Eating Habits for Diabetes: Family Is Key

Eating habits, for diabetes, is the foundation for optimal management.

And for eating habits change to be successful, the role of family is key.

There is a saying that it takes a village to raise a child. From my experience coaching patients with diabetes to change their eating habits, I would add, that for people with diabetes to adopt eating habits to beat their diabetes, it would take the family to be recruited to be board as well.

When it comes to adopting and sustaining better eating habits for diabetes, the role of the family is not a side factor. It is central. The people you live with, eat with, and share mealtimes with have more influence over your success than any diet plan or food chart ever could.

Watch my video below, or read on.

People Who Live Together Eat Together

People who live together tend to eat together. Over time, they develop the same eating habits together. Often including the bad ones.

So when a person with diabetes decides to change their food habits, something predictable happens. They suddenly find themselves the odd one out at every meal.

They may be the only one at the table eating brown rice while everyone else has white rice. They may be the only one having to turn down the sweet desserts the family has enjoyed together for years. They may be trying carefully at home, only to find that every family outing involves going to eating places that only serve foods that not aligned with the diabetes beating eating habits that they are trying so hard to practise.

This is not just inconvenient. It is demoralising. And it is one of the most common reasons why people with diabetes struggle to change to, and subsequently maintain the eating habits changes that their health depends on.

What My Patients Tell Me

I have heard so many versions of this story in my clinic.

One patient told me: "Doctor, my wife is unhappy that I am no longer eating and enjoying the cakes and sweet desserts that she likes to make."

Another said: "My children and my husband refuse to try the brown rice that I am now cooking. So I have no choice but to continue eating white rice at home. It is too troublesome to cook a small portion of brown rice just for myself at family mealtimes."

And another: "My husband and I are die-hard foodies. We love eating out together often. But many of our favourite foods and eating places are not good for my diabetes. It is very difficult for me to change my food habits unless my husband changes his too. But he loves his food too much and is reluctant to do that."

Every time I hear these things, it saddens me. Because the person with diabetes is trying very hard to practise eating habits to better control their blood sugar, to prevent the complications of diabetes, but the people they love the most, and whom I am sure love them most as well, are not as supportive as they needed to be. 

Family Members Are Either Pillars or Obstacles

This is the honest truth I share with my patients.

When it comes to practising better eating habits for diabetes, family members, especially spouses and children in the same household, will either be pillars of support or they will become obstacles that derail and discourage.

And from my experience as a doctor and coach, family members are more often obstacles than supporters. Not intentionally, not consciousness. More out of not understanding the impact that adopting the right eating habits is so critical for the person in the family with diabetes and how much a role they play in that.

Sometimes I feel like going to my patients' homes to speak to their spouses and children directly. To explain how critical changing food habits is for someone managing diabetes. To plead with them: if you cannot bring yourself to be a supporter, at least try not to be an obstacle. If you cannot be part of the solution, at least try not to be part of the problem.

What Real Support Looks Like

I do also hear the happier stories. They are less common, but they are powerful.

Families who switched from white to brown rice together, as a household decision. Spouses who started looking for eating places with more diabetes-friendly options when eating out. Children who stopped bringing home the sugary snacks that used to tempt their parent with diabetes.

These are not dramatic sacrifices. They are small adjustments. But their impact on the person with diabetes is enormous. Knowing that your family is on this journey with you changes everything.

A Message to the Family of Someone with Diabetes

If you are reading this and you do not have diabetes, but someone in your family does, I want to speak directly to you.

The role of the family in changing eating habits for diabetes cannot be overstated. The meals you share, the food choices you make together, the environment at home, all of these shape whether your family member succeeds or struggles in their efforts to manage their diabetes through better food habits.

You do not have to overhaul your own diet completely. But please be mindful. Please be aware. And if you can, look for small ways to make their journey a little easier rather than harder.

The complications of diabetes are devastating. They are preventable. And the people we love most are often the most powerful medicine available.

When it comes to eating habits and diabetes, family support truly is key.

Learning About Reversing Type 2 Diabetes

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

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

Let Habits be Thy Medicine.

Dr Chan Tat Hon

Related Posts

• Stress, Sleep and Strength: Beyond Dietary Habits for Diabetes
• 7 Ways Stress Affects Your Blood Sugar and Diabetes Control
• Can Diabetes Be Reversed? Dr Chan Answers
• Reversing Type 2 Diabetes: Essential Basics Programme

Video Synopsis

In this episode of The Habits Pharmacy podcast, Dr Chan shares a clinical observation he encounters repeatedly in his diabetes coaching work: that when it comes to adopting and maintaining better eating habits for diabetes, the family plays a decisive role. It is rarely just a personal journey. Dr Chan shares real examples of what his patients have told him, both the discouraging stories and the encouraging ones, and speaks directly to family members about the role they can choose to play.

Full Video Transcript

The following is the full transcript of the video above.

