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So my sister has been type 1 (or I guess it is type 3 now) for around a year after having her pancreas removed due to tumors.
To give you some history - my sister is a long time hater of vegetables, though she has improved some in recent years. She is a pretty picky eater. She doesn't like to cook. She gets a lot of convenience food - frozen dinners, frozen meals, granola bars, cheese, processed meats.......
She just got some labs back, and her AIC is 8.1. She is permanently insulin dependent with her diagnosis, but I worry she isn't managing things well.
She was very concerned with keeping the weight off she lost post surgery, but she hasn't modified her eating habits much. She is just eating different snacks (replacing sweets with cheese and salami since they are lower carb). She is also still learning to manage her insulin and alcohol consumption.
I know there is a learning curve on getting things right, but my sister isn't eating very well. I worry about the longer term impacts of her poor diet.
Typical day for her is: granola bar for breakfast, salami or nuts for a snack, frozen dinner (or fast food) for lunch, granola bar for a snack, frozen meal for dinner. She might add a salad to the list as well - typically mostly lettuce and not much else.
Obviously she isn't getting enough produce or fiber.
Any tips on how to help her kickstart a diet change? A few years ago she saw a nutritionist who gave her recipes, cooking lessons and the output of that was she did eat more vegetables. While now she will eat some if they are given to her, she doesn't actively seek them.
I know it's frustrating, but it just doesn't sound like she wants to change.
Unfortunately, unhealthy food in America is the norm and in your face all the time, so that doesn't help.
I think the best way to eat healthy is to be around other people who eat healthy. I have a friend who lost 60 lbs and kept it off by going to Overeaters Anonymous. That was more than 10 years ago. She's still kept the weight off and she still goes to meetings. Even when she lived overseas and there wasn't a local chapter, she would go to meetings via Skype online. Bottom line though, is she really wanted to change.
There are some we just can't get to. I tried so hard to help my sister with her MS battle and she's gone now...another story, but a couple yrs ago I just had to back off. Some will say "it's none of our business" but we want to try to help our loved ones, but it doesn't always work...hardly ever works.
We can't change others, offer support etc but can't do their work.
You want to hope they wake up. j
Maybe you can help her find substitutes for a few things, like the granola bars. Since she eats two of them a day, suggest that she substitute something like a boiled egg (or two) for the granola bars. That would take some carbs off the table every day.
Instead of a frozen dinner or fast food for lunch and dinner, suggest a low-carb wheat wrap (the ones I use are Tumaros 4 net carb wraps) filled up with crunchy mixed vegetables, toss in a couple dried cranberries for taste.
If you can help her find low-carb substitutes for her meals/snacks, that can help get her A1c down. It seems overwhelming to change your diet, but if you do it one snack at a time, and one meal at a time, it's much easier.
To me an a1c of 8.1 doesn't sound that bad for someone who's relatively new to all of this.
With type one diabetes, it isn't so much what one eats that's important, but rather how well they manage counting carbohydrates and dosing themselves with the proper amount of insulin.
A lower aic is a good goal, but with that usually comes more low blood sugar episodes. It can be a scary and sometimes dangerous balancing act.
To me it sounds like she's on the right track. As other's have said, a healthier diet is good for everyone, and it is good to encourage that. Contrary to most people's beliefs though, a low carb and/or healthy diet won't usually have much effect on a type one's a1c numbers.
"Low-carbohydrate diets can be very beneficial for people with type 1 diabetes. Reducing carbohydrate intake can help to largely eliminate the spikes and crashes in sugar levels that are common on higher carb diets."
Brutal Truth: 5- year survival rate after a Whipple Procedure is only 5%.
It takes 20 yrs for high bs to kill you; 20 seconds for lo bs to kill you. Better to aim too high than too low.
Hi bs causes accelerated arteriosclerosis over the course of decades. The only short term problems it causes are hyperosmolar effects that are easily prevented by drinking enough fluids.
The digestive problems she's experiencing after a Whipple's will give her more problems with mal- nutrition and resultant health problems than any diabetic problems she may encounter in the next few years.
Don't torture her with useless attention to diet that has a bigger risk of making her worse than improving her condition. Treat the patient, not the lab values.
The smart thing to do is to get her on a consistent dietary intake (regardless of the calorie count. It just has to be consistent.) and adjust Insulin dosing to get a reasonable HbA1c.
Brutal Truth: 5- year survival rate after a Whipple Procedure is only 5%.
So far her prognosis is good. Her doctors think she can have a long life. I guess if there is an up note, her cancer was extremely slow moving.
Her lymph node tumors are generally shrinking or staying steady. It has been a year, she is back to normal activity. The blood sugar is the only worrisome test.
I highly recommend Dr. Bernstein's book. He is a well known diabetes doctor who has been Type 1 since age 12 and he his is now in his 80's. I am Type 2 and learned a lot from his book. I don't follow such a strict diet as he recommends but the book is full of other useful information.
I got my copy on Ebay for half the price and since it is for your sister maybe you can gift her? Just a friendly suggestion.
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