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Non Diabetic wants help understanding diabeties and diet

T

Toby99

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I have never been on a forum before so my apologies, if i'm getting this wrong or not following the correct ettiquete.
I am in need of some advice and knowledge.
Recently our nephew came to live with us, he is 19 and type 1 diabetic, he has been for around 10 years.
He's a great lad but can be sparing in information if it suits his purpose and I also wonder if he fully understands the long terms issues.
When it come to diabeties, some of the things he tells me seem to be a bit counter intuitive or go against what I would expect, but then I haven't had to deal with being diabetic so don't have any knowledge other than what I have read.
So, I suppose what I would like is some clarification of areas that i do not understand.
He tells me he can eat whatever he likes as long as he takes the correct insulin. Is this correct?
My understanding is that that may be the case but a balanced diet is very imporatant for long term health?
He tends to be drawn to eating a lot of sweet things, sugary pop corn, jellied sweets, ice cream, chocolate etc and can happily have 2 or 3 in one evening. For example last night he had caramel pop corn, a cornetto ice cream and a can of dark fruits cider - today he grumpy, lethargic and slept in till 11. He just says he didnt sleep well, but there seems to be a link between what he eats and having a kind of hangover.
He says he can't have sugar on his cereal but will eat Haribo Tangtastics which seem to me covered in sugar?
Don;t want to be an interfereing uncle but genuinely concerned about his long term health and surely these "hangover days" can't be right.
Thankyou
 
Hi @Toby99 ,

Welcome to the forum.

What can I say, in short & in therory, (on "paper.")one can have a "normal" diet with the modern insulin regimes.
The trick is getting the dosage & the injection timing right to compliment the food digested..
So your nephew isn't wrong, from his angle...

I have to admit how your nephew chooses to spend the evening with his snacks, personally is not my idea of a "good time."

What insulin regime is he on? Injections or pump??
 
Hi @Jaylee , thanks for replying so quickly.
He uses injections. To be fair to him he is very good at this side of it, but then I suppose that is extremely important.

Yes, he hasnt got the widest ranging diet, hes a very fussy eater. He eats a lot of carbs which I understand is very important, so bread, rice and pasta.
Is the high sugar intake of sweets etc not good ? ie its not great for anybody, but would it be worse for him due to his diabeties? Or do the modern insulin regimes mean its not problematic.
 
Hi @Toby99 , and welcome to the forum!

Toby99 said:
He tells me he can eat whatever he likes as long as he takes the correct insulin. Is this correct?
My understanding is that that may be the case but a balanced diet is very imporatant for long term health?
Click to expand...
As a base rule, yes, that's correct. However with the things you described he ate last night, I doubt he managed to keep his blood glucose more or less in range, it's very hard to correctly dose for such foods.
Of course a balanced diet is important for long term health, diabetic or not, but lots of people have grown up to be healthy adults after a few years of living on pizza and beer around the start of adulthood. Having diabetes doesn't mean we aren't allowed to make the same stupid choices as our peers.

I think telling a young adult what they should or shouldn't eat, or how they should manage their diabetes, hardly ever has the desired effect, and might well cause troubles in your relationship with him. On the other hand, not saying anything when you see a young adult messing up might not be the best strategy either...

Does he see his diabetes team on a regular basis?
 
Toby99 said:
Is the high sugar intake of sweets etc not good ? ie its not great for anybody, but would it be worse for him due to his diabeties? Or do the modern insulin regimes mean its not problematic.
Click to expand...
It really depends on if he manages to keep his blood sugars in check on those foods or not. If he does, it's not worse than it is for a non diabetic.
 
Hi @Antje77

Thanks for replying.
Dont worry, I'm not going to start telling him what to do. I would never have listened at his age, and had a lot more going on.
These are exactly the kind of responses I need, it gives me a greater understanding which is all I ask for.
As far as I know he doesn't see any support team, or hasn't this year.
 

Sweets are quite fast acting carbs. I would wager a large spike before the insulin working profile deals with them?

I carry sweets, but would only use in the event of a hypo. & even then personally no more than 10gs worth to nip me back up.

Could the lad's BGs be dropping in the evening after (say?) a pasta meal. Some healthier carb options can digest slower, thus leaving a spike a lot later than expected? (But not before there may have been a drop whilst the peak action on the bolts is working. It's not just a question of "just injecting for it." Understanding the timing helps too..
 

