Craving sugar

LevisHouse

My aunt has Alzheimer and I can't get her to eat consistently She was always a particular eater, but at least ate healthy food. These days are quite different - all she seems to want is sugar. She puts sugar on everything. And I mean everything! She puts sugar on rice, and grain salads, and cottage cheese. She even eats sugar by the spoonful! I'm guessing her brain likes the stimulation from the sugar, but I don't really know. Have any of you experienced this? And any success getting your LO to eat better and more consistently?

sandwichone123

I can't bring myself to make my dh eat what he doesn't want to. I feel like he's got a terminal disease and should enjoy what he can *today.*

harshedbuzz

It is very typical, to the point of being diagnostic, for PWD to prefer/actively seek sweet foods.

We had this, too. My dad was never much one for sweets. As a kid he would take us out for ice cream every Friday night after he did payroll at his small business. We'd get our sundaes and he'd order a BLT and/or a cup of coffee. Later he developed gall bladder issues and lived on a diet of huge salads, whole grains and grilled meat and fish. By the late part of the early stage he discovered ice cream, cake, cookies and even candy. 

Dad had mild T2D, so we did try to balance his diet well into the middle stages, but as the later stages set in, his weight dropped and his A1C improved, so we were less restrictive around food. We did find he preferred comfort foods with dips, gravies and sauces; I think they were easier to swallow.

IMO, dementia is a terminal disease, so allowing sweets is kinder so long as there are no serious physical consequences.

HB

French

Oh yes, we experienced that. My partner could eat 1 kg of sweet breakfast cereals in the morning and he was always searching for sweet food, eating sugar directly in the pot… I think it was due nervousness and also boredom.

I succeeded stop that by hiding sweet food and distracting him with a basket always full of apples and bananas. Last spring, he could eat 5 bananas per day. 

It stopped this summer because I think he became unable to search food but certainly my hypothesis isn’t the good one because these days he did it again.

ninalu

Another "yes" from us to the topic of sugar and SWEET things.

My mom actively disliked sweets all through my youth and early adulthood. As time has gone on, this has changed and she is now a huge fan of all manner of candies, baked goods, ice cream, juices, etc. And straight up sugar (mom used to add sugar to her soup, which grossed me out, TBH.)

The combination of all the sugar plus mom's decreasing physical activity & decreasing dental hygience has caused me a bunch of anxiety. What if her blood sugars go out of control? What if she gains weight and it puts stress on her heart? What if she gets a horrible bunch of cavities and dental decay? - etcetera. 

Sweets have been a big lesson for me as a daughter and caregiver of a PWD. I had to be open to letting mom love what she loves. Ensuring that she has pleasure, balancing the associated risks. Balancing it all. Listening and learning as we travel this journey of Alzheimer's. 

SusanB-dil

Another yes to sugar, and more sugar, and then some more... yes, even on rice.  And we need to watch her A1C!  Last year the sugar was a bit difficult to get.  So we didn't get any and told her we could not get any. As far as she knows, still cannot.  She will eat some healthy snacks, but prefers the sugar. The rare times she has gotten sweets - well-meaning holiday people - we have to deal with the ensuing sure-to-come worse belligerence from the sugar spike.

What has worked for us:  I stock-up on the sugar-free cookies when they are on sale. There is 'no sugar added' ice cream, which still has a bit of sugar, but not as bad, and still manageable as far as portion.  Pillsbury - sugar-free brownies, chocolate cake, and yellow cake.  I don't make these constantly, but maybe every other week just a little something for a treat, and she thinks she is getting the sugar that, yes, she craves!

In our case, pre-diabetic diagnosis is huge factor.  Now that she cannot be left alone, and cannot 'get sugar', her A1C is so much better - just one less thing to worry about.

NizhoniGrrl

My mom already has a sweet tooth and used to keep bags of candy, cookies, and chocolates hidden in drawers around the house. Here, she's always grabbing candy if we take her to a store, so rather than constantly telling her no, we just don't take her out except to clothing stores. She tried Instacart, but it's pretty easy to intercept the deliveries of 2 lb bags of M&Ms. When she lived in Independent Living, we found her home strewn with half eaten pieces of cake and pie in styrofoam containers. I'd like her to enjoy eating, but too many sweets (esp. chocolate) and she has pretty catastrophic GI issues, so we have to monitor and hide "unauthorized" sweets/treats, or they'll mysteriously disappear. And I mean really hide. She doesn't seem to mind pulling out a ladder to find cookies in the back of the top shelf of the cupboard. Nice to know this sweet tooth will just get worse!!

