diet

[ozark]

my mom 78yo was dx with diabetes last wk (bld sugar 257)only symptom was tired and dry mouth..she prob had it for a while.she would eat candy and her diet was sporadic, apetitie down,,,.her dr wants her to try diet first...her sugars this past week, fasting, run about 180-240...she has stopped all sugars, is eating better, 3 meals a day, wheat breads, salad/vegs/fruit uses sugar free sodas and occass has had sugar free cookies....todays fbs was 288..I'm not sure what caused it...nothing i could see in her diet....i'm looking to find out where i can obtain a listing of foods to avoid and foods to eat....all i find is diet plans, how many grams of what is in it etc... all i really want is for her to have a list of the foods she can have without fearing her sugar will go up, snacks she can have or not have etc...at  her age its hard for her to figure out  calories, grams, exchange groups and all that...I will be speaking to her dr this week cos he may want her on orals, but for now, any help would be appreciated.  thank you

[JDRF-Team-jhg]

Hello ozark.  thanks so much for coming to this forum in search of answers for you.  While I may be able to shed some light on the whole food thing for you, this forum focuses on type 1 diabetes and not type 2.

One of the things you stated is that your mother had stopped all sugars and was eating three meals a day consisting of wheat breads, salads, veggies and fruit and some sugar free cookies.  You are puzzled why her blood sugars are not dropping even though she's eating this way.  The problem is (and most people don't realize this!) that many foods contain carbohydrates and when consumed they turn into sugar in the body.  And while not being a good nutritional choice, the body doesn't distinguish between a candy bar or a piece of fruit.  I suggest you ask your mother's doctor (hopefully she's seeing an endocrinologist ~ someone who specializes in diabetes) if they have a nutritionist who can explain to you what carbohydrates are.  And don't be fooled by sugar free food items ~ they may be sugar free, however they are probably NOT carbohydrate free and that's the important ingredient for both type 1's and type 2's.

As far as "free foods", veggies (other than corn or potatoes), cheeses, peanut butter, meats are some foods that are free of carbs and can be eaten freely as long as they aren't heavy in calories and fat.  Again, a nutritionist can spell all this out for you so that both you and your mother understand  how various foods will effect her glucose levels.

I can suggest two sites where you can get carbohydrate information on just about any food out there, fresh, pkged, even fast food and other major restaurant food items.  They are:

www.nutritiondata.com   and www.calorieking.com

Also, a great source of information on diabetes management for type 2's is the American Diabetes Assoc. website at:

www.diabetes.org

I hope you find this information helpful ~ my best advice is to work with your mom's doc to get the answers and treatment you need for your mom.  Best of luck,

[ozark]

thank you for your response....sorry i didnt realize that it was a type 1 forum.......i appreciate it

[TonyAlmeida]

Believe me - as a Type 1 I had the same questions about a Diabetic Diet and for the most part - Food Exchanges just confused me because they overly complicated something simple.  Type 1 or Type 2 or Type 1.5 - we all have the same meal planning problem.  Unfortunately - there is no "list" of safe foods.  You have to make your own.  BUT - it's not so hard.

The trick is to look at Nutritional Labels on food products.  99% of everything has it.  There's no way around it - you have to do it and understand what it's telling you.  Otherwise - you'll never win the glucose control battle.

The "Key" is where it lists how many grams of Carbohydrates a product contains and how much sugar.

The rule of thumb - if the product is obviously high in sugar, forget it and leave it on the grocery store shelf.  If the sugar content is low but it still has 15 or more Carbohydrates listed on the Nutritional Panel, it will raise your blood sugar.  (How much depends how much you eat of the product and how insulin intolerant the Type 2 person is).  Anything under 15 Carbs, is more or less a freebie that won't tend to hurt you as long as you don't eat more than the recommended serving.

Unfortunately - there's not a whole lot out there that is in the "freebie" or "worryfree" category - unless you like eating greenbeans all the time.

Sugar Free doesn't necessarily mean Carb Free either ..... I've seen a lot of items marked as Sugar Free that are Extremely High in Carbs that will convert into sugar once eaten and spike the glucose level.  Sugar Free also doesn't mean Fat Free either.

Look for products that use SPLENDA - a sugar substitute that tatstes like sugar but doesn't have a nasty aftertaste like Apstertame (NutriSweet) or is sickening sweet like Sorbitol.  However - remember to check the Carbohydrate number.

Fruit Juices like Ocean Spray's "LITE" line of juices should be okay.

In this subject area - you can keep asking questions ....

[jdrf team dm]

Dear ozark,
Please don't apologise for conacting us, even if this is mainly a type 1 diabetes forum. When it comes to nutrition issues, the diet is basically the same. Jdrf team jhg is correct and I do hope your mother is seeing an endo and a nutritionist. They can be your mom's best chance to stablize her blood sugars. Let us know how she is doing.
Best Wishes,

dm

[ozark]

thank you for your answers...it has been very helpful......I hope all you do well!