Good subscription food gift for a diabetic? Is there such a thing?

December 14, 2015 2:47 PM

I'd love to get a subscription gift for someone who was recently diagnosed with type II diabetes. My goal is to help them get acclimated to new foods that are better for them as easily and in as fun a way as possible.

Their current doctor-prescribed mitigation strategy is to lose weight and monitor carb and sugar intake - there is no other medication or intervention necessary at this time. I personally use and love Blue Apron, but I don't know if those meals are particularly Diabetic friendly. I've not tried NatureBox but they also look interesting. Bonus points if you are a diabetic and you have tried any of these services?

posted by pazazygeek to Food & Drink (17 answers total)

If you don't know, it's not a good idea. My dad was a Type II diabetic and after 30 years, is now Type I. No food gift was without some sort of hassle from my Mom, or utterly rejected.

It's great to be supportive, but this person is going to be working with a doctor and a dietician and will have a specific food plan to follow. As well meant as your gift is, I'm sure there's something non-food related that this person will enjoy. Perhaps a cookbook, if you're inclined. But even that is fraught.

Seriously, it's no-win.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:56 PM on December 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Perhaps an assortment of some unusual but popular spice mixes to help them experiment more with their new diet. You;d have to do some research to make sure they fit their new diet, but it could be helpful at this time!

Maybe like this?
http://thehealthyfoodie.com/magic-mushroom-powder/
Or a sugar free version of Johnny Bird's toast dope?
posted by TenaciousB at 3:00 PM on December 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I am diabetic, and the basic instructions you get are to eat balanced meals and to avoid processed grains and starches. So brown rice instead of white, whole grain breads, sweet potatoes not white potatoes, etc. The American Diabetes Association has some good info.

Not too familiar with Blue Apron, but if the meals you choose fit those guidelines it should be fine. Also it looks like Emeals has a specific diabetic plan.
posted by InfidelZombie at 3:12 PM on December 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I'm diabetic and I think it's a pretty straightforward situation nutritionally and with enough room for preferences for you to try to give a gift.

I got a low-carb sample pack from NatureBox. It was fine. Too expensive for me to get regularly vs. my usual almonds and cheese from the local grocery store, but as a gift it would be nice. That said, I think they set the snacks, so if you think this person might be tempted to switch it to glazed nuts, chocolate, etc., it might backfire. It depends.

I also have a relative who sometimes gives me mixed nuts packaged into snack sized packages and those work well for me also.

If they like chesee, a highly-rated cheese club would probably be really well received, especially if they like more kinds of cheese than they know how to buy, if that makes sense.
posted by michaelh at 3:16 PM on December 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

As someone with relatives with both Type I and Type II -- diabetic diets these days are not really all that complex (as they sometimes were in the past). I would check with your friend, of course, but often the "low carb" amounts and calorie amounts are literally just the normal carb/calorie amounts that EVERYONE is supposed to be eating -- it's just that the typical American diet is super out of whack. There is often also plenty of room in said diets for some desserts/sweets as an occasional treat (again, along the lines that everyone should be doing, but many don't). Again - you would want to double check to make sure, but honestly this may not really be that complicated.

That said, I think gifts meant to convince people to change and be more healthy are literally the worst gifts ever. I have, on occasion, received them, and it is always obvious, and it always sucks. If you really want to do this, I would stick to something you have personally used/loved (like Blue Apron) and pass it along in the spirit of "I love this and I think you might love it too!", not in a "I want to help you be healthier!" spirit.
posted by rainbowbrite at 3:46 PM on December 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Omaha Steaks?
posted by SemiSalt at 4:04 PM on December 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

I'd love to get a subscription gift for someone who was recently diagnosed with type II diabetes. My goal is to help them get acclimated to new foods that are better for them as easily and in as fun a way as possible.

Are they asking for a subscription gift? What are THEIR goals? What sort of new foods do they need to adjust to?

Type II diabetic here, these are the minimal questions you need answers to before going this route. It's great that you want to help, but try and be sure that you're actually helping and not inadvertently putting more stress and temptation on the person.

Good luck!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:05 PM on December 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: This is going to be so individualistic. My husband has Type II diabetes and is on a very, very low carb diet (under doctor's supervision). Most foods I see advertised as "low carb" are way too high in carbs for him. The NatureBox low carb options are just laughable. I'm sure they work for some people, but not him. A gift like this for my husband would potentially create a lot of stress for me -- he's not good at resisting temptation if certain foods are in the house, and has asked me to manage this for him (which is fine with me, but is also work for me).
posted by OrangeDisk at 4:11 PM on December 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

I love cooking, and I found Blue Apron to be a fairly large commitment of time and energy. I wouldn't put amount of work on someone else, unless they were explicitly requesting it.
posted by jaguar at 4:27 PM on December 14, 2015

If they're recently diagnosed, don't get them anything food related. They may be miserable thinking about food and don't want anyone else chiming in with recommendations.

Get a subscription to Readers Digest or an Amazon gift card or something else.
posted by paulcole at 5:32 PM on December 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Subscribe them to a local (to them) veggie CSA?
posted by Drosera at 5:47 PM on December 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Seconding a CSA. I am type I and would love it if someone got this for me.
posted by munchingzombie at 6:00 PM on December 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Hi everybody! Thanks so much for the answers thus far. Please assume that I know the person I'm buying this for very well and I am confident that a subscription food gift is a good idea and that they're super into it - we've talked about it before and they were very interested. I appreciate your guidance to be cautious, I can tell it is given with good intent. I am definitely ignorant about what is good or bad for a diabetic - those of you who are diabetic or who know someone who is and have used a subscription food service are super helpful, thank you!
posted by pazazygeek at 6:01 PM on December 14, 2015

Best answer: If your friend has an actual type 2 diagnosis but no treatment other than cutting down carbohydrates, that suggests to me that there's a really big dietary shift in the cards...which could be the biggest challenge. If that's the case, just for a start you might want to ask your friend to identify favorite foods, determine which ones are sufficiently low in carbs, and then choose something that gets them those foods. Too much change at once can be overwhelming and daunting.

As for Internet-based subscriptions...Graze has packaged snack options. You could start with the Sugar Count Box, and then let your friend take the wheel on selections as they get used to reading nutrition labels. (Graze provides them for each item.)
posted by gnomeloaf at 7:43 PM on December 14, 2015

Best answer: +1 that a lot of the "low carb" options on these sorts of things are a fucking joke if you're actually supposed to limit carbs for medical reasons. A lot of the time if you actually look at the nutrition facts those oh-so-paleo almonds are dipped in tooth-meltingly sugary glazes and packaged with a little dried fruit just to make your dentist extra happy. Ridiculous.

I think cheese-of-the-month is a great idea.
posted by town of cats at 8:35 PM on December 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Type II here. As noted above, 'low carb' translates differently for different people. For me, we stopped getting Graze boxes because while they are delicious and tasty, the counts on most of their snacks meet or exceed my carb allowance for a MEAL, nevermind a snack. I'd always end up with a nut pack, and my wife got to scamper away with the other three selections.

I'd second the suggestions for proteins…Omaha steaks, maybe a nice cheese selection from Zingermans, or some really freaking decadent cashews. A CSA subscription if that's seasonal where you are right now.

(on preview: favoriting town of cats 84 times. Stop putting dried fruits (which are kryptonite for me) in with the perfectly good nuts!)
posted by spinturtle at 9:11 PM on December 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

Just to be clear, I wasn't advocating NatureBox as having zero-carb snacks. Here's a compilation of nutrition information since their site isn't so well laid out: https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/nature-box
posted by michaelh at 8:49 PM on December 17, 2015