Thirty Three Years of Advancement in Diabetes Tech - Part 3

Even the way people with T1 Diabetes eat has changed since my brother’s diagnosis. Thirty years ago, diabetics like my brother used American Diabetes Association food exchange books with food lists and carbohydrate values. Food scales were used to learn to measure proper amounts of each of the allowable food groups. Meals were prescribed, and the insulin dose was fixed based on those meals. This meant that once the insulin was given, my brother had to eat the meal that was planned, even if he was not hungry or did not like the food. Today, his diet is much less prescribed. Insulin can now be taken before or after meals, or continuously in the case of insulin pumps, and regulated based on what is actually eaten rather than prescribed meals.