F1,

Rest in Peace to your Mother In Law.Thanks for the condolences for my family members who are gone.

It's the rare person who can change lifetime eating habits,or any long time habit, so however well intentioned you were with the advice , human nature being what it is it would be a tough sell.

My Family fell,not to junk food, but to heavily processed versions of the food they grew up eating back home. Cheaper, lower quality hormone feed cuts of meat, over processed table salt and spices, frying everything in whichever brand oil that's on sale and there it is, voila.

The consumption of soda WAS a big part though,(which they definitely did NOT drink as much of back home) and probably contributed to some of the diabetes problems.

What I tried to explain to some of them (when they asked) was that although you THINK you're eating the same way everybody in your family did for generations, you are NOT.Your eyes are deceiving you. That's the thinking "oh my grandma ate like this and lived to be 98" or "everybody eats this way" and they think it's normal.

90% of what you ate back home was locally grown and not genetically modified.