If your elderly loved one has been diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes, one of top changes his doctor may recommend is an overhaul of his diet, especially if he’s spent a lifetime developing bad eating habits. If he's feeling overwhelmed or unsure where to start, diabetes care can help.
How a Healthy Diet Can Help Diabetes Patients
Diabetes is a disease where the body can no longer control its blood sugar levels. This can result in too much blood sugar in the blood and lead to other serious health consequences such as disorders that will affect your loved one’s circulatory, nervous, and immune systems. By altering his diet to regularly include healthier food options, he will be able to manage those blood sugar levels better and reduce the amount of damage to his body.
Healthy Diet Plan for Those with Diabetes
Your loved one’s doctor or perhaps a dietician will work with him to develop a healthy diet plan that will work for his lifestyle and budget. The good news is that it doesn’t require all kinds of specialty, expensive foods. It generally just helps a person understand what foods hurt their blood sugar levels and which ones help keep those blood sugar levels under control and within safe levels. It includes eating healthy meals at regular times to keep insulin levels consistent in the body.
Best Foods for Managing Diabetes
Since change can be difficult and sticking to a change harder, even when a person’s health depends upon it, your loved one might find it helpful to have a diabetes care provider help him with meal planning. Making a weekly plan of meals and snacks can help him stay on course and create a lifetime of healthy eating habits.
Healthy Carbohydrates
Your loved one doesn’t need to get rid of all carbs. Your loved one just needs to reduce the amount of unhealthy carbs in his diet such as food and drinks that have added sugar, fat, or sodium. Instead, he should work with his diabetes care provider to incorporate carbohydrates that are healthier, such as fresh vegetables and fruits, legumes, whole grains, and low-fat dairy items such as cheese and milk.
Heart-Healthy Fish
Fish is not a common item in many people’s diets, especially heart-healthy fish. If this is new for your loved one, his diabetes care provider can help him pick out the right type of fish to purchase in the market, as well as help him learn how to prepare it. Fish that are considered heart-healthy are those that are packed with Omega-3 fatty acids. Those omega-3 fatty acids can reduce the risk of heart disease, which is often a complication of diabetes. Your loved one should look for fresh or frozen salmon, tuna, and sardines to eat at least twice a week.
High-fiber Foods
Fiber regulates how the body digests food and controls blood sugar levels. It is made up of plant materials the body cannot digest. Great food choices that are high in fiber include fresh fruit, nuts, legumes, and whole grains.
Once your loved one knows what foods are best for managing his diabetes, then it’s a matter of incorporating those foods into his meal planning. Meals should be vegetable-heavy with a small portion of a lean protein and healthy carb. This combination will help him stay full and reduce the risk of blood sugar levels spiking or crashing. It can seem daunting at first if these changes are drastically different than what your loved one is used to, but he can be successful with support from Home Instead's diabetes care.
