Cooking Up Controls For Diabetics
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Del.icio.usE Ola Nei, a program offering facts and health tips to better control diabetes, has a newly renovated kitchen at Waimanalo Health Center to use, and program dietitian Napua Nakamura couldn’t be happier.
“Before this renovation I used to have to demonstrate by bringing my own appliances to the facility,” Nakamura said, laughing. “I’m just delighted that we could use some of our funding from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs grant and the CDC’s REACH-US grant to make this happen for our little fourth-Tuesday program.
“Originally, the room only had a stove, a refrigerator and one table, so when I proposed doing food demonstrations I said that a more-functional kitchen would be more conducive to education,” she added. “With this kitchen, we’ve added a brand-new microwave and have the plumbing all done, so those that attend the program can actually participate in making the food. Before it was more just me demonstrating due to the lack of space and appliances.”
Nakamura has been incorporating diabetes education and dietary guidance in classes at WHC since August 2007, and it’s personal.
“I was diagnosed as a diabetic at 50, and I just celebrated my 70th birthday, so people can’t tell me that I don’t know what it’s like. It’s been 20 years now, and I like to treat my patients like they’re a part of my family. I know what they’re going through. I’ve been there, done that.”
She also leads a free public support group from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every third Thursday, and the May 20 meeting will tackle the topic “What is Insulin Resistance?”
“Certain foods increase the insulin level and others don’t, and I just want folks to understand what foods best fit their needs. We also incorporate working in our garden with the lesson, in hopes of teaching them that they can grow and nurture a garden on their own to cut down on grocery expenses and broaden their palate in a healthy way.
“I look forward to hearing patients across the parking lot, yelling to me to tell me ‘Guess what my A1C is?’” she said, laughing. “Very few dietitians have the opportunity to incorporate all their experiences, and in this job I get to do that. It’s been a wonderful blessing to be able to give back to the community all these years.
“I’m just a happy camper in my kitchen.”
To sign up for the support group or join E Ola Nei, call 259-7948.
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