# Warm milky drink needed



## Sheila of Eskdale (Dec 3, 2013)

I am looking for a warm milky drink suitable for an elderly diabetic. Something like Horlicks or drinking chocolate, but it seems they all have loads of sugar in them.

It must be something that is easy to make by just adding sugar or warm milk. We've thought of cocoa with sweetners, but that needs to be blended with small amount of milk first. So it would need some cups blended first that he could just ad milk to and microwave. If we could get something that didn't need prior preparation that would be ideal.

Any suggestions?


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## LeeLee (Dec 3, 2013)

I keep a jar of Weightwatchers hot chocolate or Options in the cupboard for such occasions.  Both are sugar free and come in several flavours.  Made up with hot water and an added splash of milk, it hits the spot for me.


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## Hanmillmum (Dec 3, 2013)

I think the milk itself carries enough carbs to then add a sweetened drink mix to it will make it fairly carb dense for a drink. However, it's all dependent on the individual, the treatment regime for their diabetes and whether they can tolerate those carbs on an evening.


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## Northerner (Dec 3, 2013)

LeeLee said:


> I keep a jar of Weightwatchers hot chocolate or Options in the cupboard for such occasions.  Both are sugar free and come in several flavours.  Made up with hot water and an added splash of milk, it hits the spot for me.



Another vote for the 'Options' range from me


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## DeusXM (Dec 4, 2013)

There's the Options range (15g carbs per drink maybe?). Or you could get regular unsweetened cocoa powder, mix with milk and hot water and add an artificial sweetener to taste.

Or...and this the controversial bit....how old is this person with diabetes?

The reason I ask is because a major point of diabetes treatment is to stave off complications in later life. This may seem incredibly insensitive but some complications will take a decade to show up. There probably comes a point where the hassle of rigorously controlling diabetes is going to have diminishing returns and from a quality of life perspective, it may actually be better to be a bit less strict with control.

Put it this way, if I was 100 I wouldn't give a damn what my A1c was like.


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## Redkite (Dec 4, 2013)

There are plenty of low sugar sachets of drinking chocolate and ovaltine (though none are as nice as the real thing imo!).  I also agree with DeusXM that perhaps the elderly person could afford to be a bit more relaxed about his or her BG control, unless of course having a spike in BGs would make him/her feel unwell.


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## Sheila of Eskdale (Dec 4, 2013)

Thanks for all the replies. I'll look at them next time I'm in town. From looking on the internet it looks like Options has glucose syrup, I can't see that is any different from sugar, but I'll have to check how much is in it. A little isn't an issue. 

As for the long term effects, we've already got to the stage where that isn't really an issue. The problem is, as effects many elderly diabetics, he also has alzeimers. This causes memory problems and sleep disruption, so he could wake several times in the night and have a drink, so anything that has sugar could cause serious problems before morning. At the moment he's only on insulin once a day, so we don't want to test in the morning as well as evening. Even if we only put out a certain amount of drink ready for him, if it wasn't there he wouldn't remember there was any restriction and would just look for something else.


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## DeusXM (Dec 4, 2013)

Sugar isn't necessarily bad, particularly in the low quantities you'll find in Options. By way of example, a glass of 'healthy' orange juice will contain around three times the carb/sugar content of hot chocolate. You're right though, if you're in a situation where they are having multiple cups, you would want to minimise the sugar involved. 

As I said, unsweetened cocoa powder can be stirred into warm milk without any special tools/extra mugs. One solution might be to get a jar of cocoa powder and mix in dried milk and powdered artificial sweetener. That way, you have a pot full of instant hot chocolate that you need only add hot water to and give it a good stir to get a milky, low sugar but sweet tasting chocolate drink. In other words, homemade Options, but without the sugar.


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## Sheila of Eskdale (Dec 4, 2013)

DeusXM said:


> One solution might be to get a jar of cocoa powder and mix in dried milk and powdered artificial sweetener. That way, you have a pot full of instant hot chocolate that you need only add hot water to and give it a good stir to get a milky, low sugar but sweet tasting chocolate drink. In other words, homemade Options, but without the sugar.



I'd thought of this but suspect they would separate out in the jar due to their different constituencies. A better option might be to mix a suitable amount in a number of cups, but that won't work because he insists on a certain cup (alzeimers/ stubbornness) but maybe putting a single serving mix in a number of small storage containers that he can then add to a cup might work. (Just have to get him to remember what all the little plastic boxes are for!)


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## DeusXM (Dec 4, 2013)

Do dry goods separate out when left in a jar in the cupboard? I'd have thought if you mixed all this up in a jar and left dry, it would still stay mixed.


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## trophywench (Dec 4, 2013)

You would have to put boiling water in cocoa though, it just doesn't melt in warm milk and you don't want to boil it, it burns so easily.

Because you can buy Options in sachets, instant portion control.


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## Sheila of Eskdale (Dec 4, 2013)

DeusXM said:


> Do dry goods separate out when left in a jar in the cupboard? I'd have thought if you mixed all this up in a jar and left dry, it would still stay mixed.


They are different densities, so they will separate to a certain extent with any movement. I'm not sure how much though. If it was sugar thats very hard and dense, but I think powdered sweetener may be more powdery. Not sure about coffee mate. Thing is if the balance is wrong for one cup, he'll say he doesn't like it and refuse to have it again.
Incidentally, taking a quick look at things in the supermarket, it looks as though many of the light options have less fat but more sugar. 



trophywench said:


> You would have to put boiling water in cocoa though, it just doesn't melt in warm milk and you don't want to boil it, it burns so easily.


The plan would be to use coffee mate and make with boiling water rather than milk. I need to check but I think coffee mate actually has less sugar than milk, I also need to compare total carb values.


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## Redkite (Dec 4, 2013)

Could someone make him up a thermos flask each evening, or would he find it difficult pouring himself out a cupful from a flask?  Sounds like a bit of a dilemma....


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## Sheila of Eskdale (Dec 5, 2013)

Redkite said:


> Could someone make him up a thermos flask each evening, or would he find it difficult pouring himself out a cupful from a flask?  Sounds like a bit of a dilemma....


Lateral thinking, I like that idea!
It might work, he wouldn't have physical difficulty pouring it, the only difficulty would be him remembering that the flask was there for that purpose. Sticking it next to the kettle with a big sign on it might work though.


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## Highlander (Dec 5, 2013)

Well I am a bit naughty sometimes and have Ovaltine, the one which only required hot water to be added.  Sadly not the best thing for blood glucose readings, but it helps me sleep and my readings are always back to normal in the morning.


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