I’ve started a series called “Confessions of a Nutritionist” . Posts are up on Fridays

“My mom has diabetes, and I’m not helping her as I should”

Here I said it. A little dirty secret. I feel ashamed to say that out loud, but I have to get it out of my system. How can I do this to my mom? It’s killing me.

Her blood sugar level is under control, but she needs help sometimes. She is taking a blood sugar control drug. And you know what? I’m not sure what else she is taking now. She is keep updating me, if she get a higher dose, or change the drug. But I feel “ugh mom” I’m not an expert in diabetes. I don’t know if this the right one for you, or not.

Why mom has diabetes in the first place?

lets back in time, My mom is living a healthy lifestyle, since I was aware what this is means. She is not a fan of heavy desserts, chocolate, or even refined carbohydrates like white rice, and white bread. She always cooks a meal that has veggies in it, or has a salad for a side. And she does extensive cleaning everyday, walking 20-30 minutes every time she can. So why you diabetes “little monster” got into my mom’s body?

She has a family history of diabetes. A bad one, unfortunately! And the truth is that my two uncles, died of complications of uncontrolled diabetes, is so hard to digest. So she has the heredity factor, the age one, and the weight one. She is not obese, but the thing is, she has the ugly kind of fats, the ones on the waist line.

What I believe is that STRESS is got her way. She is too caring, and loving mother. She worries about everything, every family member, a husband, and the house that needs to be cleaned. And as every normal family, mine went under some challenging problems that caused constant stress for my mom for months or even years. It is much better now though!

I believe it’s so important to relief the stress, by any possible means. But mom can’t do it, and that’s make her vulnerable to inflammation, and hormonal imbalance.  Under stress, body release the hormone Cortisol to cope with the immediate danger (Any conflict, or problem in daily life) that cause blood sugar level to increase (Cortisol stimulate the breakdown of glycogen stores to release more sugar in the blood stream). And that leads to more insulin secretion, and put the pancreas under lots of pressure. And its a cycle, so the more this happened, scientists believed that increase the risk of diabetes. Or even make the situation worse for anyone who is already diabetic.

So, what should I do?

I can’t give advice to mom, how to live healthy. Or what food to pick. Yes I do help, and keep her updated whenever I read interesting studies. But as she ages, it becomes harder to control. Especially, I can’t get her out of the stress.

I’m not a clinical nutrition. I liked the nutrition therapy courses I had in college, but that was long time ago. I even had a training in a well-known hospital, but I wasn’t the one who is prescribe drugs for diabetic patients. Now things have changed dramatically.

So maybe reading more about diabetes? Asking experts? Do I need to talk to her dr? Why I didn’t do that already?!! I was there two months ago, but I was so absorbed in my little vacation, that I didn’t really take my mom’s illness seriously!

I feel guilty. I’m not the good dietitian to my own mother!

I will make long revisions, about drugs for diabetes. Reading blogs about coping with diabetes by diabetic dietitians ( I came across some before, but I can find it anymore! ). I’m not letting her doing a low cal-low carb diet. I’m not letting her counting every bite she eats. Or should I?

I just keep making excuses for myself, that it’s okay I’m not much of a helper. Should I promise to do more? What If I can’t keep it? God help me!

Do you deal with anyone who suffer from diabetes? Are you a dietitian /nutritionist and can give me some trusted resources? I would love to hear from!