But Isn’t She a Diabetic?

The choices one makes as an individual with type 1 diabetes regarding food(or the mother of a child with type 1 diabetes) are not choices that should be spotlighted with intent to denigrate said choices.

A person with diabetes (or a child with diabetes) should not (and in my family will not) be limited in their food choices merely due to the presence of sugar (or other simple carbohydrates). For those who are not aware, the dietary guidelines for type 1 diabetes are extremely individualized and very much different (and at times contrary to) from the dietary guidelines for a person with type 2 diabetes controlling their blood sugars with diet.

You may (and should) refrain from raised, questioning eyebrows in response to any mention of cake consumption in my family. We can, and do (but not necessarily often) eat cake in my household. We are particularly fond of tiramisu, which may be one limiting factor in regards to our cake consumption. Please note that the limiting factors in regards to the “sweets we eat” typically does not include the fact that two individuals in my home have “the diabetes.” Typical limiting factors of “the sweet” include:

1. Refusal to eat green beans (You can’t have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat (veggies.))
2. Prior “sweet” ingestion in that same day.
3. Whether or not we like the “sweet” in question.
4. Time and motivation to “prepare the sweet.”

I have diabetes. She has diabetes. Wouldn’t you like to have diabetes, too? (sung to a tune, you know the tune.)