity of glycogen synthase kinase 3β
• Increases the activity of glucosidase enzymes and thus reduces intestinal absorption of glucose
• regulate the energy level by controlling intestinal enzymatic activity. [4]

Cinnamon can lower blood cholesterol through reducing triglyceride, total cholesterol, and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, whereas it increases HDL (good) cholesterol levels in the blood.

• Cinnamon inhibits hepatic HMG Co-A reductase enzyme and reduces blood cholesterol level
• The antioxidant effect of cinnamon reduces lipid peroxidation and inhibits 5-lipoxygenase enzyme activity in the liver and provides a cholesterol-lowering effect.
• Cinnamon also has lipolytic activity and also promotes phagocytosis (engulf) of LDL cholesterol. [5]

Research result also suggested that cinnamon might effective to manage blood glucose level in pre-diabetic people. [6] If your blood test report showed glucose level is borderline, then I recommend you to add cinnamon in your daily diet as a preventive measure.

The selection of dose is critical and usually depends upon patient conditions like a diagnostic report, body weight, current medication, etc. However, I referred to different clinical studies and found 1 gm of cinnamon powder per day can control blood sugar in diabetic patients within three months. [5] But do not increase intake of cinnamon 6 gm per day to avoid any unpleasant side effects like liver toxicity. [7]

Tips to include cinnamon bark in your daily diet for better diabetes management 

You can add a measured amount of cinnamon powder in oatmeal and muesli as a flavoring agent and also for better diabetes management. Cinnamon aroma enhances the flavor of different sweet confectionery recipes. But if you want to grasp its bioactive property to get optimum health benefits of cinnamon then prepare herbal tea by adding three inches of cinnamon bark in a cup of hot water and close the lid for 10 minutes and enjoy the drink. Cinnamon has a long shelf-life and easily store for 4 to 5 years in an air-tight container. Another useful tip that I want to share with readers is to select the Ceylon variety of cinnamon to get the best treatment outcome.

Fenugreek

I recommend fenugreek seed solution for newly detected diabetic patients to control their glycemia and dyslipidemia conditions.

• Fenugreek contains soluble fibers such as glucomannan fiber restrict sugar absorption in your gut.
• Fenugrecin and trigonelline are two alkaloids present in fenugreek have hypoglycemic effects
• Fenugreek stimulates the pancreas to release insulin due to an amino acid (4 hydroxyisoleucine) present in this herbal ingredient. [8]

Tips to include fenugreek seeds in your daily diet for better diabetes management 

Take 25 mg of fenugreek seeds and add them into a glass of water. Keep it overnight for soaking and drink the solution next morning in an empty stomach. Continue this therapy for one month. But monitor your blood glucose level regularly and maintain a dairy to keep the record of your blood sugar level. A human trial result reported that fenugreek seed solution significantly reduced overall cholesterol levels. [9]

Blueberry

Blueberry is a perfect Superfood for diabetic diet due to the following reasons:

• Blueberry has a low glycemic index and.
• Normalize blood sugar level by reducing insulin resistant
• It also acts against obesity and metabolic disorders. [10]

Tips to include blueberry fruits in your daily diet for better diabetes management 

Patients with type II diabetes can maintain their blood sugar level within a normal limit by adding blueberry in their daily diet. A bowl of blueberry can be a diabetic snake item. You can also mix Acai berries, Cranberries in your Blueberry bowl to make it a colorful and antioxidant-rich diabetic healthy diet to support the vital functioning of your body.

Moringa 

Moringa becomes a more discussed Superfoods nowadays due to its multiple health benefits. One of the significant benefits of this herb is blood glucose maintenance within a normal limit. The glucose tolerance test has proven this benefit of moringa. The phytonutrients present in this Superfood effectively reduce post-prandial hyperglycemia and hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) levels. Moringa exerts an antihyperglycemic effect due to the following reasons:

• Delays the intestinal glucose absorption
• Increases glucose uptake in skeletal muscles and reduces glucose production in the liver by regulating enzymatic activity. [11]

Tips to include Moringa in your daily diet for better diabetes management 

Leaves, seeds, and pods of Moringa have antidiabetic properties. You can add moringa leaves, and fruits in your soup preparation. Moringa powder is available in different organic shops, but you should keep your eyes on the authenticity of the product to avoid any adulteration. You add 500mg moringa powder in green smoothie preparation and drink this healthful appetizer any time a day. But you should monitor blood sugar levels every day to avoid hypoglycemia.

Role of modified lifestyle measures in diabetes management  

Physical activity has a positive role in diabetes management. Brisk walking, aerobic exercise, and swimming are different physical activities diabetic patients can include in their daily life to maintain blood glucose levels. But I recommend yoga should be an integral modified lifestyle measure for the diabetic patient for better management of overall health condition.

The systematic approach of yoga is not only limited to physical health but also influence mental well-being. Yoga can advocate mind-full eating and stress-free life, which are two essential parameters to prevent raising blood glucose levels. [12] The following are significant benefits of yoga in diabetes management:

• Yoga can regulate eating patterns
• Practicing yoga support mind-body connection, which improves self-awareness
• Yoga brings modest weight loss
• Regular yoga practice can significantly reduce both fasting and post-prandial blood sugar. [13]
• Yoga is also an effective diabetes preventive measure.

 How to practice yoga for diabetes management?

