According to the American Diabetes Association, diabetes now affects 25.8 million Americans. It’s a major health concern and a mounting problem for the country as a whole, especially for the rapidly expanding senior population.
More than 23 percent of Americans aged 60 and older have diabetes. In fact, an estimated 50 percent of the cases of adult onset diabetes (type 2) occur in those over 55 years of age. Seniors are far more likely to have complicating conditions that result from diabetes, including kidney problems, blindness, heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure.
Once diabetic complications start setting in, it’s a matter of time before Grandma and Grandpa choose to live in a retirement facility where staff can help out with their day-to-day care.
The Food Will Never Be Good Ole Home Cooking
However, no matter how great a retirement center is, it’s still not home sweet home where the smell of roasted chicken, freshly-baked bread, chocolate chip cookies and Apple Pie is enough to entice those with the worst appetites to eat. And if you’ve ever visited some of these retirement facilities, you’d wonder yourself what the mystery meat is and whether or not anything is made from scratch. Is it all just processed food?
You don’t have to be up-to-date on the Paleolithic Diet or be a follower of the Weston Price Foundation to know that the more processed foods anyone eats, the faster the decline in his or her health. These effects are no different for Grandma and Grandpa, who may have developed a weakness for New York Cheesecake with strawberries or fancy cookies called Madelines. Eating far too many carbohydrates especially sweet ones will create thousands of Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs), which are clearly related to the development of diabetes complications.
The Grandchildren’s Dilemma
What are Grandma and Grandpa to do? That little piece of cheesecake has a lot more value to them than any other food in a dessert dish and it’s nourishing to their soul. You can’t suggest to them that they give up desserts; it won’t ever work! And forget about lengthy discussions about how most condiments are loaded with sugars and sweeteners that can potentially contribute to a Hemoglobin A1c level that raises doctors’ eyebrows and won’t inch its way down to normal.
Sweetness Without Any Bitterness
The good news is that there is an answer. Two companies, Steviva Brands and Trinity Hill Farms, offer solutions of sugar-free condiments and sweeteners that are safe for diabetics. Using a centuries-old herb from the Amazon rainforest called Stevia, one that natives depended on for sweetness and health, they’ve created tasty teriyaki sauce and marinade, no added sugar tomato ketchup, steak sauce, cocktail sauce, and sweet chili sauce to get Grandma and Grandpa to have a bit of sweetness without the worry of developing new health issues.
Herbalists agree that the action of the herb Stevia is unidirectional when it comes to blood sugar, meaning that it only lowers the blood sugar level and never raises it. Many scientific studies have reported on the potential role of Stevia as an antihyperglycemic agent for those with Type 2 diabetics.
Grandma will soon be sweet on Stevia, and discover how an herb can be 200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar, yet be a healthy addition to their diet. It’s a paradigm changer, for sure.
Steviva Brands has a variety of Stevia products available, from single use packets to 5-pound bags. Grandma and Grandpa won’t need it in bulk, but a short meeting with the Food Service Director at the facility could make you into a real hero for all the residents, not just the two dearest to you.
Think back for a moment to Grandma and Grandpa’s right to have a little sweetness in their lives. Imagine them savoring every bite of food and desserts you can give them a little bit of extra pleasure and something they deserve!