Help with stubborn dad - low sugar snacks

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Hello! So my dad was diagnosed type 2 diabetic at the weekend after months of illness that culminated in him and my mom flying home early from holiday and a stay in hospital after an A&E visit. He is the most stubborn person when it comes to doctors and seems to think himself invincible (he had sepsis last year and it still hasn’t scared him into attending checkups and looking after himself).

He was meant to change his diet after having his gallbladder out last year (the source of the sepsis) and he has a bit but not significantly. Obviously now he needs to really make changes to his diet- he has a sweet tooth and already hearing from my mom that he will try his best and just limit himself to ‘little treats’ each day once his blood sugar levels have stabilised. I just worry it’ll creep in and he will not look after himself.

I’m hoping to be able to give him ideas for low-sugar snacks and foods that will satisfy his sweet tooth - he’s an ice cream fiend and lover of chocolate and sweets so going without will be hard and I’m hoping there are some recipes or foods that will be enough to take away that craving without making him poorly.

any help very much appreciated!

My uncle who is type 2 diabetic swears by those sugar free jelly pots or you can also get the cubes and they’re quite nice with fruit set in them too.

Berries!

I’ve used this recipe as a base to make ice cream for him: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-creamy-ice-cream-with-just-one-ingredient-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-93414

although I guess it depends how low sugar your dad needs to be. But I can recommend this recipe, and you can add in different things for flavouring. Peanut butter works really well!

Ice cream is actually not the worst thing because of the high fat content, which slows down the release of the glucose. As a Type 1, I can just have a bit more insulin later on, but that can be difficult for a type 2 on tablets to manage.

I would suggest strawberries (or other berries) with a little cream as an occasional treat, always hits the spot for me. If he really wants something high sugar, have it after a meal because the fat, protein and fibre consumed with the meal will slow down how quickly the sugar raises the blood glucose.

It depends how much he tolerates artificial sweeteners tbh. I found that cutting sugary stuff out completely initially made me lose my sweet tooth.

However I like small amounts of dark chocolate and some of the Kind bars are lowish carb/sugar.

I make some little granola type bars and also chocolate mouse (sugar free cocoa and stevia and double cream) and cookies made with almond flour and dark chocolate chips. Peanut butter is usually fine, I eat it with apple slices.

If you Google keto desserts then you'll find plenty options but they pretty much all involve sweeteners which can give people digestive issues.

I also meant to wish him luck.

With a bit of work he could hopefully get his levels into a better zone. I agree with eating food in the right order too. Start with fibre then protein and fats and then carbs/sugar whenever possible.

I've been low carbing for around a year and my blood glucose is now normal. But I haven't eaten normal type desserts at all.

Kind bars, peanuts and other nuts, protein snacks like chicken bites/cocktail sausages. Quality dark chocolate (80%+). Plain yoghurt. Some fruit - strawberries and blueberries rather than grapes and bananas. Seeds.

There’s a book called carb and calorie counter which helps explain what’s good to eat in a visual way.

I've made home made ice cream using double cream and berries which is really nice. Otherwise use greek yogurt and berries. Just blend and freeze, stirring every couple of hours to avoid crystals.

Give him time, it's really hard when your body craves sugar to go without it and it took me a fair while for my taste buds to adapt. Now I can smell sugar let alone taste it