Gisel

Everything I've read says sugar is the worst thing for dementia patients. Little bit of chocolate is okay. Do the research you'll find serotonin might help. Or you can rely on fruit juices in moderation. My mom has not been craving sugar since I included bananas and apples in her diet.

Gisel

Look up foods to avoid with dementia they include sweets pastries cheese fried foods alcohol Etc

GothicGremlin

Right there with you.

For my sister it's chocolate. She's in memory care now, so she's at least getting healthy food at mealtimes. Well-meaning friends and relatives keep the chocolate coming though. So much chocolate. I'm actually okay with some of it - why not enjoy it now while she she's able?  But there can be too much of a good thing. 

There are a lot of sweet things she can't eat though because she's lactose intolerant. That cuts out ice cream, things with butter, etc.  So I guess it could be worse on the sugar front.

Gisel

At Thanksgiving and birthday parties mom always reaches for the chocolate cake or the grapes or the bread. We haven't had issues with the bread but we definitely have had issues with the grapes and the chocolate cake. Stomach issues of course so I found some digestive cookies had a local Italian deli they have a lot of fiber in them and they have chocolate in them and so it kind of solves two steps in one I only give her one or two a day. Brand name is Balocco, it's kind of a breakfast biscuit. I usually combined some prunes with her bananas that gives her some sweetness and she has half an apple with her dinner every night. But again we have to think in terms of her stage, at this point in time she's not asking for food she can't walk to the kitchen and serve herself and she doesn't drive so I purchase all the food for her. I know that's not the case for everyone but perhaps it provides some other options. I have never been able to get her to finish Ensure she never liked the taste. She used to love turkey sandwiches with avocado and lettuce and slowly started to just eat the turkey and leave the bread and avocado which solves some stomach issues for us already. I cook all her meals so I can make sure the turkey is soft or chicken for that matter simmered with a little bit of Italian seasoning and her rice has a chicken bouillon in it

ninalu

One thing I'd like to add is the notion of where in a dementia progression one is. That changes matters significantly, I think.

As the daughter of an ALZ patient, with dementia on both sides of my family, I avoid sugar. I practice an eating and exercise routine that is more extreme than I'd ever recommend to another person. It doesn't feel extreme to me - I can live with it quite easily - but it is a personal choice. While my doctors support this, there's no research study that makes what I do a medical recommendation. So in that way, it's not transferrable to others. As a caregiver, this is an important "detail" for me.  

Early in my mom's Alzheimer's journey, as her caregiver, we did what has been mentioned here. Most of the time, healthy meals came before dessert. Snacks were not sugar-bombs, but rather balanced protein, carbs, veggies, fruits etc. We'd stay active in a reasonable way. We'd seek pleasure from activities other than eating or drinking. I did restrict sugary treats (including sweet drinks and alcohol) at this stage, but I didn't eliminate anything without a medical reason to do so. It was more about attempting moderation. During the early and middle stages of mom's Alzheimer's, we monitored mom's nutrition status to ensure she was getting the right mix of macro-nutrients. Supplements helped us keep her B12 and Folate levels sufficient. 

Now in late-stage, my mom has lost many of the activities that gave her pleasure. Food remains one of the few deeper / primal pleasures that connect her to life. We are fortunate - she still loves her food and treats. As far as I know she eats anything she wants (softened diet), including plenty of sweets. The only thing we've eliminated is alcohol (she's in a SNF.) She's had AIC issues for years, heart issues for years - we do not measure or monitor blood sugar anymore. She is on hospice. Life is all about maximizing comfort and pleasure. 

It's the middle part of the journey where we had the most difficult decisions about what to restrict and what (and how much) to allow; what risks are we comfortable taking? To note, we also had to make difficult choices during this stage re: which treatments to continue and which to let go of.