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Ask the Diabetes Educator

Holiday Traditions

Christmas Trees: decorating trees began in the 16th century when the Germans celebrated winter solstice. Franklin Pierce was the first United States' President to decorate an official White House Christmas tree.
Mistletoe: mistletoe has long been considered to have magic powers by Celtic people. It was said to have the ability to heal wounds and increase fertility. Celts hung mistletoe in their homes in order to bring themselves good luck and ward off evil spirits.
Candy Canes: candy canes began as straight white sticks of sugared candy used to decorate the Christmas trees. A choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral decided to have the ends bent to depict a shepherd's crook and he would pass them out to the children to keep them quiet during the services. It wasn't until about the 20th century that candy canes acquired their red stripes.
Christmas Caroling: began as an old English custom called Wassailing — toasting neighbors to a long and healthy life.

Parties and Feasts

Food is an important part of the holiday season. You will be invited to all types of holiday parties, holiday lunches, holiday drinks, holiday dinners, and all of the other holiday occasions. Whether your tastes are for old standbys or to something new, it’s easy for normal eating patterns to take a backseat at this time of the year. It is important to remember that the best part of the holiday season is getting together with family and friends and that this should be our number one priority this season to focus on and not food. We can, however, with a little planning for holiday eating, you and your family and friends can enjoy special foods while keeping a balanced and healthy meal plan.

Before a holiday event, eat a snack or light meal. Foods high in protein, like chicken or cottage cheese, help you to eat less later. Fasting ahead of time to leave room for a big meal or extra trips to the buffet may lead you to overeat and end up with swings in your blood sugars.
What you drink during the holidays can add calories and carbohydrates Alcoholic beverages and many fruit punches can be heavy in calories and carbs, Instead, look for hot cider, diet sodas, and flavored waters, or even making a spritzer with half of the alcohol will help cut back on the carbs and cals.
Don’t park yourself in front of the buffet at a party. Mingle! Remember this season when are focusing on family and friends, not food! If you stand by the buffet, you’ll eat more than you would if it was across the room. Also try using a salad plate instead of a dinner plate to put your food on. One last piece of advice: make one trip not 3 trips to the food!!
Try using an extended/combination or square/dual wave bolus for those parties and eating events. This feature will help manage your blood sugars when eating for prolonged periods of time. Start small if you have never tried this feature on you pump with setting the duration in 30 minute increments. Test blood sugars to see what the results look like.
Remember that the holidays can be a very stressful time of the year. Stress can increase you blood sugars sometimes very significantly. If you find you are stressed this holiday season and you notice a spike in your blood sugars, try using a temporary basal rate for these times. Temporary basal rates can be set from anywhere between 30 minutes on short trips to the mall to 72 hours while staying with the in- laws.

While running around this season, you may tend to forget that you have diabetes. If you are getting forgetful try setting some of the alerts on your pump to remind you to stop and take care of yourself and your diabetes. Whether you set the alerts to remind you to take a bolus, check a blood sugar, take your medicine, or call your mother, you will be the red nose reindeer driving the sleigh on a foggy night.

Check-Out Our Holiday Menu Suggestions!

Carbohydrate Counting During the Holidays

Carbohydrates are the foods that will affect blood sugars. Carbohydrates can be found in all of our favorite holiday foods. Carbohydrates consist of all fruits, anything made from flour, rice, corn, or potatoes, vegetables, most dairy products, as well as all of those sweets and desserts. Try working in some of your favorite holiday foods listed below with the carbohydrate grams into your meal plan. Some of the insulin pumps have a food data base where you can add these foods or some of your favorite dishes and meals.

1/2 cup Green Bean Casserole	10 grams
1/2 cup Stuffing	17 grams
1/4 cup Cranberry Sauce	27 grams
1/2 cup Candied Sweet Potatoes	32 grams
1/2 cup Mashed Potatoes	14 grams
1 Dinner Roll	15 grams
2 tablespoons Gravy	5 grams
1 cup Eggnog	34 grams
1/8 inch of 9" Pumpkin Pie	38 grams
1/6 inch of 9" Pecan Pie	52 grams
2 tablespoons Whipped Topping	1 gram
Candy Canes — vary by brand and size Read the label / for most canes 1 oz	25-30 grams
Please note that some are listed by food item and not ingredients. You should always check the labels before deciding what to eat.

Christmas Gift Ideas for the Pumper in Your Family

Groovy patches from www.groovypatches.com are a wonderful way to decorate the pad that surrounds the infusion site. Santa keeps showing his belly to everyone since he got his groovy patches.
Cell phone cases are a great way to show off your pump but be careful to not purchase the ones with magnetic covers. The magnet may cause the pumps to malfunction.
Skins are a fun way to accessorize your Medtronic pump or Guardian monitor. They leave no residue, which means you can easily remove skins and replace them with new skins as often as you like!
Books are always a good investment for the person with diabetes. The Calorie King is one of the nicest books with listing of carbohydrates for all of the favorite food. If there is a cook in the family, the Month of Meal cookbooks by the American Diabetes Association is also a good choice. They even have a holiday edition available.
Give them a different type of infusion set that they have never used before. Change is always good, especially if someone else is paying for it.
A gift certificate to a local seamstress who could help create special pockets in their clothing for the pump, making your loved one both healthy and fashionable.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!