Jinja: In 2017 Tabalo Simon, 45, of Butiiki, Kaitabawala in Jinja was diagnosed with diabetes. A market vendor plying his trade in Jinja Central Market, he has been living with the disease since. After unsuccessfully trying all sorts of treatment as prescribed at Jinja Hospital, he gave in and allowed that fate had condemned him to live off a needle.
But then a friend, he says, recommended to him herbal medicine and life looked south.
“I was 87kgs before being diagnosed then when I started treatment, I lost weight up to 68kgs. When I changed my diet and started using herb medicine, I regained about 78kgs and am okay with that. I also see a great change and I don’t have any other complications,” he said.
He added, “By the time I resorted to herbal medicine, I was tired of the side effects the drugs I had been condemned to were giving me. I was tired of the tablets, yet I had spent a lot of money for my treatment and my situation was not changing.”
Now back to a healthy weight, Tabalo is also happy to say that the most important thing for diabetic patients is to change their diet and avoid eating foods that may trigger their conditions. Diabetes is a condition that arises when an individual can no longer control their blood sugars and the sugars or glucose levels are spiked so high in the blood.
Diabetes is classified in two types that is diabetes Type 1 in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin and it’s a genetic predisposition. Its signs and symptoms are constant thirst, over sweating, over urinating, constant tiredness, loss of weight and muscles, loss of energy and that if not treated properly can lead to kidney failure, eye failure, sores and eye diseases. It can be treated by injecting insulin which is also called insulin dependent diabetes.
Then there is type 2 diabetes which comes from what people consume and it’s caused by too much starch, carbohydrates which when broken down produces glucose which includes rice, maize products, wheat products like spaghetti, chapatis, bread and pastries then potatoes, cassava and millet.
The symptoms are almost the same as in type one which are over sweating, constant hunger, muscle wasting, constant urination, loss of weight, backache, and muscle aches, poor eye sights, and the body becomes paralyzed.
Doctor Kizito Patrick, a wellness expert at Miracle wellness Center says that once doctors help diabetic patients to know how to eat, to know the chunks of carbohydrates they are supposed to eat, how many times they should eat a day, the then type 2 diabetes can easily be handled using diet.
“The treatments for the two types are different because we said in type 2 it is caused by constant indulging in too much carbohydrate. Therefore, it can be reversed once the individual gets proper nutrition guidance and follows the regimen,” he said.
