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food for a new insulin dependant

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scottydog

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Hi all

I need some advice,my mum has just been put on insulin and she is struggling a little.

She is confused as to what are good things to be eating and when, she tends to have a very strange sleeping pattern and stays up quite a lot of the night.

Her BS has come down very low and she is starving herself a lot of the time, she eats a large portion of porridge, a couple of slices of bread etc when she eats.

What I am looking for is suggestions for food for her to keep in for snacks, main meals etc that will help her to get a balanced diet.

Any help would be appreciated

Cheers

Andrene
 
hya ,
what kind of insulin is mum on, basically its just an healthy diet she needs to eat, carbs put sugars high , when we know whether shes on basal bolus insulin or premix we should be able to help :D
 
Hi
she told me she is on NOVOMIX FLEX PEN .
She is attending the diabetics specialists who has told her it is no problem to have her porridge but having experienced this via my own situation taking carbs out the diet not completely helped lower my BS but this is a total contradiction of what the NHS are advising they are not advocating an atkins style diet.

Anyway any futher advice would be appreciated, she is at a complete loss as what to eat, i have sdvised her its nto that she cant eat but that it a different diet.
She has been brought up with a potatoe meat and veg diet and everything in a sandwhich so she is at a loss and has difficulty looking outside the box.

Andrene
 
Hi Scotty

As yr mum is using biphasic insulin (twice per day) its important that she does eat regularly and that her meals do consist of some carb. Twice daily insulin releases its action over a time period and its effect on bg levels is determined on how much is eaten and what bg levels are. For best results, yr mum should eat 3 main meals per day along with some small snacks depending on how low her bg levels fall 2-3hrs after the main meals.

With regular testing of bg, she will slowly be able to figure out a correct dose of Novomix so that her bg levels stay somewhere within a target range.

Good luck :)
 
Being diabetic doesn't mean that you've got to go down the route of Atkins style diet this isn't always needed.. In your mum's case it is matching her insulin intake and carbs to obtain good target ranges that your mum is comfortable..

As your mum is on Novomix, which is based on a split of quick acting and mid acting (around 12ish hours) insulin requires matching, as iHs as said, 3 main meals and 3 further snacks, mid morning, mid afteroon and supper..

To get Novomix to work properly, then one needs to be eating the same amount of carbs for each meal/ snack and attempt to keep very similar timing for each meal/snack

i.e, NOTE times, carb amounts need to be sorted with HCP and your mum to suit her requirements these are for example purpose only

Breakfast 8am 40g of carbs
mid morning snack 10.30am 20g of carbs
lunch 1pm 30g of carbs
mid afternoon snack 3pm 20g of carbs
Tea 6pm 40g of carbs
supper 9pm 20g of carbs

As what to eat for any particular meal/snack...

Mum can have her spud+meat and veg if she wants, all she needs to remember is that items such as the potatoes needs to fall within her carb allowance for that meal, if the potato portion size makes her meal feel small, then add extra meat and vegatables such as cauliflower that are very low carb count (meat is zero carbs)

Suggestion for food, fruit (if mum doesn't feel like a snack, then she can swap her allowance for somthing such as orange juice, apple juice etc)
Crackers + cheese
rich tea biscutes aren't high in carbs, digestives are just under 10g of carbs..
For a treat, you be surprised how low carb something like a chocolate eclair is, even cream horns aren't two bad either
Nuts are quite low carb (check out each type)
Then you've got your salad options
Even a packet of crips only have just over 10g of carbs in them, another little treat to make life interesting..

If mum prefers to have a sandwich, then have a look at an wholemeal type bread, Garnery is a nice one or some of the low carb/ weight watchers alternitives that can be found in the super market..

For puddings, you've got sugar free jelly, even angle delight (which you would have to count the milk content) Yogerts can be found in low in carb content.. You can make a lovely low carb triffle, even custard can be made with sweetner instead of sugar to lower it's impact..

and if she fancies a bit of ice-cream, then perhaps invest in an ice-cream maker you can make ice-cream using sweetner instead of sugar, add some berries, such as fresh strewberries etc, nice treat..

In the main if mum can be regimented in her routine, she will fair a lot better in the long run, as she and her diabetic team can talyor her insulin needs to suit, and hopefully with not to many alterations to her diet..
 
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