A close relative of mine has diabetes,what can i do around the house to help him?

Question

I have adressed him directly about it but he is somewhat in denial that it is a problem. he often eats very sugary foods and rarely exercises. he is willing to try anything but not to do anything that requieres a lot of commitment. I need small things that are easy to do, please help

Answer 1

Getting him out of denial is going to be hard. I was stuck in it for the first year after being diagnosed. Hopefully, he will come around and learn that, in order to feel really good again, it's going to take some work. In the mean time, all you can do is set a good example by eating right, maintaining a healthy weight, and staying fit. That's always a good idea since you are at risk as well.

You could buy him this book.... it helped me tremendously:
http://www.diabetesimprovement.com/diabetesbook.html

You could also tell him that you met someone on the Internet that is going through the same thing and has learned a few really helpful things and made a very handy diabetes info page: http://www.geocities.com/seabulls69/Type_II_Diabetes.html

Answer 2

Both my sisters were diagnosed with diabetes (type 1) at a young age, so I can give you suggestions at what my mother did to ensure that they would eat and exercise well, and not realise it. I’m not sure how old your relative is and if they have type 1 or 2 diabetes, but you can always try these anyway.

You can get low carb products now (such as ice cream) that are great for diabetics, and taste the same as the original. In fact, you can buy many things now that have a sugar substitute that doesn’t contain the kilojoules as natural sugar does.

Although the sight of fresh fruit and veggies may put someone off that is in denial and use to eating junk food, why not show him easy things to cook that are tasty, quick, and most importantly, low in sugar – omelets, stir fries, toasted sandwiches etc. There are some great websites on the internet that can help you with these.

At the end of the day, the only way for someone to stop eating natural sugar is to throw everything out in the house that has it.

If he is overweight, you can buy one of those pedometers and just get him to wear it around the house to see how many steps he takes a day. You may find that he will begin to challenge himself by trying to step more each day. If he is then willing to exercise more, move to walking around the block or even joining a support group - some hospitals have outpatients organisations that help people that suffer from diabtetes or heart disease with help in physical activities.

It could be a gradual process, but be patient, and don't try and freak him out with pictures of rotting diabetic ulcers or anything because he may see it as you trying to attack him and his condition.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Provide healthy meals. Influence them by doing the right thing on the line of eating and exercise. Maybe invite to go and exercise sometimes. Walking, swimming, jogging, running, are all great things. If real busy things easy as mowing the lawn get people more active. In the fall raking leaves is great and if you guys get snow shoveling snow can be great work outs. Parking at a farther parking spot rather than the one right by the door influences walking. And taking the stairs rather than the elevator provides more exercise. Try and get your relative to the doctor to make sure everything is ok every now and then. Salads are a great way to start off lunches or dinners along with other fruits and vegetables. Fruits are a great "sweet" treat and can sometimes satisfy sweet tooth cravings. Good Luck

Answer 4

First you can get rid of the the "junk food" in the house. Forget sugary foods your relative should be eating a lot of vegetables and foods that are lower in carbs. If he needs to have sweats most big drug stores have a diabetic section with "healthy sweats" that he can eat. Fish and chicken are great. Brown breads, brown rice are also good. Second if your relative does not like to do exercises maybe you can start going for walks with him. Most people forget that they are exercising when they are walking. Has his doctor spoken to him about attending nutritional diabetic workshops? He should monitor his sugar level at least once a day.

Answer 5

I have the same situation with my sister, who, although she is diabetic, is also a compulsive overeater. She will consume a bag of candy bars if she becomes upset with me. What I do when she's in my home is provide the right kind of foods and hide (if there are any in the house) sugary, high-fat, or high carb treats. What I found that she was willing to do, is add a high quality whey protein shake to her morning routine at my request, starting her day off with a good balance of protein, fiber, carbs, good fat, and minerals. It has helped her feel better, and makes snacking less tempting.

Answer 6

Cure Diabetes Problems Naturally : http://www.DiabetesKeyBook.com/Access

Answer 7

Rule One: You can't save someone who doesn't want saving.

Rule Two: When in doubt, refer to Rule One.

If your blood sugar is high, it's because the sugar isn't getting into the cells. The cells are starving for energy. As a result, you really crave sweets.

What you have to do is knock down the sugar level. If he's on insulin, he may need to take larger doses. If he's taking a sulfonylureas (meds which goose the pancreas into making more insulin), he may need a larger dose, or he may need to start taking insulin.

