By Jill Sperling

Experts encourage healthy living during Diabetes Awareness Month

Nov 4, 2016 | 3:53 PM

KAMLOOPS — November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and healthcare professionals are spreading a message of prevention and management.

There are 500 newly diagnosed diabetics in Kamloops every year, and the disease in all its forms is becoming more prevalent across Canada.

90 per cent of people who have diabetes have type 2, a form that can be managed through proper nutrition and exercise. 

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Jeannine Jubinville is a certified diabetes educator, working in the Diabetes Education Centre at Royal Inland Hospital. 

“A big cornerstone of diabetes, of course, is lifestyle, especially with type 2 diabetes,” she said. “It would be nutrition. The fact that we do team teaching is wonderful I think, we often have an hour with our patients, so it’s with a nurse and a dietitian, so we can cover a lot of information.” 

There are more than 5,000 people in Kamloops diagnosed with diabetes, and many more could have the disease without knowing it. According to registered dietitian, Dawn Benwell, The Diabetes Education Program sees around 1,000 patients a year.

“I think anywhere in healthcare we always would like to do more than we have the resources to do,” Benwell said. “Certainly I think if you asked any of the diabetes nurses or dietitians working here they would say, ‘yes, it’s a difficult number to keep up with.’” 

That’s why self-care is so important, and the easiest way to do this is through a healthy diet. 

Private dietitian and co-author of Low Glycemic Meals in Minutes Laura Kalina says there are a number of foods to stay away from. 

“Those foods that are high glycemic are very processed foods, white flour, white rice, pasta, these are high glycemic foods, cereals, and they tend to increase your blood pressure and leave you at greater risk for diabetes and actually put on weight, so we want to avoid those foods, and we’d rather (you) have low glycemic foods, so lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, lots of ancient grains, sprouted grain breads, etc.,” Kalina said.

Personal trainer Cheryl Christian co-wrote Low Glycemic Meals in Minutes with Kalina, and says exercise is also an important part of staying healthy with diabetes.

She adds it’s important to start off slowly and carefully. 

“One thing that you have to be very concerned about when you are working out, and working with a diabetic is you want to make sure that their blood sugars are staying fairly level,” Christian said. “That means they need to be thinking about what they eat before and after their workout and we want to make sure they are really knowing their numbers.” 

Most importantly, diabetics have to be willing to incorporate these healthy practices in order to manage the disease.

“For some people, they’re ready,” Jubinville said. “They may be real ready and they make a lot of changes right away, so with their nutrition, and their exercise, they make a lot of change. For some other people it’s a little tougher, and I find for those people it’s generally it’s because they have other things going on in their lives that it’s not the priority.”