Well - my husband has just been diagnosed with Type II diabetes. He’s on Glycophage & Lipitor and we’ve got a class scheduled in 3 weeks… what do I need to know in the meantime?
Specifically - what dietary recommendations do y’all have. Just to make things interesting - he’s a PICKY eater whose favorite restaurant is McDonald’s. Two cheeseburger meal with extra cheese, XL Coke & XL fries… 
I’ve got my work cut out for me & can use any suggestions/support/etc.
Thanks!
Sorry that I don’t have time to give you a reply just now. I suggest, though, that you check out the American Diabetes Association and their internal link on “healthy living”. Another good resource is at the NIDDK.
Someone with more expertise will come along presently, but I can give you some idea. My dad is diabetic, so I have some experience with the diet.
Basically, there are two goals: To maintain a healthy weight and to regulate blood sugar.
So the diet is really just an extention of what we all know a healthy diet is: Low fat, high fiber, lots of fruits and vegetables. My dad needs to eat at least two vegetables at every meal. He also needs to limit breads, especially white bread, sweets and starches.
He can have sugar, even an occasional alcoholic drink, but it needs to be balanced with other things. So McDonald’s needs to be an occasional treat, not a daily thing and the meal you describe is out of the question, if he wants to stay healthy. If he wants Coke, it’s going to have to be diet.
Exercise is also very important, not only to help maintain weight, but to help keep circulation healthy. Unregulated diabetes can have devastating effects, including losing toes, feet or even legs.
One piece of unsolicited advice: He’s a grown-up. It’s his body. Don’t let him turn you into the bad mommy who won’t let him eat his favorite foods. He’s got to take the lion’s share of the responsibility.
My father also is a recently diagnosed diabetic. When he was diagnosed, she threw away all the carbohydrate snacks and sugary sodas from the house and refuses to buy them at the market. She took it upon herself to make sure he remained in good health by not introducing tempting foods into the house.
IAAD, type I, though. Spent a couple years as type II.
The very short form of a good diabetic diet is: Divide the plate into half. Divide one half in half so you’ve got a half and two quarters. Put vegetables on the half, starch in one quarter, meat in one quarter. He can eat at MacDonalds so long as he gets a large salad and only one hamburger.
Scale this up if he’s a big eater, but bear in mind that the more he eats, the harder it will be to maintain control. Not impossible, just more difficult.
Find some exercise he can do several times a week if he’s not already exercising. I started out walking for an hour, several days a week, then started doing stairmaster & weight training, then got into karate and kendo classes. Ironically enough, aside from the diabetes, I’m in the best shape of my life (I’m 40).
Once he’s gotten the instructions on testing his blood sugars, he needs to test fairly often until he learns how his body feels at various levels, and then retest every once in a while to make sure he’s remembering the feelings right.
As much as possible, you (he) should cook, rather than eating out. Unless you are VERY careful, eating out (or even cooking packaged meals) is not as healthy as assembling meals from your own ingredients, where you have much better control over how much sugar goes into the food.
Something I figured out on my own: keep an eye on anything they make bread, oil, sugar, or booze out of. They’re all pure carbos and/or fat.
I take care of three elderly diabetic folks in my home. Like Karl said, the American Diabetes Association will be an excellent source of information. It’s too bad that hubby is a picky eater: if he’d like to keep his appendages and eyesight, he’s just going to have to learn to follow the diet. Fortunately, once you’re familiar with the guidelines, you’ll find zillions of recipes on the internet to help with variety. Recipe magazines also point out which recipes are low in fat and carbs.
My helpful hints of the day: “sugar free” cookies and snacks raise the blood sugar almost as badly as the real thing. One exception I’ve found is no-sugar-added ice cream, and by a bit of experimentation I’ve found a brand that is just yummy. Sugar free gum and candies like sugar free Jolly Ranchers are good for that occasional sweet tooth. As far as Cokes go, Diet Dr. Pepper tastes less “diet-y” than other diet soft drinks.
If he’ll follow the ADA diet for a while, his tastes should change so that he craves no-no foods less and less. At our house, we all eat an 1800 ADA diet, even though my husband and I and our kids aren’t diabetic. My kids are so used to it that they don’t even ask for junk food.
I’m a Type 1.
The big thing is to keep the blood sugar under control. To do that, you need to learn the things that increase it the most. This can be accomplished by regular testing. When you first start out, you should be testing your blood sugar a lot. Most insurance will cover the test strips, and some plans will cover the tester too.
Here are the things that really boost my blood sugar.
Potatoes
Corn (especially popcorn)
Bread
Mangoes (through the roof, baby)
Rice
YMMV. In general, stay away from fast-food and prepackaged snacks. Meats and fresh veggies are OK, fruits and fats are ok in moderation. Don’t eat sugar if you can avoid it. Drink diet soft drinks. It takes about two weeks to get used to them. After that, they’ll taste good to you and the regular sodas will taste thick and flat. learn to drink your coffee black. Again, it takes a week or two to get used to.
Start exercising. Walking is great for lowering blood sugar. Go for 40 minute walks about 3 times a week to start if your not used to exercise.