Eating too much sweet things, lack of exercise, or genetics is the most commonly referred causes for diabetes theses days. But there are even more original causes that lead to diabetes. It's like why pathogens come and cause diseases. If there is more than average level of waste materials in our bodies, pathogens come to clean the wastes.

Diabetes is called "消渴(So-kal)" in Korean Medicine. It comes from lack of Eum Ki in the body. Eum Ki functions to reserve Yang Ki. Lack of Eum Ki leads to discharging of sugar, a kind of Yang Ki, without storing it. Administration of insulin enables storing of sugar possible immediately, but the problem lies in that the body has already lost the ability to produce insulin, which also indicates that there is a problem in storing Yang Ki. When there's diabetes, it means that the body has much more Yang and it has lost the ability to go back to Eum. So, the treatment too should be for enhancing Eum Ki, like enabling the spring to shrink back.

Let's take an easy example. If you pull a spring and then let go, it curls back. But when you pull it with power over the limits, it won't shrink back. The same applies to the relationship of Eum and Yang within our bodies. Our bodies are in the state of dynamic equilibrium of Eum-Yang.

Actually, discharge of too much sugar can be seen as an effort to prevent our body tilting toward Yang from too much sugar. Administration of insulin blocks this effort. Since "消渴(So-kal)" has only Yang, quelling the Fire in mind, eating food with lighter tastes and being abstinent is the best treatment.

Let's look at it in a Five Phases' point of view. Soil is rich both in Ki and Blood. The premier Fire has to come and help Soil to ignite, the process of which is enhanced by exercises. It is only when Metal comes into Soil that Essence and waste materials are separated. Shortage of exercises or overuse of antibiotics lowers the level of Metal Ki, thus leading to difficulties in igniting Soil. Developing protuberant bellies indicate that Soil has failed to move to Metal. Metal Ki can be enriched by Ki-gong or using products made of jade, gold, or silver.