April 22, 2005
Meal Planning, Food and Diet, Type 2
Question from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia:
My mother-in-law has recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. She refuses to discuss it with her family in any depth and seems in denial about the situation. She is supposed to be addressing her diet and exercising more. She smokes 40 or more cigarettes a day as well. She doesn’t seem to take the diagnosis very seriously. What will happen if she keeps eating sugar? Why can’t diabetics eat sugar? I understand about insulin and breaking down the glucose etc., but don’t understand the dangers of still having sugar in the diet.
Answer:
It sounds like she needs to see a nutritionist to learn about consistent carbohydrate counting. Eating sugar will probably raise her blood sugar quickly and has no real nutritive value. There are plenty of more healthful carbohydrates that she can choose from in the right amounts each meal (portion control is very important). One more thing: smoking and diabetes is a very dangerous combination. If she can’t quit on her own, she should consider nicotine patches; they really help.
JS
