Healthy Living with Diabetes Cooking School Sept. 23, 30

      Managing their everyday diet is one of the most important tasks for people learning to live with diabetes.  But for the thousands of new Oklahomans who are diagnosed with the disease every year, it may also be one of the hardest things they’ll ever have to do.

      “It can be very difficult to change your eating habits once they’ve been established for many years,” stressed LaDonna Dunlop, a Registered Dietitian and a Family and Consumer Sciences educator with the Oklahoma County OSU Cooperative Extension Program.  “But diet can play an instrumental role in helping people manage diabetes.  It’s important that people with the disease learn to manage what they eat.”

     On Wednesdays, September 23 and 30, people with diabetes or who have family members with the disease are invited to attend a two-class workshop series called “Healthy Living with Diabetes” sponsored by the Oklahoma County OSU Cooperative Extension Service.

      “Our workshop is geared to help people learn to prepare healthier meals every day,” Dunlop explained.  “We look closely at how people should begin to shop for food so they can prepare, and eat, a healthier diet day in and day out.”

       Recipe modification and meal planning are also strong components of the “Healthy Living with Diabetes” seminar.

      “We like to stress to our participants that they don’t have to suddenly throw out all of their favorite recipes,” Dunlop said, “but rather ‘modify’ them so that they fit into the type of diet that is healthy for a person with diabetes.”

      “Healthy Living with Diabetes” will offer participants the opportunity to see hands-on cooking demonstrations of familiar, every-day dishes that can be part of a healthy and nutritious lifestyle.  Participants will also get the opportunity to sample all of the recipes that are used in the demonstrations and take part in hands-on meal planning.

      “Diet modification has become essential to the management and prevention of so many diseases,” commented Dunlop.  “Learning to prepare more nutritious foods can have a huge impact on not only people with diabetes, but the entire family as well.”

      The workshop will emphasize preparing healthy meat dishes, vegetables, salads and even desserts for people with diabetes.

     “Many people who are newly diagnosed with diabetes are unsure about how they will be affected,” she explained.  “We’ll look closely at how diabetes changes the body’s nutritional needs.”

       Helping people learn more about the disease and how to cope with it is also part of the agenda, Dunlop stressed.

      “We have designed this seminar so that participants will receive the nutritional information essential for their good health,” Dunlop said.  “We also hope that people bring in any questions that they might have and come prepared to learn.”

      Cost for the seminar if $20 for individuals or $30 for couples.  For more information about pre-registration, contact the Oklahoma County OSU Extension Service at 713-1125.