Diabetes Information and Weight Management

All the associated long term complications of diabetes, diabetic retinopathy and diabetic nephropathy, clearly indicates that your fathers blood glucose levels are not monitored well over all these years. It will take some time to maintain a healthy blood glucose level, but you will need full cooperation from your father to achieve this goal. Try the following diet and lifestyle modifications to get his diabetic complications and blood sugar levels under control.

Food Guide for Diabetes

• The first aim should be to lose any excess body weight and maintain a healthy ideal body weight. Encourage him to lose weight with a balance of healthy diet and exercise.
• Type of meals and meal timings are very important when a person is suffering from diabetes. The amount of carbohydrates in a meal will depend on the insulin dosage. You have mentioned here that he is taking insulin 4 times a day. The doses are not mentioned but ideally he should be eating at least 4-5 meals at regular intervals in a day instead of just 2-3 meals.
• Meals can be divided into breakfast, mid morning, lunch, evening snacks, dinner and bedtime. The first and last meals are especially important. Breakfast is important as it is the main meal of the day and the bedtime meal will help to prevent episodes of hypoglycemia at night. The bed time meal should ideally be very light and even a glass of skimmed milk would suffice.
• The basis of his diet should be complex carbohydrates and he should avoid all the processed and refined forms of carbohydrates. Complex fibrous carbohydrates can be derived from a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, cereals and cereal products.
• Choose good quality but low fat proteins like egg whites, lean cuts of meat, fish, and poultry without the skin, fat free dairy products and whole pulses, legumes, beans and sprouts. Other protein sources like organ meats, egg yolk and shell fish are also high in cholesterol and saturated fats so try to avoid them as far as possible. Fluids and proteins are restricted in some cases of kidney diseases. So before including too many proteins in his diet check his protein and fluid needs with your specialist.
• Avoid drinking alcohol and smoking altogether. Also learn certain relaxation techniques like meditation and breathing techniques and avoid any stress as far as possible.
• Exercise is very important as it will not only help him to lose weight but also help to control his blood sugar levels in the normal range. Check with your specialist before starting any exercise regime.