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Jelly Babies

Dollypops72

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Family member
Treatment type
Insulin
At the risk of starting a major discussion here, I have an ongoing 'fight' with my mother, who has Type 2 Diabetes, in that she say's it's perfectly fine to eat Jelly Babies. She gets the Waitrose own brand.
Her details: she is 81, 5ft3 (I think!) and she's obese (ie last time she exercised was in 1962 I think) and she's around 80kg.
Now in my view, they are full of sugar. She says they're fruit. She did stop eating them for a week once and said that her sugar levels didn't change so she's going back to eating them.
I would like to offer her an alternative as I've taken over the kitchen, which was another fight in itself, but that's another story...
Any suggestions re alternatives?
Many thanks
 
I use JB's to keep my BG levels up when running - 2.8g carbs each and 95% of that is sugar! Can't think of any alternatives of the same nature.
 
Does your mam just eat them as & when or does she eat them when her blood glucose levels are low, just checking your profile and it says she is using insulin.

JB's are no better than any other sweet that contains sugar, best avoided unless you need them to treat a hypo.
 
Jelly Babies are fine as a sweet or as hypo resolve.............

but the question is, is she eating them all the time in her diet......?
 
Hi Dollipops. You are right in thinking they are full of suger and will raise her BS levels. I know because only last week I ate a whole bag just to see what would happen to my BS. Remember this was just a test. 2 hrs after consuming them my BS level had gone from 5.2 - 10.5 but with careful eating the rest of the day, I soon got back to normal. As a rule some diabetics carry some J Babies around in case they have a Hypo and need to raise their BS levels quickly.
There are sites out there that produce "sugar free" sweets that may be an alternative.

PS I had to laugh when you said "she says they're fruit". The excuses we come up with to eat the things we really know we shouldn't.
 
Jelly babies are my hypo treatment of choice. Not something to munch on if you have diabetes but I'm not sure you're going to find an alternative. I go for pork scratchings when I get the munchies but not the same sort of thing I know. Not forgetting that fruits are also sugar and best avoided for most diabetics. You could be looking at a complete diet change to improve your mum's bg levels, but to achieve that with someone of 81 years and a lifetime of doing it her way is a daunting prospect.
 

I know we are all different but I am astounded that a bag of JB's would only increase anyone's BG level by 5.3 over 2 hours. I find it takes about 20mins for one to kick in and it will raise my BG level by 3!! I think a bag would kill me.
 
Try telling her that each JB is a spoonful of sugar and see if that has an impact.
If she thinks they are full of fruit perhaps read the ingredients out to her and or replace the JB with some fruit.
 
Scardoc said:
I know we are all different but I am astounded that a bag of JB's would only increase anyone's BG level by 5.3 over 2 hours. I find it takes about 20mins for one to kick in and it will raise my BG level by 3!! I think a bag would kill me.
Click to expand...
At 3 hrs (before bed) I was down to 10.2 and the following morning 6.2. Then kept it steady all day.
 
You don't say what your mothers BG readings are. My mother is 85, in a nuursing home and officially a T2, she eats whatever she wants and I've looked through her MAR chart and her readings are all normal non DB readings. Don't ask me how this happens but it may be wrong to assume that just because she's eating JBs it is bad for her.
I keep JB's in the car and often eat one mid-commute to stay on the right side of the hypos.
 
Am guessing Dollypops72 that your mum just likes jelly babies and doesn't want to believe they're full of sugar. If you look in Amazon, there are plenty of sugar free sweets available but they may have a laxative effect.
 
Yes you're right Pollylocks, she's in denial and it's not her fault that she's overweight etc etc etc... She eats them at night to sooth her throat she says...
 
I agree with all the advice comments above.. They smell like toilet blocks to me.
Yer mum's excuse is "science fiction"..
 
Showing her the ingredient list on the packet should conclusively disprove both of her theories.
 
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