Dad is now diabetic and will be on insulin. Where is a good place to look for senior diabetic recipes?

Oh, I forgot to add that if your dad is social and would like to get out and socialize, there are support meetings for Type II diabetics. You can get info on this from an Endocrinologist. The group meets and discuss their experiences and feelings. He might enjoy it.

And, if he is Type II, he may eventually need insulin, but most can just take pills.

I'm a Type I diabetic and therefore take insulin to control my blood sugar, since I make no insulin. It's somewhat different for Type II diabetics, but still, I will share what I have learned over the years. My Endocrinologists are top notch and located at a major medical school (UNC).

My doctors told me that there isn't a diabetic diet anymore. Just eat a moderate diet of all foods. Don't deprive yourself. Don't overdo it. Sugar free or low sugar is not what most people think. Sugar free candy still has carbs and carbs count for blood sugar purposes. Even sugar free recipes still have carbs. I don't bother with anything sugar free except for jello and soft drinks, which I try to limit.

I would encourage you to meet with a Certified Diabetic Educator. They can explain how the carbs and blood sugar work. You already have a medical background, so you may already know a lot about this. A nutritionist may also be helpful for you. I doubt your dad would get much from it.

HOWEVER, after saying all of that, I will also say that if a senior wants to eat poorly, there is not much you can do about it. I would stop trying to control your dad's diet. As a senior, it's my feeling that they should eat what they want. It's not easy being the cookie police. Trying to control his diet would seem to be very stressful and counterproductive. Nagging doesn't help. If you can't fix it, then why continue to cause anxiety? If he gets diabetes, he will go on meds or have his meds increased. It's one issue I would not put too much focus on. Encourage him to eat healthy and then let it go. It might make him less stressed and his food choices may improve. I'm not sure if he has dementia, but if so, then it's even more difficult to control, unless he's homebound.

Your answer is Web MD.

Fifteen years ago or so I attended a class by a certified diabetic educator, when my husband was first diagnosed. Someone in the class asked for the name of a good diabetic cookbook. The answer was, "Any cookbook that shows nutrient values is excellent for use for people with diabetes." And that makes sense, doesn't it? There are no "diabetic" foods and no foods a person with diabetes can't eat. And if you know the nutrients, especially the carb amount and calories, you can adjust portion sizes and combine foods appropriately.

A person with diabetes can eat corn on the cob and mashed potatoes and a dinner roll and buttered squash and a piece of chocolate cake. But not at the same meal, please! Same for a person who is trying to loose weight. A good, healthy diet for the average person is a good healthy diet for a person with diabetes, too -- with perhaps some adjustments. If your dad's clinic offers self-care classes for newly diagnosed diabetics, attend them with him if you can.

That is the answer to the easy part of your questions, tgengine.

This is the harder part: "I remind him all the time to eat right. He won't listen." I'd say stop reminding him. He is not your child that you are trying to teach. He is your father. As an adult he is entitled to make is own decisions about what he eats. You do all the cooking so you have a great opportunity to influence what is available to eat, without lecturing or reminding or nagging. You are not in charge of what he orders at restaurants, or how often he goes. Just let those things go. I'd encourage Dad to attend whatever courses his clinic offers, so he is making informed decisions, and so he is hearing it from objective professionals. But then it is up to him what to do with that information.

You didn't mention any mental impairments. That might change my answer a bit. But as it is, cook healthy meals the both of you can eat. And give up the idea that you are in charge of his food intake.

My apologizes then...

The American Diabetes Association has a very informative website, you might want to check there for cookbooks, tips on meal planning and an online community for advice.

There are many good and easy low carb recipes on the Internet. There are also cookbooks on Amazon dedicated to low carb living. Low carb is the way to go whether ketogenic, Atkins, or South Beach.

When I had gestational diabetes, insurance paid for a diabetic clinic and a nutritionist was part of the protocol. I walked out with a listing of calories per day, how food exchanges are calculated, and some prep ideas. If insurance would pay for that and you could attend as caregiver, that would be another underline that the condition was serious. There is also a meal delivery service that only does meals that are diabetically ok as alternative to meals on wheels. No direct knowledge, but have a friend who swears by it.

Many diabetics have been helped by the ketogenic diet, which is low carbohydrate and high fat. You might want to research it. There are many good video lectures and discussions about it on YouTube, as well as recipes. There are also websites with recipes. Now there are cookbooks available as well through Amazon or certain "keto" websites..

Ferris, you have given this opinion before, but no where does it say that Aging Care is a site exclusively for those with dementia, and sniping at posters is neither nice or helpful.
To quote the admins "Our team also includes elder care experts who actively participate in the caregiver community, answering your questions and sharing their expertise in all aspects of elder care."

Wasnt mentioned in OP but people can have eating disorders and dementia at the same time.....

So sad. Forks over knives has some.....addiction is really hard on everyone. Its impossible to change people, so take care of you! Finding good healthy recipies balanced meals, etc is good....I myself have found that trying to control another persons addiction doesnt work. I had to detatch and let it go. When a persons own life becomes impossible for THEM they will make changes. Might be worth checkking out some proffessional help or peer support gruops for families with a member who has addiction or eating disorders. Al anon is also almost free....for some people, myself included, food is the drug of choice. I recovered from that many years ago, and reversed my diabetes, but some people in my family who tried to control my food only added to the problem......cooking healthy for the family is fine. Any online recipes that are low fat, with protien, veggies..some carbs like beans are ok....but the rest is on him. Its about the food, but its not about the food! :-) Good luck!

This is a website for caregivers of those with dementia, we are not diet consultants. Go to your local library.

Diabetic Living has a great site for recipes. I found thousands of these diabetic recipes doing a google search. Enjoy - you sure don't have to sacrifice good taste to make these recipes healthy.

There may be cookbooks like that out there, but really it is just using common sense. I think you will have more success if you try to modify the kinds of foods he likes. You already know you have to try to limit his portion size... maybe try buying those little halloween size bags of doritos occasionally rather than the family size bag or some of those lite ice cream bars on occasion instead of a whole tub.
Subbing oven fried for deep fried, 2% or skim milk for full fat and cream, using lite mayo, dressings and butter, increasing whole grains, (high fiber pasta is really quite good now) and decreasing processed foods and white flour are good first steps.