How and What to Eat When You Have Diabetes or Alzheimer

Are you suffering from diabetes? Are you having heart problems? If so, what and how do you eat? Do you stop eating sugar? When you are ill, nutrition and physical activity plays an important role but also for the small pleasure it provides. The following article will try to provide you the answers to the following diseases: diabetes and alzheimer.

NOTE: This article serves only as a guide. The final decision for your nutrition rests in the hand of your treating doctor.


Nutrition and Diabetes

Taking medications and following the doctor's recommendations are necessary to prevent further complications which may endanger yourself. To be effective, it is important to respect the schedule of taking your medications or taking your insulin injections after you have eaten because these two are related.


Health Guidelines for the diabetics

• Supervise your weight strictly. A stable weight is the best guarantee that you are eating well, not too much or too less.


• Eat at regular hours. Eat 3 times per day. Don't jump meals.


• Avoid unhealthy snacking.


• There is a "myth" that if you are suffering from diabetes, you must eat less. This is not a verified fact. On the contrary, it will destabilise your system. Just eat your usual quantity but including only nutritive elements in your meal.


• Limit the consumption of sugar and fat. If you want to eat a sweet food, eat it after having eaten something (never on an empty stomach), ideally at the end of a meal.


• Eat starchy foods only to your appetite.


• Do not limit the intake of dairy products. Eat 2 or 3 dairy products per day.

Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia is a decrease of your blood sugar level. This is a very frequent event which can have grave consequences if not treated promptly. It is generally preceded by signs like: perspiration, nervousness and shakiness, acceleration of the heart's pace, dizziness or light-headedness, sleepiness, confusion, difficulty speaking, feeling of weakness.


How to react

• You must eat sugar immediately to increase your blood sugar level. For example, you can take 2 teaspoons of honey or a glass of fruit juice. The problem is when a person has the following signs, he/she doesn't normally know what is happening to him/her.


• Every relapse of your blood sugar level must be communicated to your doctor so that he/she can make a change to your treatment.


• Make sure you have a regular physical activity.


• Do not start bilge eating sugar after you have a bout of hypoglycemia.

Other problems

If you are diabetic, the following signs necessitates the help of a doctor:

• constant fatigue over a period of several days.


• a sudden loss in weight.


• a permanent sensation of thirst.


• nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain.


• deterioration of mental capacity.


• muscular cramps.

Dehydration

A diabetic has a tendency to dehydrate as soon as his/her blood sugar level increases. It is therefore necessary for a diabetic to drink a lot of water and even more if his/her blood sugar level is more than 2g/litre.


Nutrition and Alzheimer

Even if there is no cure for alzheimer actually, it is possible to reduce its progress. Following the nutrition and eating habits closely of a person suffering from alzheimer is very important because most of the time, the person is either forgetting to eat or is eating the same thing over and over again or even refuses to eat.


General advices

• As stated above for diabetes, follow the weight of the person suffering from alzheimer strictly.


• Enrich the meal with more nutrients like adding more vegetables to the meal if you notice the person eating less or losing weight.


• Encourage the person to move. A daily physical activity allow the person to have a peaceful sleep at night and thus prevents the inversion of the circadian rhythm or day/night rhythm. A circadian rhythm is a roughly-24-hour cycle in the physiological processes of living beings, including plants, animals, fungi and cyanobacteria.


• Follow a pattern of eating at certain times of the day, everyday.


• Make sure the person is sitting at the same place everytime he/she is eating.


• Do not vary the dishes too much.


• Remove any distractions during meal time such as turning off the radio or television.


• Make sure that the room is well lit. This reassures the person and increases his /her concentration on the meal.


• If possible, eat with the person.


• Sometimes you have to make the person eat the food. If he/she is not opening the mouth, place the spoon with the food gently on his/her lips.


• If the person is not chewing his/her food properly, prepare some light foods and encourage he/she to chew by talking with him/her. Make sure also that his/her teeth are in good order.

Make eating easier

In certain cases, the person suffering from alzheimer has trouble focusing and cannot sit down for a meal, which can disturb his eating habits. Provide the person with meals that do not require a fork, knife or spoon and can be taken anywhere.

• home-made sandwiches combining green vegetables like lettuces, tomatoes, mushrooms, chicken, cheese, eggs, fish.


• uncooked vegetables sticks.


• sausages, meat/fish balls.


• pizzas.


• biscuits, pancakes, cakes without eating fruits.

Taking care of a person suffering from either of the above illness is very tiring psychologically, even more if it is a parent, your partner or your "child". Make sure you also are eating well, follow your weight and do not hesitate to ask for help.