Biguanides (meds like Glucophage/Metformin) don't solve the problem of getting energy to the cells. They can reduce the damage done by high blood sugar, such as damage to the eyes or to other blood vessels, but they don't do a doggoned thing about cellular starvation. And they make you exhausted, which means you resist getting *any* exercise. I refuse to take Metformin any more.

Thiazolidinediones (Actos and Avandia) improve insulin resistance, and really looked like the best answer, until some bad news came out recently. You can use Actos if you're on insulin, but not Avandia, and Avandia has gotten all the bad press, but I'm not sure Actos is a lot better. I stopped taking Actos, and my doctor didn't fight me on that one.

The other diabetes meds - Precose, Glyset, Prandin, Starlix, and Januvia - have not won over the hearts of diabetics and their doctors.

So you're really pretty limited in what prescription drugs can do for Type 2 diabetes.

Taking a gram (1000 mg) or six of ground cinnamon (cassia) daily is a non-prescriptive treatment that really seems to help. I take two grams, myself. Researchers at Purdue and Penn State think "Congugated Linoleic Acid" makes a big difference. The richest dietary source is the fat in grass-fed hogs and cattle - but farmers feed them corn these days, not grass. I buy the biggest-dosage capsules - maybe they are 800 mg? - and take one a day. If there is a shortage of chromium in the diet, taking chromium helps - but I can't see that it does any good for me.

The ADA - meaning the American *Dietetic* Association - wants to put diabetics on a strict "exchange" diet. Have you ever heard that if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail? The ADA, however - meaning the American Diabetes Association - notes while losing 10% of your body weight may improve your blood sugar levels, that weight-loss diets aren't very successful. The stress of trying to do the impossible isn't going to do a diabetic any good.

So we come to exercise. There is no question that exercise will do a diabetic good. There is also no question that going on an exercise program is *definitely* a bad idea for many diabetics. It puts a significant load on the heart and the kidneys when you start exercising, and many diabetics simply aren't up to it.

What you *can* do is to slowly start getting more active. Getting up during TV commercials, and getting a drink of ice water is a decent start - and it guarantees that you will get up and go to the john fairly often, too. You should wait until this routine gets fairly well established before you move to anything more involved - unless the doctor OKs it.

The biggest single thing you could do is to encourage him to take his blood sugar regularly. The cost of test strips and a lancet runs about $1 per test, so that may be a problem, even after insurance pays for 80% of the cost. However, I'd be *very* careful about pressing him to change the way he's eating, etc. He's free, white and 21, as they used to say, and if he has the knowledge of what his blood sugar is running, then it's his decision, not yours, as to what he does with the information.

Sugary treats may not be the problem you think they are. Hard candies actually don't pump that much sugar into the blood stream, and it leaves again, quickly. The big bad substances for most diabetics are fruit juice and pizza, both of which shoot the blood sugar sky high, and keep it there for a long time.

Go with him to the doctor, next time he goes, and ask the doctor about blood sugar levels. The official answer is that you're supposed to keep your blood sugar in the normal range - which used to be 80-120 and now many are saying is 80-110. In practice, twenty years ago, the idea was to keep it below 200, and that may be a worthwhile goal to shoot for.

Ask the doctor at what level of blood sugar, you should worry about ketoacidosis. Ask also at what blood sugar level, you should get your uncle to the hospital for treatment. This is both for your uncle's education and for yours.

Oh, and before I forget it? Don't forget Rule One. You really need to be helping your uncle do what *he* wants to do, not trying to substitute your judgment for his. Diabetics tend to be fractious, so you want to make it VERY clear to your uncle that you know HE is in charge of his health care.

Answer 8

I think all the advice is great but you know what? The person you are trying to help has to want the help. He has to want to control what is happening to his body and he needs to learn to control the things he can control. Until he gets this desire, you can talk til you are blue in the face and not do a lot of good. It has to start with him and then you can step in and help.

Answer 9

How about some vacuuming? If he doesn't want to accept the help, I know a diabetic with about an inch of dog fur on the floor that would take you up on the offer.

Answer 10

encouraged him to regular intake of his meds, always remind him to wear slippers anywhere, avoid tight fitting footwears, try to offer him Splenda than the white sugar, try to offer sugar less foods, and avoid carbo rich foods for it also converts in too sugar, try to emphatize with him by going along with him in his diet and exercise