Diabetes Food Issues And The Family

Food issues are one of the most crucial issues a family must deal with once a person is diagnosed with diabetes...

(This article can be used to help explain diabetes and food issues to your family and friends.  You many want to print it so it can be read by others in your family.  Also, reading a paragraph or two each day might be a good way to get through this article.)

Having a diabetic loved one in your life means that food becomes an important part of the relationship, if you dine with your diabetic loved one.  Since food is important to a diabetic's life minute-to-minute, it can be a main issue of friction and misunderstanding at times.  There are a few tips you can learn to help keep the friction to a minimum.

If you plan to serve dinner at a certain time try to stick to that agreed upon time.  If your diabetic loved one takes insulin injections they are using your "serving time" to calculate when they should take their insulin injections.  Insulin "peaks" at a certain time so planning is key to good diabetes control.  If a change is made to the time you'll be serving dinner call your diabetic friends and make sure they know.  They can then change the time they will take their insulin injection and/or take their oral medication, if possible.  If a change is not made a person with diabetes can have a hypoglycemic reaction (insulin/low blood sugar reaction) which can be dangerous and lead to unconsciousness, and death if it goes untreated.

Sue says, "Back when I was first married and people still gave dinner parties, I would laugh when somebody would ask if there was something I couldn't eat, then say, "We'll be eating around seven."

Pam, the mother of a diabetic child says, "We just give our daughter th dinner injection early if necessary and adjust later. My daughter receives 3 injections a day which gives us flexibility."

Don't be offended if your loved ones with diabetes turn down a food offer.  A person with diabetes has to control the amount of food they eat.  Eating one piece of "anything" can make their blood sugars go up.  So if you've spent the last eight hours baking that apple pie and your loved one says, "No thank you.", don't get upset.  It may just be that they don't want their blood sugar going high later on in the day.  Having blood sugar that's too high over a period of time can send a person with diabetes to the hospital where they will need emergency treatment to get their blood sugars down closer to a normal level.

Kirk says, "When I am faced with a food pusher, usually my wife asking me to "share" another piece of cake, I just tell her,...if I do it will give us something to talk about when I need my next injection!, or worse, waiting for dialysis to finish. That always gets the point across!"

Try not to push food on your diabetic loved one.  If they're following a meal plan they are allowed a certain amount of food (calories, carbohydrates, fat grams, protein) for the day.  Eating your "treat" may make them go off their plan.  It may be hurting them to have to tell you, "No thank you." just as much as it hurts you when they turn down your food offer.

Pat has dealt with a family member who regularly brings sweets over to share with him and his wife,  "My mother-in-law brings sweets every time she enters the house.  This has been a habit for the 26 years that my wife and I have been married.  Both of us are overweight.  My mother-in-law would then proceed to harp about how we would sit and eat sweets, but would not lose weight.  Of course, if we didn't eat  the sweets with her, she would then nag about not appreciating her "gifts of the oven."  We finally settled on a course of action where we would eat a little of the stuff while Mom was there, then dispose of the rest of it after she left.  Now, I flat tell her that I can't eat any sugar, and very recently I asker her why she was so set on killing me before she died.  This did set in motion a period of a week or so without communications with her and a  slightly chilly home
life.  However, I overcame the chill at home by asking my wife if she wanted me to quit insulin and diet and keep peace with her mother, or if she wanted me around for a while longer.  She chose me.  But this episode did not stop Mom from bringing cookies (my favorite kind -- peanut butter!) the next time she came over.  She said she made them to apologize for bringing the other stuff!  She is 78, but she is very clear minded about everything else."

Michel recalls, "Nowadays, when I explain I am not (usually) allowed sweets, they say such things as, "it won't hurt you to make a little exception for the lovely cake I have made, just this once." As a matter of fact, I am sure most people feel guilty that they can have the 'mmm, mmm' food and you cannot and hence try to make up for it."

People with diabetes CAN eat most foods, but they have to watch their portions.  So yes, your friend or loved one may be able to eat a piece of apple pie, it may be only a quarter of a piece but it can be eaten.  That's IF they have worked it into their meal plan for the day.

Mary shares, " People are surprised if I take a little piece of dessert or something that they think I shouldn't have. Then I tell them that I anticipated the situation and figured it into my daily food plan.   Usually the 'food pushers' are ones who are not aware of my diabetes.  All I have to do is say  'Thanks, I'd love another helping but I'm diabetic. I have to be  careful how much I eat.'  Then they are very concerned, ask how I'm  feeling, etc. etc. At a potluck meal I  had one friend who brought a  'regular' strawberry pie. She also brought plain, unsugared strawberries  and some fat free frozen yogurt for me. (She's sweet, no sugar added.)  It was interesting that 3-4 others (out of 12 there) wanted what I was having.  Some of us 50-ish folk, even non- diabetics, are realizing that healthy eating can be good."

People with diabetes must be extremely careful about food intake.  Insulin isn't a "cure" that gives them opportunities to eat all they want so they must make prudent decisions about what they eat.  Any wrong decisions can lead to a low blood sugar reaction or to high blood sugar, both of which are undesirable.

Michel remembers a few years ago when he was a vegetarian, "People always reacted to my explanation with "you poor Darling, that must be awful, not to eat meat", and then they would explain that I was sure to suffer from a protein deficiency syndrome.

These are just a few things you can do to make your relationship with a person with diabetes more enjoyable for both you and your loved one/ friend.
 
 

*EXTRA*

Here is a somewhat humorous look at what you might want to stay away from when you're around your diabetic loved one. Do you recognize yourself in any of these individuals?  This is based on the writings of Douglas Roberts:

Diet Police: This person self-appointed guardians of a diabetic person.  Their mission is to question even the tiniest morsel of food that a person with diabetes places in their mouth.  Their most common quote is: "Are you SURE that you can have that?", accompanied with a furrowed brown and disapproving glare.

Diet Parole Officer - This person derives pleasure from tempting a diabetic person with foods they're not supposed to have.  This person's most common quotes are: "Just this once won't hurt you", or, "Just take a little piece."

The Gloater - This persons make an elaborate show of enjoying food they know a person with diabetes can't add to their meal plan.  They make audible noise of culinary enjoyment and make sure the person with diabetes can see and hear them clearly.  This person's most common quote is: "This triple chocolate cream cake is wonderful, too bad it's not on your diet."