Combating diabetes through eating habits change is a family affair. Do you have diabetes, or do you have family members who have diabetes? If yes, this video is for you. Watch on.

Would you agree with me that for people with diabetes to be able to successfully change their eating habits to better control and combat their diabetes, their family play a very important part? This is what I would like to talk about today on this episode of The Daily Dose.

There is a saying that goes: it takes a village to raise a child. And from my experience coaching patients with diabetes to change their eating habits, it would at least take the entire family to change the eating habits of a person in that family with diabetes.

Hey guys, welcome back to my channel. If you are new here, I am Dr Chan. I am a doctor from Singapore and I am on a mission to awaken and inspire people to take action to unlock the power of habits for health and life. The title of today's episode of The Daily Dose is: Combating Diabetes Through Eating Habits Change Is a Family Affair.

I have worked with many patients, many people with diabetes, coaching them and walking with them in their journeys to change their eating habits to better control and combat their diabetes. And I have come to appreciate that their family members, especially those who are living together with them in the same household, play a very significant, very pivotal role in the ability to successfully change their eating habits. Because people who live together eat together, and over time also develop the same eating habits together, often including the bad ones.

So when people with diabetes embark on the journey to make the necessary changes to their eating habits, they would often suddenly find themselves the odd one out during mealtimes with the family members. Whether they are eating out or eating at home, they may find themselves the only one at the table trying to adjust to eating brown rice instead of white rice. Or they may be the only one in the family trying to cut down on the sweet desserts that their family have grown to enjoy frequently together.

So family members, especially their spouses and children, would either be their pillars of support and encouragement in their eating habits change journeys, or would end up being the obstacles derailing and discouraging them. And sadly, from my experience as a doctor and coach helping people to change and improve their eating habits, family members are more often than not obstacles and discouragement, and are often the reasons why many people with diabetes fail to successfully or adequately change their eating habits to control and combat their diabetes.

I have had patients telling me things like: "Doctor, my wife is unhappy that I am no longer eating and enjoying the cakes and the sweet desserts that she likes to make." Or: "My children and my husband refuse to try to eat the brown rice that I am now cooking, so I have no choice but to continue to eat white rice at home because it is too troublesome to cook a small portion of brown rice just for myself at family mealtimes." Or: "Doctor, my husband and I are die-hard foodies and we enjoy eating out together often. But many of our favourite foods and eating places are actually not good for my diabetes, so it is very difficult for me to change my diet unless my husband changes his too. But he loves his food too much and is reluctant to do that."

It saddens me so much whenever I hear my patients tell me things like that. So sometimes I would even feel like going to their homes to speak to their spouses and children, to counsel them, to tell them how important eating habits change is for people with diabetes, to plead with them that even if they cannot bring themselves to be supporters of their family member who have diabetes in their eating habits change journeys, at least try their best not to be obstacles. If you cannot be part of the solution, at least try not to be part of the problem.

Of course, on the other hand, I sometimes do have patients telling me how supportive their spouses or children had been in their eating habits change, like cutting down on sugar intake or switching from white to brown rice as a family, or their family members making the effort to look out for new eating places that have foods that are more suitable for people with diabetes whenever they eat out together.

But sadly I do not hear this kind of happy stories of supportive family members as often as I would hear of frustrating stories of family members who are discouragement or were still obstacles to my patients when they attempt to change their eating habits to better control and combat their diabetes.

This is why I say combating diabetes through eating habits change is a family affair. And just like the saying about how it takes a village to raise a child, it would also often take an entire family to support the successful change in eating habits of a member of the family who has diabetes.

So to those of you who do not have diabetes but have family members who do, and who are attempting to change their eating habits to better control and combat their diabetes, I cannot emphasize enough the significant role that eating habits play in the health journeys and the health outcomes of people with diabetes. So please do whatever you can, whatever you are willing and able to do, to encourage and support your family member who has diabetes in his or her necessary eating habits change, so as to better control their diabetes and ultimately successfully prevent and combat the many devastating complications of diabetes.

And even if for whatever reasons you are not able to fully support your family member, at least be mindful enough not to be a discouragement or an obstacle in their eating habits change. Like I mentioned earlier, if you cannot be part of the solution, at least try not to be part of the problem.

Combating diabetes through eating habits change truly is a family affair. Lifestyle habits and diabetes is a very big and important topic for people with diabetes. I have devoted many episodes of The Daily Dose show on this. If you have not watched the other videos I have made on lifestyle habits and diabetes, you can click on the link above to go to my lifestyle habits and diabetes playlist of videos. Also, if you would like to be updated whenever I create and upload new videos, you can do so by subscribing to my YouTube channel by pressing the Subscribe button below, or follow my Facebook page if you are watching this on Facebook.

So that is all for this episode of The Daily Dose. I am Dr Chan, and I am on a mission to awaken people to the power of habits. So till the next episode of The Daily Dose, take care and have a blessed day.

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