Tending to your life energy through the years

What is age, actually?

Much more significant for health is celebrating the rhythm of life, having a healthy relationship to your biographical seven-year cycle (1-7; 7-14; 14-21; 21-28, etc), your sleeping and waking patterns, connecting with nature and nurturing your inner core. A healthy balance between your own time and community living is important too.

All of these impact on your energy body. For example, at the end of the first seven years, you lose your milk teeth and also the protection of your mother’s own immune shield (especially if you have been breast-fed). By fourteen, you have a changed body form, with the odd pimple suddenly showing itself and a voice change from an angelic piping to the expression of your emerging individuality.

The changes in the later cycles may not be as obvious physically but there is a shift every seven years as we mature. If we don’t consider the significance of these subtle changes, spiritually and physically, then we just grow old. If we do acknowledge and respond to these subtle changes we grow ‘up’ to where we came from and we can die healthy.¹

Can we enhance our immune response system?

When we don’t feel well, we usually say, “Something is wrong with me.” or “What’s wrong with you?” The conventional approach is to reach for pharmaceutical help. One could also recognise this dis-ease as a messenger that something is out of balance. How you view it is entirely up to you.

Although this is your journey, especially in the case of diabetes, most people around you have an opinion on how you could, should or must change your life, even if they don’t tell you to your face. The vibe is palpable; the concern is written in their voices. This is completely understandable on a physical level because those close to you are affected by the way you view and deal with your situation. No one likes to experience their loved one in a coma, or at the mercy of mood swings resulting from fluctuating blood glucose. Besides adhering to your medication prescribed, there are things you can do to enhance your immune system and lower the rate of complications.

Nurturing through nature

Sue Visser is a well-respected health writer and produces an effective range, Nature Fresh, found in local pharmacies and health shops. I asked her whether she had anything she could say about diabetes management. Turns out that she has a lot to say.

Did you know, for example, that metformin is based on the molecular components of the plant, French Lilac and Goat’s Rue? And, besides being a tried and trusted drug used to treat insulin resistance, it was originally developed to fight the flu in the 1920s?

Even more topical during this time of COVID, is her report on the benefits of metformin which has demonstrated the potential to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 infection directly. A comparative reduction in the rate of mortality in diabetic patients on metformin with severe SARS-CoV-2 has been observed according to four hospital studies that show lower instances of death in their patients who take metformin.²

A tip Sue offered is to check and treat depleted magnesium levels, especially when diagnosed with diabetes prior to prescribed treatment.

Baobab powder

Sarah Venter worked as a Forestry Scientist for the Department of Forestry in Limpopo. One day while driving through the northern rural areas of Limpopo, where baobabs grow, she noticed that the baobab fruit was just rotting under the trees. This led her to do a PhD study on baobab fruit.

The excitement around her research led her to start a successful and sustainable enterprise, EcoProducts, involving the local villagers. Situated in Limpopo province, it employs up to 50 people in the processing of the fruit and over 800 helpers for harvesting. Together they create BaoActive, a pure baobab powder which is gluten free, suitable for vegans, and has been certified Halal and Kosher.

Baobab powder is naturally rich in vitamin C, vital for the support of the immune system, boosting defence against disease and infection.³ It has both high soluble and insoluble dietary fibre content. Soluble dietary fibres stimulate the growth of intestinal microflora allowing the more effective absorption of nutrients from food. The insoluble fibre provides the roughage necessary for the movement of food through the gastrointestinal tract. Being rich in polyphenols, baobab powder has a stabilising effect on blood glucose, especially when consuming high-starch foods, such as bread and pap.⁴ An exciting research paper is rewarding reading: “The polyphenol-rich baobab fruit reduces starch digestion and glycaemic response in humans.”

Bon Voyage!

It’s the persistent pursuit of small changes in lifestyle that leads to surprising and significant results. And this is the goal of Agents for Change. We all know what lies at the end of our road; let us arrive healthy and positive and looking forward to the inevitable next step.