By Patrice Powers-Barker, OSU Extension, Lucas County
The Truth Contributor
As November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, we will look at food recommendations and resources to help everyone eat healthier! According to the Ohio Department of Health, nearly 1 million (13.2 percent) Ohio adults have been diagnosed with diabetes.
There are many resources, including your health care staff, to help live well with diabetes. There are ways to learn to eat healthier. One option is through the American Diabetes Association. Visit their “Learn to Cook with Us” site at https://diabetesfoodhub.org/. You will need to sign in with an email address and password, but the virtual cooking classes are free to attend. You can also watch previously recorded cooking classes and read their healthy eating blog.
The Diabetes Plate Method is a tool to help anyone who wants to eat better and learn about portion sizes. The main plate (based on a nine-inch sized plate) is sectioned off for three food groups: vegetables, grains, and proteins. Off to the side is dairy and fruit. The picture also shows a beverage of water or zero-calorie beverage.
The Diabetes Plate Method gives guidance on serving sizes as well as more specifics about each section on the plate. For example, the vegetable section (half of the plate) is for Nonstarchy Vegetables such as salad greens with raw vegetables or cooked vegetables like broccoli. One fourth of the plate is Carbohydrate Foods which include whole grains, starchy vegetables, or beans and lentils. Beans and lentils contain both starch and protein with good amounts of fiber. Starchy vegetables include peas, corn, lima beans and potatoes. The last section of the plate, (one fourth of the plate) is for protein foods, like meat, eggs, fish, and low-fat cheese. Other dairy and milk products as well as fruit are served on the side of the plate. This is based on individual needs to help manage total carbohydrate intake. In addition, the Diabetes Plate Method recommends healthy fats for cooking and as condiments. It’s best to choose unsaturated fats, which are usually liquid rather than solid.
In November, the Ohio State University Extension’s Diabetes team will offer four different, free, 30-minute live webinars online every Monday from 12:00-12:30pm. To register and get the link, visit go.osu.edu/DiabetesSeries. Topics for each week include Healthy Holiday Foods (Nov. 3), Intuitive Eating (Nov. 10), Foot Health and Diabetes (Nov. 17) and Sleep and Diabetes (Nov. 24).
What is Intuitive Eating? Much of it includes paying attention to your body to notice fullness or if you’re hungry. It is opposite a very rigid diet or exercise plan. It emphasizes enjoying eating food and getting movement. There are 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating:
- Reject the Diet Mentality
- Honor Your Hunger
- Make Peace with Food
- Challenge the Food Police
- Discover the Satisfaction Factor
- Feel Your Fullness
- Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness
- Respect Your Body
- Movement—Feel the Difference
- Honor Your Health—Gentle Nutrition
It reminds us that we are the expert of our body and Intuitive Eating can be a useful tool for healthy living.
A very sad but grateful goodbye. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education, also known as SNAP-Ed, will end this month. Historically, SNAP-Ed was funded through the Farm Bill and in July 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ended a federal requirement to fund the nutrition education. SNAP-Ed provided free nutrition and health education to SNAP participants and communities across the country. Although it has gone by other names and titles over the years, we have had this nutrition education program in Northwest Ohio for over 30 years. In Ohio, SNAP-Ed classes were offered in all 88 counties.
Throughout the years, this educational program has partnered with social service organizations, schools, senior centers, houses of worship, farmers markets, community gardens, grocery stores, libraries, and other partners like Sojourner’s Truth. We would like to thank all our local partners that have worked collaboratively with this program and our education staff to collaboratively empower SNAP-eligible individuals and families to make healthier and more affordable food choices. The commitment of partners and individuals has been an essential part of this educational effort, and we greatly value the impacts made over the years.
In Lucas County we are fortunate to have an additional, free nutrition education program for families called EFNEP (Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program), but it will not replace the work of the SNAP-ED. We are losing a valuable educational program. Just because funding was cut, does not mean that nutrition and health are not important. We will continue to outreach where we can. While we hope online classes, like those shared here are convenient for some, we realize that they do not replace the local, in-person classes. Please continue to make healthy choices for yourself and your loved ones.
Information for this article is from American Diabetes Association, CDC, and Cleveland Clinic.