Over 150,000 diabetic-related amputations are performed in the USA each year. Amputation rates for people with diabetes were twice as high in low-income as in high-income neighborhoods in California in a new study. Mindful Meditation for Diabetes
A pilot-study for veterans using meditation showed significant improvements in stress perception, diabetes-related distress and coping mechanisms for chronic disease. Hemoglobin A1c levels dropped from 8.3% to 7.3% after three short months.
Stress and negative emotions do interfere with diabetes management. 125 VA centers provide complimentary and alternative medicine or refer to alternative medicine providers for pain control and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The pilot study intervention was 90 minutes long, included a group discussion and gave training in mediation practices with an intervention for home practice. "Mindfulness involves observing and noticing thoughts and emotions, describing your feelings, acting with awareness of your activities in the present moment, not judging yourself or others, and not reacting to those thoughts and feelings."
Vegan diet for Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy
Eat your vegetables for real. Patients with Type II diabetes and diabetic neuropathy who followed a vegan diet and used B12 supplementation had greater pain score improvement than those who only got B12. In an earlier study 81% of the participants who had Type II diabetes and followed a low fat high-fiber vegan diet for one month had complete pain relief and lost 11 pounds on average. They reduced their diabetic and blood pressure medications.
Half of all Type II diabetics get diabetic neuropathy and modern medicine does not offer any solutions. I prescribe alpha-lipoic acid and blood sugar regulation nutraceuticals along with dietary changes. I emphasize daily exercise. We keep B12 injections in stock.
All of the studies I've seen about nuts are positive. They improve blood glucose control, lower LDL and triglycerides, raise HDL and lower blood pressure. Tree nuts have been well studied to show that we should be nuts about nuts. You can replace carbs with tree nuts.
Changing your diet is more important than ever before because 32 million people in the USA or 9% of the total population now has diabetes and 1 in 4 don't know it. I test every patient with five different tests to determine blood sugar status.
Don't be a statistic. Book an appointment and prevent diabetes. 
