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Diet advice

D

DavidLR

Newbie
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2
Hi,

My elderly mother has been living with Type 1 for a while now. She is currently in hospital with an unrelated issue. She is not eating much which is becoming a problem and we would like to give her some dietary assistance in a liquid or concentrated form. However many of the protein drinks aren't really suitable for diabetics. Does anyone know of suitable products to give her a better intake of a full range of nutrients, vitamins, fibre etc.

Thanks

David
 
Have you thought of complan? I know it has carbs in.. But you say she is type 1 a d this is the equivalent of a good meal replacement with all the viramins etc...
 
Hi David, have you asked the nurses or her consultant as hospitals do have balanced liquid meals available for those patients that cant for what ever reason manage solid food.

And as DD says as a T1 the nutritional info which will tell you the carb count for insulin purposes will be readily available too.
 
Atkins do a drink that you mix with water, Boots online sell it, or Amazon sometimes has offers, very low in carbs, but vitamins may need supplementing.
 
What sort of insulin is your mother using ?
If your Mum isn't eating properly then someone has to be adjusting her insulin regime.
If not she could become hypoglycaemic because of lack of carbs (ie too much insulin for what she's eating) though it could be that her blood glucose is higher than normal because of the problem that she's in hospital for.

As Sid says there are properly formulated replacements available for prescription, certainly when my mother was in hospital and not eating much, her weight was monitored daily and she was prescribed supplemental shakes (though she hated them as they were so thick)
Depending on your Mum's individual circumstances she doesn't necessarily need a lower carb supplement, since the insulin can and should be adjusted.
Talk to the staff about it. It might be a good idea for someone (you or them) to contact the hospitals diabetic specialist nurse, dietitian or dept.
 
Thanks for your responses. I took some Complan in but it was suggested this would not be suitable.
Personally I agree with DD, it would be a problem if she was eating as well but as a meal replacement it would easily be balanced out by her normal insulin.

Today the dietician has visited and there has been a drop in her insulin intake as a result of his advice, but again I feel that she could keep her regular insulin injection level if she was given food supplements for the insulin to work on and give her the protein and fibre her diet is short of.

The hospital does have their own food supplements but sadly Mum was sick when taking the fruit juice based options and didnt like the milk version which is why I am searching for other options. Will check out the Arkins suggestion Dawn, thanks.

Grateful for all your sugestions
 
I'm curious, what do you mean by "many of the protein drinks aren't really suitable for diabetics"? What I go by (as a type 1 diabetic) is I can essentially eat whatever I like and balance it with an appropriate level of insulin based on its carbohydrate content. Sure, if your mother is on a set regimen of insulin it's more a matter of making sure she consumes the right portion size to match her insulin, but I don't see the problem with a protein drink.
 
This reply will probably be to late but given comments on the problem and maybe for future use, use the milky as opposed to fruit based hospital drink and mix/melt it with ice cream. I tried some of mums and it was actually yummy. They did that for mum in the psych ward and she drank it. She was type 2 supposedly (her bloods were always spot on and she lost so much weight l doubt she had been type 2 for yrs but drs said take the metformin so she did.)

I don't know why the add ice cream tip isn't used in hospitals or even care homes. Probably because that costs money better to waste the food than risk it being eaten l mean all that expense for a tub of ice cream! Without it the drinks taste vile try it you will see what l mean.
 
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