Taking a bite out of diabetes and hypertension

Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States in 2017 based on the death certificates in which diabetes was listed as the underlying cause of death.

A newly launched University of Cincinnati partnership is aiming to slice into those numbers in Greater Cincinnati.

Jonatan got some funny looks from the patients when she started doing black bean burgers but she says they and their families ended up liking that option. “Who would’ve thought black bean burgers can be good, easy to make and affordable,” participants said. 

With a desire to make the program more sustainable for more patients, she contacted a friend who was a chef in Cincinnati and was familiar with a local nonprofit, La Soupe. La Soupe partners with local restaurants, farms, bakeries, grocery stores and food pantries to accept donations of still-useable ingredients that would otherwise be discarded and delivers them to local chefs who prepare meals in their restaurant kitchens. The chefs turn the rescued food into ready-to-eat meals, and La Soupe distributes them to communities with food insecurity.

The connection with La Soupe led to a collaboration with the Centering Program at the Primary Care and Osher Center for Integrative Health at UC. Once-a-month sessions provide lessons on diabetes education, nutrition, physical activity and stress management. The program also features four monthly classes in a kitchen, one of which was held at the La Soupe facility in Cincinnati on the first Wednesday in November, which happens to be National Diabetes Month.

One of the 13 participants that afternoon was Sabina Barron of Cincinnati who says she wants to have a healthier diet to help her battle with high blood pressure and diabetes.

“I’ve learned how to be more conscious when I’m cooking, to make sure I have the right portions and the right servings,” she says. “It’s just been a dream. It allows you to experiment at home which is absolutely perfect. I try to do more things with vegetables. Before I would just roast them or saute them. [Now] I try to do more and combine them with my regular dishes, and I’ve tried more fruit, too. It’s been perfect.”

Sitting at the other end of the long wooden table at La Soupe was Donald Jackson, another patient of Jonatan, who hopes learning how to prepare healthier meals will help improve his diabetes.

“I love these classes,” he says. “I love learning to cook the right way and eat healthy, and meeting the people. It’s changed my eating habits and makes me cautious about what I’m doing now.”

Jonatan says she’s a researcher by training, so she’s trained to observe the data.

“The data is showing me that there are many upstream social determinants of health that need to work together in order for patients to have enough tools on their belts to create sustainable healthy behaviors,” she says. “To name a few — financial support, transportation, the social support that allows people to have exposure to healthy food and cooking styles, the support to help manage chronic conditions and stress while managing other life stressors — all play an important part in leading a healthy lifestyle.”

Specifically, the program provided tools for patients to sustainably address their own barriers to healthy lifestyle modifications, says Jonatan.

“Couched within the group model, patients are empowered to learn from each other in an open and supportive environment with an authentic sense of community. The result is a program that provides behavior change in [the management of] chronic disease — an outcome that cannot be accomplished with traditional one-on-one care,” she says.

Lead photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand