Type II Diabetes

KillMona

My Dad was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes back in March. A few things before I start: he's in his early sixties, he's quite overweight - obese I would say - but he's small so it's not a huge amount to lose. Also he has high cholesterol.

When he first started out he did lose weight and he was motivated to keep going but since the end of June he hasn't been losing much at all so he's a bit disheartened.

The doctor he went to is pretty crap when it comes to suggestions for a diet plan and there seems to be no variation whatsoever in his diet.

For example, he has porridge with flax seeds for breakfast. He'll have muesli sometimes just to change it up, although I know muesli is high in sugar.

Lunch would be oily fish with normal brown sliced pan. I've tried to get him to eat wholegrain homemade brown bread (I know what goes into and it's all good) but he just likes having an actual sandwich to eat.

He has veg, lean meat and one medium potato for dinner.

He does get hungry in the evening so he would have Muesli then or porridge depending.

I know his diet isn't great atm but he's old school and he's not a massive fan of vegetarian meals or alternatives to sliced pan etc. He eats fruit but not much (again with the sugar), he doesn't eat any sweets/cakes/biscuits/crisps/chips at all which I think is brilliant in itself and he hasn't touched a drop of drink since February either.

I was thinking about high protein foods like grilled rashers, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs etc. for alternatives for breakfast but they're all high cholesterol. Could anyone suggest a few meal plans? Or even just food that varies from porridge all the time? I know for definite if he cut out that bread he'd start losing again but just need a good replacement for it.

bytheglass

Do you have a kindle or smart phone? Download the kindle app and search for 'grain brain', you can download the sample for free (the first couple of chapters). I read it yesterday and it said half of ppl diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are at risk of developing Alzheimer's (scary!) but they say this can be halted by avoiding grains in the diet and upping our fat intake (no porridge or muesli). Interestingly, it is written by the only Doctor in America who is also a highly qualified nutritionist. There is a lot to read on the topic. Arm yourself with as much research as possible, good luck

GirlatdRockShow

Hey
the Irish institute for dietitians has different diet sheets for eating well with diabetes.

https://www.indi.ie/diseases,-allergies-and-medical-conditions.html

also with regards to eggs, egss are a perfectly healthy option for breakfast
and have been shown to have little effect on cholesterol levels.

fussyonion

My partner is diabetic and he doesn't miss out on anything.

It took him a while to find a brown bread he liked but he found one and now he prefers it to white.
He avoids sugar-free low fat alternatives if possible, as his diabetic nurse told him that these products can be higher in fat.

If he does want some chocolate, he'll have two squares of 80% cocoa dark chocolate and that satisfies him.

He eats full-fat cheese, but small amounts. He used to buy low-fat but found he was eating MORE of it because he wasn't satisfied, so now it's full-fat but less of it.

He loves porridge and has it most mornings, but he's careful to weigh it out so he's only eating 30g, and on the days he doesn't fancy porridge, he'll have a boiled egg and brown toast.

He loves fruit but doesn't eat too much. He steers clears of bananas as they send his sugar levels sky-high and his diabetic nurse wasn't too fond of him eating them.

He'll eat normal dinners..SpagBol for example, with brown spaghetti and it's packed with veg. Biggest thing is to ensure your Dad's not having big portions of food.

My partner doesn't miss out on anything.
He'll still have the odd treat; a bag of crisps or a cake but it's not all the time.

It's really everything in moderation, OP.

Zillah

bytheglass wrote: »

Interestingly, it is written by the only Doctor in America who is also a highly qualified nutritionist.

Yeah I'm pretty sure everyone should go ahead and completely ignore this post.

I am a nutritionist too. So is my cat.

bytheglass

You might very well be a nutritionist zillah but are you also a neurologist?

David Perlmutter, MD, FACN, ABIHM is a Board-Certified Neurologist and Fellow of the American College of Nutrition the only doctor in America with both these credentials.

I made the point because I find it interesting! Doctors generally don't put importance on nutrition, preferring to write up a script of meds.

Zillah

Doctors will refer a patient to a dietician if they think diet will be relevant to the patient's medical needs. A dietician is an actual accredited professional - "nutritionist" doesn't really mean anything. Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist, it is not a protected term. I'm a nutritionist. So are you, by the way, congratulations. My cat is also a nutritionist.

Bruno26

KillMona wrote: »

My Dad was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes back in March. A few things before I start: he's in his early sixties, he's quite overweight - obese I would say - but he's small so it's not a huge amount to lose. Also he has high cholesterol.

When he first started out he did lose weight and he was motivated to keep going but since the end of June he hasn't been losing much at all so he's a bit disheartened.

The doctor he went to is pretty crap when it comes to suggestions for a diet plan and there seems to be no variation whatsoever in his diet.

For example, he has porridge with flax seeds for breakfast. He'll have muesli sometimes just to change it up, although I know muesli is high in sugar.

Lunch would be oily fish with normal brown sliced pan. I've tried to get him to eat wholegrain homemade brown bread (I know what goes into and it's all good) but he just likes having an actual sandwich to eat.

He has veg, lean meat and one medium potato for dinner.

He does get hungry in the evening so he would have Muesli then or porridge depending.

I know his diet isn't great atm but he's old school and he's not a massive fan of vegetarian meals or alternatives to sliced pan etc. He eats fruit but not much (again with the sugar), he doesn't eat any sweets/cakes/biscuits/crisps/chips at all which I think is brilliant in itself and he hasn't touched a drop of drink since February either.

I was thinking about high protein foods like grilled rashers, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs etc. for alternatives for breakfast but they're all high cholesterol. Could anyone suggest a few meal plans? Or even just food that varies from porridge all the time? I know for definite if he cut out that bread he'd start losing again but just need a good replacement for it.

See Tim Noakes & Cereal Killers documentary