The Daily Diabetes Powder - Two Brothers Organic Farms X Luke Coutinho

written by Shanthini Rajkumar

It is rightly said that “Truth is a bitter pill to swallow"! 

To be diagnosed with a condition like diabetes which comes with so many dos and don'ts leaves one feeling like he or she must now compromise on the joys that life has to offer.

To see so many people living a mediocre existence is why we felt the need to bring out a product so unique that everyone who is emotionally crippled by being a diabetic can spread their energies out to live the way they want to, without feeling at a disadvantage.

In reality Diabetes claims lives just as rapidly or leaves debilitating results as does the pandemic we are all facing right now. The only reason that this has grown to such a magnitude is that we have made changes in our lifestyles in the name of development or modernization and failed to consider the impact on our health.

There is no squatting on the floor to hand grind the masala paste or the rice flour batter. In fact everything has been relegated to the press of a button. Even the lights and fans have remote switches which negates the need to walk to the switch board! Increasingly we are turning into a couch potato society, intent on making a great deal of money and in turn paying good money for excellent medical treatments.

The wiser solution would be to make a lifestyle modification which would consist of a balance of the right food, active lifestyle and adequate sleep. An active lifestyle is more than a daily 30 minute workout. It is more important to keep moving throughout the day and not keep sitting for long periods of time. The human body was designed for movement and being sedentary will only lead to stiff joints, less oxygen circulation, excess fat pileup and so on!

Action is needed to be taken to save the current and future generations from falling prey to this ‘lifestyle disease’. The answer is in the form of a special blend of native ingredients which work together to optimize the working of the body. In addition to a daily nutrition plan, critical lifestyle changes, establishing a daily routine, we believe that this spice-herb-berry mix is going to be the perfect support needed to fight Diabetes head on. No one should have to suffer when our daily food can be our medicine!

We have gone into the rich depths of Indian ingredients to select the choicest bark, shoot, root, seed and leaf to put together an army of native warriors which will help combat high blood sugar levels. While doing so these ingredients also simultaneously work their magic on the immune system.

We are NOT calling it a miracle powder!!

To help fight any sedentary lifestyle condition, especially chronic diseases, it is very important to pursue a daily physical workout / fitness routine. To wake up every morning and look at the sky with a euphoric feeling is how we humans are meant to start our day! Instead it is a head full of worries, a list of chores and a resigned sigh of the shoulders that many wear as a heavy mantle to get through days, weeks, months and years! Stress, a feeling of not being or doing enough, making burnout a way of life, are all serious issues we need to address.

Additionally, it is also very important to watch what we eat on a daily basis. With none of this being addressed, this powder cannot be anyone’s magic wand; afterall, this is natural food and not some drastic alchemy of drugs! 

Let’s be this change that our world needs to see (so desperately!). This carefully formulated powder is highly bioavailable, bioactive, and all the ingredients work synergistically with each other. The ingredients in this daily diabetes powder are fenugreek, turmeric, ginger powder, black pepper, amla powder and cinnamon. 

Benefits of Daily Diabetes Powder Listed by Luke Coutinho and his team are as below - 

1. Helps improve glycaemic control and decrease insulin resistance.
2. May help improve cholesterol & triglyceride levels in diabetic patients.
3. Beneficial for prediabetics as it could help balance their blood sugar levels and prevent the onset of diabetes.
4. Supports better absorption of Metformin (diabetes medication) and it's efficacy.
5. Potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
6. May help improve cholesterol & triglyceride levels.
7. May help improve kidney health and could lower the risk of diabetic nephropathy.

We live in an age of information overload. We have theories coming from all corners. But to put things in perspective, it helps to look at the source of your information before deciding whether it is worth your time and money.  We farmers at Two Brothers Organic Farms, are committed to the vision of planet conservation. Everything grown and produced has a deeper meaning and works towards the goal of a healthier India in terms of the food we eat and the soil we protect.

Luke Coutinho is known for his views on holistic living. He reaches out to people on so many platforms to urge them to connect with their roots and help themselves live an optimal life, at any age.

