So how else can I make her tea/coffee sweet? Now that we are in lockdown, she gets bored & keeps asking when's the next meal time. It's still somewhat cold here (compared to weather in India) and she enjoys hot tea/coffee 3 times a day.
I try my best to keep her occupied but this is tiring for me.
I think sugar in the raw, coconut sugar are all equally bad for diabetics, right?
So how is everything going with you and Mom. I assume she will be staying in the states now.
Without very strongly-worded doctor's orders to back me up I wouldn't think of trying to stop your mother having her hot drinks three times a day. Unless she likes it insanely sweet (there was a regular at the coffee bar in the cancer unit who had SIX sugars in hers! Six!!!) it's just not worth making her miserable about.
Does she like chai? I think there's a recipe that uses evaporated milk - the milk isn't sweetened but it is concentrated and has a kind of caramel flavour to it. She'd still want sugar, but maybe less of it.
She doesn't really eat much at a time, so I guess she will be ok.
What is any treatment is Mum getting for her diabetes? Is she on Metformin?
How much sugar does she put in her tea?
I am not from India, but my step dad was, he loved his sweets. He drank sweet tea, coffee and loved Barfi and Gulab Jamun. Luckily he did not develop diabetes before he died.
I know it is hard to find today but my grandmother liked Saccharine. It did not have the after taste that can come from Splenda and Stevia. Other people like Xylitol, but be careful if you have it in your house, it is toxic to dogs.
I saw saccahrine tablets on Amazon. If I let mom have her way, she would gobble up barfi & gulab jamun! And she won't wash hands also after touching these...walks around with sticky hands and say 'it doesn't matter"
Chai masala ratios (Meera Sodha's mother's recipe):
50g ground ginger
25g ground cinnamon
25g ground cloves
15g ground black pepper
15g ground cardamom
N.b. that's the ratio of spices for the mix, not per cup!!!
You mix that lot together (it'll keep six months) then use ¼ teaspoon of it per mug, along with 3 parts water to 1 part milk, 1 proper teabag per person, and sugar to taste. Put them in a pan, stir well, bring to the boil, simmer for one minute and then strain into the mug.
Speaking as an Earl Grey drinker I have to say I think it sounds revolting, but Meera Sodha's food recipes have never let me down yet.
Can you adjust her other carbohydrate foods to keep her BS normal? For example give her less fruit which is high in sugars.
If she can eat a little protein at the same time as the sugar it should help to keep her sugar levels from spiking.
Sugar is sugar. Carbs are carbs.
I eat as few carbs as possible.
I was taken off of metformin last year. My numbers are a little higher than they should be. I let things go during Luz's illness. I am getting things under control again.
Good Luck