The evidence is in: The link between blood sugar/insulin and Alzheimer’s disease is so strong that Alzheimer’s can reasonably be called type 3 diabetes.
So what does that mean for senior citizens? It means eating right and watching your blood sugar are lifelong tasks. And what does it mean for how we help take care of our clients at Stay at Home? It means we will stress nutrition as a way of maintaining your mind as well as your body.
This isn’t necessarily true for everyone. We do have clients very near the end of life, and if these clients find comfort in sugary foods, then we’re happy to accommodate them.
But we have many clients who can reasonably expect to live for years, or even decades. It is for these clients that we stress nutrition. So here are our rules of thumb:
If it’s white, don’t eat it. This applies to foods such as
- White bread
- White rice
- White flour
- Sugar
It’s also a good idea to eat what your ancestors ate, including
- Lean meat
- Nuts and berries
- Fruit and vegetables.
Here are some other good rules of thumb:
- Avoid red meat and fruit juice.
- Get most of your carbohydrates from vegetables instead of fruit, which is high in sugar.
- Stay away from all kinds of sugar.
Finally, take care of yourself when you’re not at the dining table as well. This includes getting plenty of exercise (walking is fine) and spending as much time as you can in a positive social environment.
If you work with us, we will be delighted to help guide your healthy lifestyle. If not, these simple rules of thumb should help you live a life that you enjoy.
Information for this post comes from Andy Houck, owner and administrator of Stay at Home of Loudon.