•     Never allow a baby to be given sugar water. It is better to give him or her the breast, or water if absolutely necessary. This will correct any low blood sugar condition naturally.

•     Give a diet rich in complex, unrefined carbohydrates, low in fat and high in fibre, right from weaning off the breast.

•     If you are middle-aged and overweight, and therefore at risk regarding Type 2 diabetes, eat in the way outlined above and lose weight slowly but evenly. If you already have the disease, the diet may mean that you could come off all your drugs, and will also prevent further complications of diabetes occurring.

•     Take brewer’s yeast daily if you have a family history of diabetes or if you are diabetic.

•     Eat foods rich in the following:

1. Vitamin A-diabetics are especially susceptible to infections and this vitamin helps fight them.

2. Vitamin B1-increases insulin production and helps prevent diabetic nerve troubles developing.

3. Vitamin B2~ especially good for diabetics who have difficulty controlling their condition with drugs and diet.

4. Vitamin B3-insulin-dependent diabetics have a particular need for this vitamin. It prevents swings in blood sugar in Type 1 diabetics. Vitamin B3 is also an important part of the glucose-tolerance factor (see above).

5. Vitamin B6- can become low in diabetics because they lose so much in their large volumes of urine. Studies have found that diabetics often have a shortage of B6 in their blood.

6. Choline and inositol – are B-vitamins that affect fat metabolism. It has been proposed that the large, fatty liver of the diabetic is caused by the urinary loss of these vitamins. They are also useful in controlling high blood pressure and liver and gall-bladder activity, and are of great importance in diabetics.

7. Vitamin Ñ-usually low in diabetics. The therapeutic effect of insulin is increased when this vitamin is taken, and the side-effects of several drugs (including aspirin) can be reduced by taking it. Diabetics often suffer a heavy toll of infections, and vitamin Ñ is of proven value in combating infections. A daily dose of 1-2 g is not at all excessive, especially as this water-soluble vitamin is lost in the urine of diabetics in greater amounts than in normal people.

8. Magnesium-six out of the nine enzymes involved in sugar metabolism need magnesium, and a deficiency of magnesium is found in diabetic ketosis. There is also evidence linking diabetic eye disease to magnesium deficiency.

9. Manganese-diabetics have only half the manganese in their blood that healthy people have. This element is vital for insulin metabolism and the stabilization of many vitamins, including vitamin C.

10. Zinc-is one of the many substances that diabetics lose in their copious urine. Zinc is added to insulin to prolong its action. As long ago as 1938 it was found that the pancreatic tissue of diabetics contained less than 50 per cent of the zinc in the tissue of healthy control subjects.

•    Don’t smoke. This is exceptionally harmful for diabetics because it reduces vitamin Ñ by 25 mg per cigarette; releases adrenaline, which increases blood-sugar levels; and narrows the diabetic’s already damaged arteries.

•    Drink very little alcohol. Beware of these drinks containing large amounts of sugar     (Martini, brandies, liqueurs, champagne, beer and sweet wines).

•     Cut down on coffee and tea. They both stimulate the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline which, in turn, raises blood sugar.

•     Use sucrose alternatives such as fructose, sorbitol, manitol and xylitol.

•     Eat less salt. This is especially harmful to diabetics given their particular liability to develop kidney and eye problems and high blood pressure.

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