Hi there, well if you take out the him being a type 1 diabetic bit, he sounds like a perfectly normal 19 year old! I applaud the fact that you are concerned about his health but if he is fully aware of how things might impact his diabetes and is able & willing to manage it in all aspects, then yes, he is right and he can 'eat what he wants', as would any other 19 year old lad. Having said that, like ANY person, eating a balanced & healthy diet is the key. With regard to carbs being 'important' and practically a must, that is not correct but you could be forgiven for thinking the carbs were the actual medicine for diabetes in the way some professionals describe it all. First and foremost, a person decides WHAT and how may carbs they wish to eat (ranging from very few to loads) and then try to match their insulin to them, (not exactly easy of course). Following that, it becomes all about whether you are able to achieve good health and blood results etc. If not, then you may wish to adjust your approach and if you can, then yes, he can eat his haribos whilst not wishing to have extra sugar on his cereal. I think for your position, it's good to show an interest but he may start to resent any 'Can you eat that' if he thinks someone is watching his every move in a way that they wouldn't were he not a diabetic. I'm not suggesting you do that but he may start to perceive it. You sound like a great Uncle by the way, he's lucky. x
 
Right I see.
So generally, he can eat what he wants and the insulin dosage will take care of this.
With regards to diet, the same rules apply to everybody, a healthy diet is the best way forward and being diabetic doesn't set you apart in this.
It may be preferable to the individual to try and keep blood sugar levels fairly even, lessening any spikes or dips. To achieve this it may be better to select certain foods over others for there speed of sugar release. But the individual would need to want to pursue this option off their own back.
 

Hi there, in a nutshell, yes and it sounds easy doesn't it. It's not though, because so many factors impact upon the 'how much insulin to take' and the dosage you give yourself is based on experience mainly and involves whether you've exercised, your mood, your work, whether you're ill, and on and on. A non diabetic's body works every minute of every day to ensure your glucose levels remain stable no matter what you're doing whereas a diabetic is trying to emulate that. That's what I mean when I say you may have to adjust, for example if your levels were too high or low or swinging wildly up and down all day long then you may wish to adjust your diet to have fewer carbs as that may stabilise it in a better way. Diet is very important to a diabetic in a way that it might not be to a non diabetic so it's a question of an individual finding the best diet for THEM given any underlying conditions. x
 

Ha, thank you , trying to be.
 

Like anyone else.The problem with grazing these sort of food stuffs it can be very easy to lose track of what was consumed?

Of course some of your nephew's sweet eating could also be hypo treating. You may not wanna tackle the lad's cognitive state during these episodes..

Always feel free to ask as you go along.
 
Toby99 said:
Thanks for all of the advice, it's been very helpful and cleared up things I needed to understand.
Click to expand...

Hi Toby - The young man is very fortunate to have someone looking out for him, as you are.

Has your nephew shared with you what needs to happen when he suffers a hypo; low blood sugars.

There are many reasons why that can happen, and most often folks can manage the situation for themselves, but it's important that someone else in the household knows what should be happening in those circumstances.

If this isn't something you and your nephew have discussed, it could be a useful conversation to have.

Good luck to you both. It's a big thing to have a new member of the household.
 
Hi. I have to disagree that a T1 can eat whatever he/she likes. If you have a high metabolism and are active you may be able to do that and not gain weight. Insulin enables the body to metabolise carbs and like a non-diabetic if you have too many carbs you will probably gain weight. I have to be fairly careful with my carb intake even though I go to the gym. I also disagree that carbs are important; put simply they aren't. You don't actually need any if you have enough fats and proteins as the body can make glucose from those, but having some carbs for most people makes sense. They are not needed for 'energy' in the way the adverts say unless you are an athlete. We eat carbs because they taste nice and are addictive but need to be kept under some control
 

Well clearly they CAN eat whatever they like as it's a choice relative solely to their diabetes. I eat what I like for example. I think it's akin to whether ANY person can eat what they like and the answer is yes, whether it's wise based on an individual's circumstances is a different matter but that is a different issue. If you are referring to overeating or doing something to excess then I agree with you but that applies to the population at large not just diabetics. It sounds like you have to be 'fairly careful' with carbs but we are all different and as stated above it's about finding our tolerance.
 
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Hi,
Yes, we have had those conversations and he actually broached the subject with me and explained it to me.

But now you have raised this I am going to have the conversation again as in all honesty I may well write it down to make sure I know it.
Thanks.
 

Great idea.

It's probably also worthwhile asking him how he reacts to hypos. Some folks describe their usual laid back personalities as becoming bolshy or uncooperative, others become emotional, and others other things. It'd just be good to have a few clues, as it can be a bigness bewildering watching someone hypo when you're not expecting it.

I'll say again, he's a lucky young man to have you so engaged in his care, but at the same time, you seem Keep to respect his space and independe.
 
It's interesting you say that about changes in behaviour.
I have noted on several separate occasions in the last few months, he can suddenly become irritable and borderline aggressive which is out of character. Its always in the evening.
I did wonder if this was a result of blood sugar levels.
 
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