Eating Out with Diabetes : Dr Chan Shares Common Challenge of Diabetics

People with diabetes face a dilemma every time they are invited to eat out with friends - risk losing control of their blood sugar and face diabetes progression or risk losing friends. Seemingly ludicrous a choice, but yet a very real and common one many diabetics face on a daily basis, especially in Singapore where eating out is almost a national past-time.

Let me use the story of Emily to illustrate this. Emily is not a real patient, hers is a composite case story that I created inspired by my years as a medical doctor coaching people with diabetes to make lifestyle and eating habits change. Emily's story may not be real, but the challenges she faces in the story are common for real diabetics on a everyday basis.

The Story of Emily - Improve Blood Sugar or Eat Out With Friends?

Watch the short video below, and read her story below.

The Diabetics' Eating Out Dilemma

The Composite Case Story of Emily.

Emily has diabetes. At her last clinic visit, her doctor looked at her blood test results and said: "Emily, your latest blood sugar results is not satisfactory, you need to bring it down or risk diabetes progression and diabetic complications. But I am not going to increase your diabetes medications just yet if you are willing to try your best to improve your lifestyle and eating habits for the next two months. We will check your blood sugar then, see if it will improve enough with lifestyle change. Then we can decide again, whether you need to increase your diabetes medications or not."

Emily left the clinic with that weighing on her. Would she be able to improve her lifestyle and eating habits enough to significantly better control her blood sugar or would she have to depend on increasing her diabetes medications? She has 2 months to find out.

Emily's Dilemma - Eat out with Friends or Control Diabetes? 

Emily has a 'problem'. She has a group of close friends. Their shared passion is food. They meet regularly, two to three times a week, to eat together. And the food they love, are almost always the kind of food that is not helpful for diabetes control, because they tend to be either high in sugar or starch.

Emily sees three options in front of her.

Option 1: Talk openly to her group of foodie friends. Tell them about her need to improve her diet to control her diabetes better, and ask for their understanding and support. Ask if they would be willing to choose eating places and dishes that are a little more friendly for her blood sugar. 

Option 2: Say nothing to her friends. But quietly go out with them less often. Reduce the frequency of these gatherings for the next two months. Use that space to build better eating habits on her own terms, away from the social pressure of the group.

Option 3: Accept that changing her diet is probably too difficult given her social life. Accept that the medication increase is likely coming. Choose the path of least resistance.

Which should she choose? 

And more importantly, what would you choose, if you have diabetes and face the same dilemma as Emily?

What I Would Not Do If I Were Emily

If I were Emily, I would never choose Option 3. From my years of experience as a medical doctor coaching and supporting people with diabetes to make lifestyle and dietary changes, I see at close range the devastation that diabetes complications wreck on the lives of diabetics.

And option 3, that of depending on increased medications to control blood sugar without tackling the underlying lifestyle and eating habits causing the high blood sugar, does not fully minimise the risk of diabetes progression and diabetic complications.

Once diabetes wreck damage on organs, in the form of diabetic complications, the damage is often non-reversible. 

So to every person with diabetes out there, allow me to say this - The window to prevent diabetes complications do not remain open forever. Do everything you can to keep diabetic complications at bay before the window to do so closes.

Option 3 - Depending solely on medications and the inevitable increase use over time to control blood sugar may appear like the easiest option but it is certainly not the wisest one.

If You Have Diabetes, What Would You Choose?

Emily's story may be a composite I created from what I see coaching people with diabetes. But the dilemma she faced is a real one many diabetics face on a regular basis. 

If you have diabetes, and you are facing the same dilemma as Emily, which is to continue to eat out with friends, accepting that the food choices at such gatherings are bad for your diabetes control or make 'harder' choices to live life to the full without compromising your battle against diabetes?

Regardless of the choice you would make, I just want to highlight once again, the complications of diabetes takes away years from life and life from years, but they can be prevented or at least minimised with optimal lifestyle and eating habits. A lifestyle that is enjoyable and a lifestyle that is optimised to combat diabetes - they are not incompatible. They may not be natural bedfellows, but with effort and persistence, it is entirely possible to have a lifestyle that is both fully enjoyable and also at the same time fully optimised to combat diabetes. Not easy, but entirely achievable. And I want to encourage you to try, and to keep trying to do that, because it matters.

