Green Tea for Type II Diabetes
Diabetes is a highly complex disorder that, while it can be partially attributed to genetic proclivities, depends primarily on lifestyle choices. An unbalanced diet high in sugar and nutritionally inferior processed foods (which are full of sugar) combined with a sedentary life are two of the most common contributing factors leading to the development of Diabetes.
In response to the metabolizing of sugar, the pancreas secretes the enzyme insulin along with other pancreatic digestive juices to transport glucose into individual cells throughout the body to be burned (body heat). Insulin is needed because with the exception of the brain and liver most organs and tissue cannot absorb glucose on their own. In the process water and carbon dioxide are created, but the cell is also capable of trapping energy through a chemical process. This energy is a reserve. When blood sugar volumes spike, as they do after eating say a candy bar, the pancreas must secrete an ample amount of insulin to “shuttle” the glucose into cells—glucose is a sticky and gummy substance that can do damage to arteries when it reacts adversely to other chemicals in the bloodstream or clings to proteins and fats. As the brain, liver, and muscles cells fill up on glucose, insulin has no other choice but to force excess glucose in the blood into fat cells for storage as a means to protect the body, hence the correlation between obesity and Diabetes.
Periodic elevated levels of insulin are natural and necessary to assimilate glucose energy from food to be used for growth and repair, but because of the nature of the insulin hormone, cells become less and less responsive to it as a transporter the more it is present. Age and insulin resistance are synonymous with each other. As the body becomes less efficient at metabolizing lipids and amino acids a whole host of problems begin to arise. A high sugar diet increases the rate at which your body becomes resistant to insulin among other things. In the gestation period of Diabetes patients’ blood insulin levels are often times elevated. In severe cases a state of starvation has been observed where patients are so resistant to insulin they can eat but not receive any energy to process nutrients or maintain biological function. Without nutrition the body dies.
Green Tea has been shown to inhibit the enzyme amylase produced and secreted by the salivary glands and pancreas for the digestion of starches. This slows the rate at which the sugar contained in starches is metabolized and released into the bloodstream. Less insulin is required to shuttle glucose because there is less glucose in the blood, thus insulin resistance is curbed. Drinking liquids also creates a feeling of satiety. Green Tea adds to this by relaxing the muscles of the stomach and intestines thus slowing down the physical movement of food. In this way calorie restriction or fasting is mimicked. Drinking Green Tea has also demonstrated the ability to prevent metabolism and absorption of triglycerides through the digestive tract. These are the fatty substances that accumulate as adipose tissue (unsightly fat), clog up arteries, and like cholesterol can react adversely with oxygen in the bloodstream. Components of Green Tea act like fat grabbers, passing the undesirable fats through the digestive tract and out the colon.
Exercise is an important factor for the Diabetic as it increases muscle sensitivity to insulin and burns fat resultant of poor assimilation of glucose in the process. Exercise also lowers the level of fasting or stored amounts of glucose. Small amounts of caffeine have shown to increase the rate of fat metabolism. Tea contains caffeine in lower doses than coffee. It should also be noted here that the body will not metabolize lipids and amino acids when insulin is present as it turns this function of the liver off. Glucagon, another enzyme produced by the pancreas, is needed by the liver to convert amino acids found in protein and fat into glucose to be burned immediately. Problems associated with obesity often apply to diabetics who more rapidly accumulate fat because of high insulin levels. They are short on energy because their body cannot metabolize amino acids and lipids as an energy source in the presence of insulin so they turn to sugary foods which supply a small boost but also increase insulin production and fat storage so the cycle continues. It is thought that Green Tea may also play a role in the delivery of glucose to muscle cells thereby decreasing the overall need for insulin in the body. It seems that by imitating certain hormones in the body, chemicals found in Green Tea mollify the harsh effects of the body’s catabolic processes necessary for life that lead to age related disease.
Anti-oxidants found in Green Tea scavenge the free radicals created from metabolic function as well as respiration. These free radicals react with oxygen and other air traveling molecules and toxins causing cell damage and permutations of the DNA structure that lead to cancer, heart disease, and organ failure. These same anti-oxidants inhibit the free radicals that are released when existing body fat is utilized for energy.
Diabetics are often subject to high blood pressure and nervous disorders because of the state of hormonal imbalance. The anti-oxidant polyphenols in Green Tea deactivate the free radicals that react with LDL cholesterols in the bloodstream that can contribute to atherosclerosis, heart attack, and stroke. Because of Green Tea’s ability to stimulate metabolism, improve circulation (intercellular exchange), and boost the immune system it leaves more energy and blood for use by the brain. Tea has been noted for centuries for its stimulating but paradoxically relaxing effects on the mind and body. Lowered levels of stress, be they internal or external, are highly important for the Diabetic to maintain as their physiological system is already under enough strain. Stress triggers the release of adrenaline which raises blood sugar. Green Tea also protects brain cells and neurons from damage caused by lipid peroxidation in the nervous system and oxidation of glucose.
Green Tea is not a cure for Diabetes but a natural gift for restoring balance in the human system and removing unwanted toxins accumulated from the internalizing of the environment.