So this “Food growers X Care providers” collaboration is truly for the benefit of those who are looking for health solutions in their kitchens; for wanting to live each day smiling more often, and frowning less!

The ingredients have carefully been chosen based on their impact on gut health and their impact on glycemic levels in the blood.

Fenugreek

Active compounds of fenugreek include soluble fiber, saponins, trigonelle, diosgenin, and 4-hydroxyisoleucine. Hypoglycemic activities have mainly been attributed to dietary fiber and saponin

Soluble fibers in fenugreek including glucomannan fiber delays intestinal absorption of ingested sugars and alkaloids such as fenugrecin and trigonelline and have demonstrated to possess hypoglycemic action, and 4 hydroxyisoleucine (4-OHIle) amino acids act on the pancreas to release insulin

As Indians we are taught from childhood to include methi in our diet. We do so in the forms of fresh leaves and methi seeds are a common finding in our traditional aachaars, temperings and the bitterness grows as an acquired taste. It is a fibre which is easily absorbed into the gastric tract and offers many other benefits as well as decreasing sugar levels. It is an important ingredient in this formula.

Turmeric

The powerful golden spice which is a quintessential part of our Indian households. Whether it is to soothe a sore throat, use it as a poultice for external infections or to add flavour, fragrance and colour to our dishes, it is unthinkable to do without this amazing spice. The reason for it’s vivid yellow colour is due to the presence of the compound curcumin.

Curcumin exhibits potent antidiabetic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties, which will be beneficial in alleviating the complications occurring in diabetes.

Curcumin can help suppress diabetes-stimulated bone resorption by reducing tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase and cathepsin K, which was associated with inhibition of expression of c-fos and c-jun expression.

Helps increase glucose uptake into skeletal muscle. It is mediated by improving the expressions of GLUT4 through the PLC-PI3K pathway and insulin resistance in muscular tissue through the LKB1-AMPK pathway.

Curcumin helps reduce the level of insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) phosphorylation on Ser307 and increases Akt phosphorylation in skeletal muscle.

Ginger powder

Fresh ginger, dried ginger powder and dried whole ginger have been used in medicinal preparations for over 2500 years. Ginger is an ingredient which has ensured its place in the human mind as an ingredient which has multi wellness benefits as a food in our diet. The unmistakable pungent hit of this fibrous rhizome, at the back of the throat, is what endears it to many a food pairing. Ginger and tulsi tea with honey has strong medicinal properties. The delicious mango fajeta comes alive with the addition of the dried ginger powder as does the sukku karupatti (dried ginger flavoured jaggery from south Indian farms). It is no surprise that it is a much revered ingredient in this special herbal formulation.

Volatile oils and non-volatile pungent compounds are the main chemical constituents of ginger rhizome. The volatile oil constituents of ginger are composed of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, mainly zingiberene (35%), curcumene (18%), and farnesene (10%), with a small amount of bisabolene, b-sesquiphellandrene, and monoterpenoid hydrocarbons. The non- volatile pungent contains biologically active components, such as gingerols, shogaols, parasols, and zingerone, which produce a ‘‘hot’’ sensation in the mouth, and are known to have anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, antioxidant, and anti-cancer activities.

Cinnamon powder

The fragrant bark of the Cinnamomum verum genus is the ‘sweet spice’, welcomed for the mellow spice sweetness it adds to both savoury dishes and desserts. This one is an affable spice. It does equal magic with the cacao bean as it shows with the stronger plant based foods like fenugreek, ginger, turmeric and pepper. It releases the aromatic oils on eating and permeates the food molecules with its unmistakable perfume. The cinnamon powder is also greatly valued for its cosmetic benefits, in skin treatments.

As mentioned in the BBC Good Food article, cinnamon offers benefits against type 2 diabetes. ( health-benefits-cinnamon)

Cinnamon has become a natural product of interest because it has been hypothesized to provide health benefits, such as the ability to lower serum lipids and blood glucose. It has been suggested that the modality in which cinnamon expresses its effect on blood glucose can be attributed to its active component cinnamaldehyde. The insulinotropic effects of cinnnamaldehyde have been preliminarily investigated and are thought to be responsible for promoting insulin release, enhancing insulin sensitivity, increasing insulin disposal, and exerting activity in the regulation of protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) and insulin receptor kinase.The consumption of cinnamon is associated with a statistically significant decrease in levels of fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, LDL-C, and triglyceride levels, and an increase in HDL-C levels.

