Diabetic Diet

I can't answer all of your questions but I can say that when it comes to baking Splenda is NOT "just like sugar". It doesn't carmelize so nothing ever gets crisp or brown. The foods tasted.... okay... but not great. You also have to adjust liquid ingredients because it doesn't help retain mosture in cooked foods the way sugar does.

For desserts that don't require baking I've had pretty good success using Splenda instead.

They do make baking splenda but it's not the same. It's better than regular splenda but not the same as regular ol' sugar. Apple sauce isn't bad. It's not the same as sugar, again and doesn't work in everything.

Second, you might want to be a litte more sensitve to your father and quit bringing all that crap over. When my dad was diagnosed diabetic, my mom changed her life too. Your dad is having a hard enough time with this without you shoving cookies under his nose. Give the guy a break for a while. Mom and brother won't die without baked goods for a few months.

Once he gets in the swing of things, he can probably have some of those goodies in moderation. Right now though, he needs to make radical changes. At first, all my dad and mom ate was stuff with salsa on it. Seriously. Because it flavored things without adding the stuff my dad couldn't eat and they had been eating poorly for so long, neither knew what to make to eat that was ok. You'd be suprised at the crap we put in our mouths that we think is healthy. Veggies are healthy...until you smother them in butter and salt.

Portion control is huge. Your dad can have potatoes. Just not a heaping pile of them. And he can't have potatoes with buttered noodles and a huge piece of battered chicken. But he can have grilled chicken with a small baked potato and a side of veggies.

They make diabetic cookbooks but honestly it is going to be a trial and error because realistically, we don't cook every day from a cook book.

The other thing he will have to learn is label reading. Have your mom and dad both go to the grocery store and read the label of everything they buy. That way, you know upfront what you can and can't cook with or have. Hidden stuff still equals high sugar. People probably thought my parents were wackos for a few weeks because their grocery trips took a few hours and they spent all this time reading every label before putting it in the cart. Tell you mom and dad to become label readers. It will be invaluable with cooking later on.

Label reading shold be at the top of your "to do" list, Aldistar. Sugar is only kind of bad. White bread, and the stuff marketed as "whole wheat bread are horrible. Labels will list carbs, but not their position on a glycemic list.

Peanut butter is good food. So are green beans, but it doesn't usually take long to satisfy your craving for green beans.

Dare I mention that a brisk 25 minute walk or bike ride will lower insulin resistance enormously. They will. Combined with regular monitoring, he just may get away from the need for medication.

Which brings up googleing glycemic index data... I've seen some good sites, just don't have them at hand right now.

Yes. I had one, but the link died on me, and I never bothered to track down another.

Oh, tomatoes are another near perfect food. The traditional Cheerios, too, and the nut & honey Cheerios are also good, but a bit sweet.

Really, though, the best thing he can do is regular monitoring two hours after mealtimes. You quickly learn what you can get away with.

Diabetes and even pre-diabetes are serious diseases, that need to be carefully monitored.

If your father has been diagnosed as diabetic he needs to be counseled by both an RN and pharmacist, who specialize in diabetes. Before you bring over goodies for your father to eat, he needs to have a series of menues prepared that will help to regulate his blood glucose level.

If his diabetes is allowed to proceed unregulated, he stands to develop cataracts, leg ulcers ( that can lead to amputation ), heart disease, neuropathy and early death. Diabetes is a very serious disease and needs to be seriously managed by weight control and loss, exercise and good diet.

And tomatoes are supposed to be even better cooked, last I heard.

Tossing garlic bits...

While blood glucose monitoring at intervals is a wise decision, it is not as important as having your A1C levels monitored. The latter value defines the diabetic patient.

Re: Diabetic Diet


If being a diabetic is his only issue then, yeah, both of these are true. You can use any of the sugar substitues (Splenda, Equeal, etc..) but, IMO, they taste like poo.

In general, you want to control carbs so things like "light" breads and pastas are better than others and things are are all protein (meats!) are fine. Most non-starchy veggies are fine too.

There are hundreds of WWW sites with recipies and substitutes designed just for diabetics.

When my daughter was disgnosed (She's a type I) it was a major shift in our cooking but it became part of the routine pretty quickly. As others have said, he needs to monitor his blood glucose levels and watch how he's doing. After w little while he'll know how different foods affect him and which ones to avoid totally.

My father is diabetic, and whenever we bake, we make a little batch for him with substitute sugar. This is not splenda. My parents live in Slovakia, so i have no clue what it's called, but probably similar. I have to say I had very good experiences baking with it.

That said, it is a RARE occassion. We all changed diet when he was diagnosed. His diabetes can be regulated with a good diet, goes on and off the pills, doesn't need insulin, but still. It's not only sugar that's harmful to diabetics. Also fat, lots of starch, or salt, etc. I have to agree with those who advise to lay off from bringing the baked goodies for awhile.

You can bring all the baked goodies to my house!

I meant high sugar as in high blood glucose.

One of the most destructive myths invented by American Processed Food Companies is that you can have it all. "All" includes perfect health and wellness without giving up any part of an unhealthy diet.

You don't have to sacrifice--just modify.

Take the fiber out of orange juice--and put it in Metamucil.

Take the sugar out of cookies--and replace it with a bit of extra fat.

Flavorable soup? Just add a lot of salt (in the factory, not at the table).

The American Processed Food Companies assure us that junk food has a place in a balanced diet. They just don't tell the world that "place" is a very small place.

I've cooked for a diabetic for 30 years now. Low-fat, low-sugar recipes can be delicious, but if you're expecting the flavor and mouth sensation of a full calorie treat you're going to feel cheated by the "healthy" stuff.

Diabetic baked goods? Try angel food cake, sponge cake, lady fingers....
A low-fat, low-sugar double-chocolate devil's food cake is not going to work. Devil's food isn't meant to be low-fat, low sugar. Angel food is.

Of course, it's not just about taste. It's also about satisfaction.

It's hard for all diabetics to maintain a healthy life style. I knew a diabetic man, when I was an undergraduate in college and this guy was so depressed most of the time, that he considered suicide on more than one occasion.

Wow...thanks to everybody for all the info. I have stopped bringing over the goodies, I wouldn't be that cruel. It just so happened that I had baked a big batch of cookies a couple of days before he was diagnosed, my brother and I didn't even know that he was being tested as my parents wanted to know for sure before they worried us.

I was just hoping to give him the occasional treat.

My dad does see his doctor regularly and has been following the diet the doc gave him pretty much to the letter. He does not need to take insulin, his body does produce it, it just needed a little regulatory help thats wherw the pills come in. So far he has lost about 30 lbs. and we are all happy about that.

Life at their house has changed a bit but nothing shocking or outrageous. Both of my parents were starting to try to live a more healthy lifestyle before we found out he was diabetic, this revelation just gave them the kick in the pants to really stick with it.

Dad has never complained, he really isn't the type. Any time he is craving something sweet he just pops a couple of grapes. It really wasn't so much a lifestyle change as it was a shopping list change. Now there are fruits and veggies instead of cookies and cakes. My wanting to find recipes isn't so much to make junk food that he can eat all the time as it is to keep him from being left out of things like birthday cakes and the pies or cookies at holidays.

Thanks again for all of the information. I will forward it onto my dad as well.

Aldistar--

A thirty pound weight loss should accomplish wonders.

Down the road when his sugar is stable he should be able to have modest servings of sweet deserts on special occasions.

How is the rest of the family doing as far as weight goes? A tendency to diabetes may well be inherited.

Excercise and weight control are the probably the best ways to handle a type II diabetic.