Learning About Reversing Type 2 Diabetes

If you have Type 2 diabetes and are not as equipped with the essential foundational knowledge about reversing Type 2 diabetes as you should be, I have a structured online learning programme that you might find very useful. You can find out more through the link below.

Find out more about the Reversing Type 2 Diabetes: Essential Basics - Structured Online Learning Programme Here

Related Posts

• Can Type 2 Diabetes Be Reversed? Dr Chan Answers
• Eating Habits and Diabetes: Why Family Is the Key
• Diabetes Support: 3 Things That Actually Help

About Dr Chan Tat Hon

Dr Chan graduated from the National University of Singapore medical school in 1992. For the last ten years, his work has focused on lifestyle medicine. He works with healthcare and corporate organisations to design and deliver lifestyle behaviour change programmes, train health coaches and build communities engaged in cultivating healthy behaviours to combat diseases.

He also provides training and coaching to individuals with diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases and other lifestyle-related chronic diseases through 1-1 personalised coaching, live webinars, and online courses.

• 1-1 Personalised Coaching with Dr Chan
• Online Courses and Programmes by Dr Chan
• Reversing Type 2 Diabetes: Essential Basics Online Programme

About This Video

In this short video, I present a diabetes case study about a patient named Emily. Emily's blood sugar control has slipped and her doctor has given her two months to improve through lifestyle and eating habits changes before considering a medication increase. Her dilemma: her social life revolves around eating out with a group of foodie friends. I walk through three options she is considering and share what I would do if I were in her position.

Full Video Transcript

The following is the full transcript of the video above.

Today's diabetes case study is about Emily. Emily has diabetes and she is facing a dilemma. See if you can help her. The background of this case study is this. Emily's diabetes has been well controlled until recently. At the recent follow-up with her doctor, her doctor said to her: "Emily, your latest blood test results shows that your blood sugar control is not good. But I will not increase the dosage of your diabetes medications for now. Let's do a re-test in two months. And in the next two months, try your best to improve your lifestyle and eating habits to better control your blood sugar. And if there is enough to bring your blood sugar down to more ideal levels, great. But if your blood test in two months time still shows poor blood sugar control, then we would have to discuss and perhaps consider increasing the dosage of your diabetes medications."

Emily left her doctor's clinic in a dilemma. Emily's dilemma is this. She has a group of very close friends who share a common passion: food. And they meet at least two to three times a week to eat. And almost invariably over food that are obviously not good for her diabetes control. "What should I do?" Emily thought to herself. "Should I ask my friends for their support to avoid choosing eating places or foods that are obviously not good for my diabetes for regular gatherings? Would they even agree? Would they be unhappy? Even if they do agree, should I just go out less often with this group of foodie friends so as to give myself a better chance of changing and improving my eating habits? Or should I just accept that increasing the dosage of my diabetes medications would be the easiest choice, because changing and improving my diet to improve my blood sugar control would probably be too difficult?"

If you were Emily, what would you do? Which of these three options would you choose? Number one: ask your group of foodie friends for understanding and support as you try to change your diet. Or number two: change how often you go out with that group of foodie friends. Or number three: just resign yourself to accepting that change in diet might be too difficult and just accept that increasing the dosage of the diabetes medications is inevitable and perhaps the easiest option.

If you were Emily, which of these three options would you choose to do? Can I ask that you share your thoughts in the comments section below.

If I were Emily, regardless of whether my friends are going to be supportive or not, I would not give up the opportunity of being able to improve my blood sugar control through eating habits change and improvements so as to avoid the need for increasing the dosage of my diabetes medications, whilst the window remain open to still do so. Because health is precious. And when it comes to lifestyle related chronic conditions such as diabetes, we must not depend on the use of medications alone to control and manage the condition. We must unlock the power of lifestyle and eating habits to optimally manage and combat lifestyle related chronic conditions such as diabetes.

I'm Dr Chan. Let Habits be Thy Medicine. Eat Well and Be Well.

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