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Hellooo

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Katie58

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Hello
Newbie here
Mum is 85 years old with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes and alzheimers on metformin
I am struggling to find foods that she will eat that are low carb
The practice nurse just said go to the diabetic part of the supermarket and buy diabetic food and ready meals????
Mum is very old fashioned in what she will eat
White bread sugar in tea cereals potatoes crisps and chips are what she will accept. Everything else is the devil's food. Soo I need to find alternatives
that I can fool her with because her alz makes it impossible to reason with her.
I have replaced her sugar bowl with powdered sweetener. I cook her scrambled egg on 1 slice of milk roll for brekkie. I am struggling at lunch because yesterday I cooked her pork chop and veg and she refused to eat it because there was no potato. She would refuse brown rice and pasta and brown wholemeal bread. I feel like I am sinking under the responsibility of all this. Her fasting blood sugar this morning was 12.1.Help!
 
Hi and welcome
I know just how difficult it is caring for someone with Alzheimers, as my brother and I struggled for several years, eventually ended up spoon feeding our mother pureed food.
The best I can suggest is to slowly reduce the portion sizes of the high carb food and increase the veg. That way she might not feel so deprived and you will get food into her. I was told 2 small new potatoes and others have been told 3. Or mashing it half and half with pureed cauliflower and putting gravy on it. I manage with one slice of bread from a small wholemeal, but I suggest you try Hovis half and half. That was the compromise my friend reached with her husband.
Best wishes
 
Thanks for your reply. It makes me feel not as alone in this. After I had given her egg this morning she went and poured herself a bowl of cornflakes. So I threw them away and now she is threatening to go and buy some more. Are there any low carb brands of cereal that I can pacify her with?
 
Katie58 said:
Hello
Newbie here
Mum is 85 years old with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes and alzheimers on metformin
I am struggling to find foods that she will eat that are low carb
The practice nurse just said go to the diabetic part of the supermarket and buy diabetic food and ready meals????
Mum is very old fashioned in what she will eat
White bread sugar in tea cereals potatoes crisps and chips are what she will accept. Everything else is the devil's food. Soo I need to find alternatives
that I can fool her with because her alz makes it impossible to reason with her.
I have replaced her sugar bowl with powdered sweetener. I cook her scrambled egg on 1 slice of milk roll for brekkie. I am struggling at lunch because yesterday I cooked her pork chop and veg and she refused to eat it because there was no potato. She would refuse brown rice and pasta and brown wholemeal bread. I feel like I am sinking under the responsibility of all this. Her fasting blood sugar this morning was 12.1.Help!
Click to expand...
My understanding is that manufactures are not allowed to label things as Diabetic foods any more so you may not find an Isle in the supermarket as such.
Be careful with the sweeteners as if used in large quantities they can cause stomach upset, being sweeter than sugar you need much less.
You will just have to make gradual changes as she still needs to eat, as suggested reduce the portion of the higher carb component of the meal.
Sugarfree jelly or berries and cream is a good pudding or small chocolate eclairs are not bad carb wise, a apple crumble with the topping made with almond flour rather than normal flour are all things if she likes her puds.
Homemade soups are a good option as you can make them low carb by not adding potatoes.
People being diagnosed at her age is challenging as it is hard to change the traditional foods they are used to having.
 
Katie58 said:
Thanks for your reply. It makes me feel not as alone in this. After I had given her egg this morning she went and poured herself a bowl of cornflakes. So I threw them away and now she is threatening to go and buy some more. Are there any low carb brands of cereal that I can pacify her with?
Click to expand...
If it was that she was still hungry then an extra slice of toast and another egg would be less carbs than the bowl of cornflakes. Unfortunately most cereals are high carb, All Bran or a low sugar granola are probably the lowest.
Does she like yoghurt, if so then some full fat Greek yoghurt with a few berries or the protein /quark based yoghurts are low carb, low fat, high protein so would be filling.
 
Is fruit bad generally speaking? I have bought her strawberries pears and satsumas. Are these OK?
 
Can I second the suggestion of @Felinia about portion size and you do a bit of visual fiddling?

Take the potatoes for example. Take half the weight you would normally put out as a portion. Then cut the potato into smaller pieces and pile them up and it will look as if the portion size is the same as it always was. Leave the other veg whole or in big pieces and it works the other way.

Fruit is a bit of an oddity. As a generalisation, berries tend to better than things like bananas but if you read around the forum you will find that reactions to fruit can be very individual. For example, I can get away with the things you mention if I keep portion size small although apples in the past have given me big blood glucose rises. Others may not.
 
Katie58 said:
Is fruit bad generally speaking? I have bought her strawberries pears and satsumas. Are these OK?
Click to expand...
People find berries Ok, pears, apples and oranges are middling, the things to avoid are bananas and grapes, and tropical fruits.
Again just watch portion size.
A good book is Carbs and Cals as it gives carb value of lots of foods so you can make comparisons of portion and carbs so you can see what's OK and what's not so good.
A digital kitchen scales is a useful tool so you can weigh things as things can be deceptive.
 
Maybe make half the usual amount of potato and mash it, then add in some cooked mashed cauliflower or swede or celeriac so as to lower the carbs, for breakfast you could use cauliflower swede or celeriac and make bubble and squeak with a strong tasting vegetable, beat it all up with an egg or two and cook it with bacon and it should be undetectable.
Blame the current shortages on having to make changes - don't try to use brown carbs - they are carbs all the same and make not the slightest difference for me - I checked - you can show your mum the pictures of empty shelves on the internet.
If you can change the menu to include more protein and fats it might help. Our brains are made of fats and old people tend to lose muscle - protein - so it just might help slow the aging process.
I am rather puzzled to find that at my age - 70, my need for thyroid supplements is reducing at a rate the GP can't explain. Since going low carb I have got stronger and can handle the knitting machines again. It is still an effort to get one up or down the stairs, but I can do it again.
 
Thank you all so much for your replies. I will take all of the advice on board and figure out a way forward
 
Just a thought, mum was recently diagnosed with delerium caused by a urine infection which was treated with antibiotics. Would this be one reason I can't get her blood sugar down to a reasonable level? I have asked the surgery to retest her urine for infection but they have refused.
 
Katie58 said:
Just a thought, mum was recently diagnosed with delerium caused by a urine infection which was treated with antibiotics. Would this be one reason I can't get her blood sugar down to a reasonable level? I have asked the surgery to retest her urine for infection but they have refused.
Click to expand...
UTI often are responsible for confused behaviour in elderly folk. You can buy urine dip sticks fairly cheaply on the internet which can check for infection, I don't think the same ones will do glucose. But a UTI is often a symptom of high glucose as all those bacteria just love the sugary environment. But when people have an infection it can make blood glucose higher. A bit chicken and egg really.
Drinking plenty will help both.
 
Welcome to the forum @Katie58

Ouch! It sounds like your practice nurse hasnt quite caught up with changes in the law that make it illegal to sell foods as being ’diabetic’ or ‘suitable for diabetes’ 🙄

Yes, illness and infection often can cause rises in blood glucose levels.

Hope you are able to find a strategy that works for your Mum, and you, and gives her the best quality of life (if perhaps not perfect BG levels)
 
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