I have researched and found the following yoga schedule that can lower down both fasting and post-prandial blood sugar. But you have to follow this schedule regularly. You can observe a noticeable change in the blood test report and health parameters within six months.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4437062/

My aim to include this topic in my blog is to increase general awareness. Not only depend on polypharmacy to control blood glucose labels but bring changes in daily life after reading this blog and help the world to fight against the increasing incidence of diabetes and its complications.

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S175646461930218X
2. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/what-is-diabetes
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358966/
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5220230/
5. https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/26/12/3215
6. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200721102143.htm
7. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijfs/2019/4138534/
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5954247/
9. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jdr/2019/8507453/
10. https://www.foodandnutritionjournal.org/volume6number3/superfoodsrecent-data-on-their-rolein-the-prevention-of-diseases/
11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6950081/
12. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6145966/
13. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4437062/

A flexible parental mindset is the foremost important management to deal with these challenges and to reinforce the holistic development among teenagers. Parents should consider every teenager is a person and has diverse needs. Parents need to recognize and respond to these requirements keeping flexibility in their minds. Both teenagers and their parents jointly participate in different awareness programs to increase their understanding of nutritional, personal, sexual, and environmental health and hygiene. This can help parents to update their knowledge and teenagers can be a better decision-maker to live a healthy life.

Supportive care to deal with physical changes

The physical transition during teenage due to the onset of puberty requires some supportive care to avoid misguided your child from unauthentic sources. [2] During this stage, following parental supportive care require to cope up with the changes:

• Give stress to build self-esteem and confidence to your child so that he/she can positively accept his/her physical changes. Do not compare with others or criticize them.
• Play a positive role model by eating and offering nutritious foods and healthy drinks. Teenagers require a more calorie supply to match the physical demand. Healthy eating habit at this crucial stage of life remains its benefits until their later stage of life.
• Encourage physical activity to burn excess calories and help to keep themselves physically fit. [3] This can help to develop a positive self-image and they also tried hard to become a role model for the society.
• Express parental love by showing respect to their physical space but keep in touch with maintaining an open level communication.
• Allow teens to apply grooming habits and accept their prolonged bathroom time to sustain a sense of control over their developing bodies in their advanced adolescence age.
• Answer sex-related questions honestly but in a knowledgeable way. Show them proper images and educational videos for better understanding by referring to educational websites.

Supportive care to build cognitive development

Your child may not decide their life at their nascent stage but start thinking of their life after reaching their teenage. The concrete thinking operation processing in the brain starts developing after seven years of age and is completed at eleven years. At approximately twelve to fifteen years of age, teenagers developed advanced reasoning skills. Teens usually give priority to their feeling during the thinking process because at this stage brain develops meta-cognition processing. Realistic thinking, logical strategies, memory retainment are the parts of cognitive development during adolescence. [4] These cognitive changes require the following parental supportive care:

• Carefully listen to your teens and show respect to their process to develop a genuine trustworthy relationship.
• Discuss with your teenage boy/girl about their opinion on different behavioral rules. And encourage them to act in a safe environment and deal with the consequences of the reality check.
• Give chance to your teens to take risky actions under your supervision in a fully controlled environment.
• Share your bitter experiences with teens and what you learned from them, so that they may not repeat the history.
• Provide an opportunity for teens and encourage them to participate in community services for their overall development.

Supportive care for psychosocial development

How teens interact with family and friends is an indication of their psychosocial development. Often psychosocial development of teens influenced by peer pressure, as they spend more time with their friends and lesser time with family. Therefore, both acceptable and non-acceptable social skills are developed, and teens practice them in the influence of their peer group. But teens tend to make their long-term decisions related to their education and values in the influence of their parental inspirations. But they used to showcase themselves as a cool guy and want to enjoy life. Their interest frequently changes due to their fickle mind. [4]

Teens have a demand for their own space and privacy. They are more curious about sexuality and want to know how their parents handled this issue, but unable to ask. They start reading different articles and watch the video to get the answers. Often, teens tend to feel they know to become argumentative and start questioning the values and judgments of adults. [4] Therefore, following supportive care help teens to build consistent psychosocial behavior.

• Provide a safe and structured environment where a teen can get the opportunity to create their behavioral guidelines and deal with the consequences. This will help them to become a responsible person for their actions.
• Keep a close watch on friends and associations of your son and daughter. Try to make a friendly relationship with parents or guardians of your child’s friend circles. Discuss your views about them with your daughter or son and aware of them if you don’t feel anything right about their behavior.
• Give enough opportunity to your home, so that teens feel comfortable to chill out.
• Do not forget to praise teens for their efforts, and accomplishments.
• Exhibit your cool acceptance of their physiological growth and development. Like, mother and daughter go for lunch to celebrate her first onset of the menstrual cycle or a father can arrange camping and enjoy it with his son when he starts to shave.
• Helps teenagers to attempt realistic goal and reward their achievements and do not forget to praise them. This helps them to know the requirements to live a healthy and happy life.
• Give your teens importance by listening to them carefully and spending quality time with them.

Different supportive care systems require to deal with behavioral changes that occur during teenage. Parents have to understand the situation from their experiences and provide support to overcome the behavioral challenges their teens faced during their adolescent period.  Parents need to be always calm and showcase their care about their child’s help to avoid developing aggressive behavior among their teenagers at this stage.

References

1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222714094_ISSUES_IN_HOLISTIC_DEVELOPMENT_OF_ADOLESCENTS
2. https://ceufast.com/course/adolescent-holistic-health-issues
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK201497/
4. https://ceufast.com/course/adolescent-holistic-health-issues