Black pepper

The black gold of spices. Trade routes to Kerala carried tonnes of peppercorns to many continents across the seas. Black pepper even has its own International pepper exchange with headquarters in Kochi. Long before the introduction of chillies into Indian cuisine, the medicinal trinity comprising black pepper, turmeric and ginger were the go to for a great many seasonal maladies and home cures. If we took a bit of time to observe the prashad served at Hindu temples; the black pepper is the spice flavouring that is used a great deal. 

The compound in peppercorns called piperine helps in the absorption of turmeric. No wonder our famous haldi doodh was always topped off with a generous sprinkling of black dust from the spicy peppercorns.

Piperine is known for its bioenhancing property. It helps improve the absorption of Curcumin found in Tumeric. Studies show a significantly better effect of combination of piperine with therapeutic dose of metformin in comparison to metformin alone. Piperine in combination with a subtherapeutic dose of metformin also showed better effect than therapeutic dose of metformin. Piperine, thus shows potential to be used as a bioenhancer in combination with metformin.

Amla powder

The Indian gooseberry, rich in Vitamin C is the food that transitions across seasons from summer into the monsoons. The sour juices which rise up to fill the mouth after the first crunch turn into a milder tang before leaving that all too familiar sweet aftertaste. Try a sip of water immediately after and the sweetness on the tongue is such a fascination. No matter how many times one experiences it, the amla eating still manages to elicit a child-like wonder while eating it. Add a bit of powdered rock salt and red chilli powder to the next nibble and it is hard to stop with one.

It is known to enhance kidney and liver health which has a link to insulin production and thereby aids in the prevention of diabetes.

Amla and/or some of its important constituents (including gallic acid, gallotanin, ellagic acid and corilagin), possess anti- diabetic effects through their antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties.

Source of above stated information as established by research  - 

• Role of Fenugreek in the prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus in prediabetes

• A simple dietary addition of fenugreek seed leads to the reduction in blood glucose levels

• Effect of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) intake on glycemia

• Effect of Trigonella foenum-graecum (fenugreek) seeds on glycaemic control and insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus

• Diosgenin, 4-Hydroxyisoleucine, and Fiber from Fenugreek: Mechanisms of Actions and Potential Effects on Metabolic Syndrome

• Efficacy of Turmeric as Adjuvant Therapy in Type 2 Diabetic Patients\

• Curcumin and Diabetes

• The effect of ginger powder supplementation on insulin resistance and glycemic indices in patients with type 2 diabetes

• The Effects of Ginger on Fasting Blood Sugar, Hemoglobin A1c, Apolipoprotein B, Apolipoprotein A-I and Malondialdehyde in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

• Cinnamon Use in Type 2 Diabetes

• Bio-enhancing Effect of Piperine with Metformin

• Effect of Amla fruit (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) on blood glucose and lipid profile of normal subjects and type 2 diabetic patients

Now that we have made ourselves more familiar with the array of foods which will fight to save our body from ills, it is easier to understand how the combined force of these powerful ingredients will do a great deal of good in controlling the sugar levels in the blood.

The packaging too reflects that very sentiment. All the many elements for this powder have been lovingly grown and prepared by the tireless hands of our farmer folk and with blessings of nature to help us revisit some of our age old traditional foods as functional medicine. The ease and convenience this powder offers makes it simple to include everyday even if one is on the move.

A product like this is currently not available in the market and it was time we put our heads together for a solution. It is by no means an alternative to medical treatment prescribed by the physician but rather a support system to help control blood glucose or even make the medicines effective in their action.

Let’s accept the bitterness and enjoy the sweet moments we cherish everyday. The glory of a sunrise need not be diminished for anything should it? Add a spoonful to your glass of water and sip it with the thought of self care. Caring for one’s self is the greatest motivator to stay on the wellness path.