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Hospital food

S

Steve35

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
I dont see my dietician for the 1st time till Monday and I am very concerned on what they are considering as diabetic friendly like orange juice, weetabix, mash,roasters, chips, beans are ok and i am constantly asked if I want more sugar

So is all this food actually ok and if not is there any other food I should look out for till Monday?
 
Steve35 said:
I dont see my dietician for the 1st time till Monday and I am very concerned on what they are considering as diabetic friendly like orange juice, weetabix, mash,roasters, chips, beans are ok and i am constantly asked if I want more sugar

So is all this food actually ok and if not is there any other food I should look out for till Monday?
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The high carb food is not ideal but for a few days I don't think it will matter much. Because you are newly diagnosed they will have you on a fixed dose of insulin at meal times. This is not ideal long term because it leads to "eating to the insulin" and often gaining weight. Eventually you should be sent on a DAFNE course which will give you lots of info about managing T1 and will teach you how to calculate a variable insulin dose for each meal based on your blood sugar level at that time, the amount of carbs you are going to eat, and (I think) your activity levels. This is called "carb counting".

Hospital food is decided by dieticians and unfortunately they are trained to ignore the harm that carbs do for people with diabetes. They advise people to eat lots of carbs, but most T1s at this forum aim to limit their carbs so that they need less insulin. It's an art form learning how to eat the right amount of carbs and use the right amount of insulin, so at the moment when you are still in the shock and info overload stage just focus on what they are teaching you about insulin use, and preventing and managing hypos etc, as that is more important at this stage.

It will all become clearer over the next few weeks as you get more familiar with self-management and reading stuff on the forum. Please feel free to ask any questions and the T1s in particular will be able to help you.
 
@Steve35 Bear in mind that the people serving your food may not be aware you have diabetes. Even if they do know, they might not understand all the details.

When I was in hospital, I just ate the normal food and avoided anything sweet like sugary drinks or juices.

Are the nurses (or you) checking your blood sugar frequently? Are you on mixed insulin or are you having injections before every meal?
 
azure said:
@Steve35 Bear in mind that the people serving your food may not be aware you have diabetes. Even if they do know, they might not understand all the details.

When I was in hospital, I just ate the normal food and avoided anything sweet like sugary drinks or juices.

Are the nurses (or you) checking your blood sugar frequently? Are you on mixed insulin or are you having injections before every meal?
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One injection in the morning, they just put me off a drip of insulin and there checking my blood sugar every 2hours
 
Ok, that's very similar to when I was diagnosed - the drip, and the frequent blood tests. When I was in hospital, they did that to get an idea of how much insulin I might need. Everybody's insulin needs are different and the 'right' amount is what works for you.

I think you're seeing the dietician today. I hope that goes well. Do ask about carbs if you have a chance. I see your profile says you have Type 1. Understanding carbs and insulin dises will help you control your diabetes. Don't worry if you can't remember everything now - it's a huge amount to take in. You'll gradually get used to it. It's very hard to start with and a big lifestyle change, but it does get easier.
 
when I have been in, I have been highly cynical about the quality of food & diet advice available to patients. Our NHS trust (The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust) have, however started to run a "Taste Hospital Food" series of sessions :

"

Our next FT membership event is ‘Come Dine with Us !’ free patient food tasting sessions for staff, visitors and our FT members. This will be an opportunity for people to give on-the-spot feedback on the quality and presentation of the food we serve to our patients and will also enable us to showcase our current menus, range of dishes and special diets that we offer

The taster sessions will take place in the main hospital restaurants on:-

7.10.15, 2 - 3 pm - The Broadoak Restaurant, Fairfield General Hospital


15.10.15, 2 - 3 pm - The Aroma Café, Rochdale Infirmary


22.10.15, 2 - 3 pm - The Café Royal, The Royal Oldham Hospital


28.10.15, 2 - 3 pm - The Gallery Restaurant, North Manchester General Hospital

"
 
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