As one person told me yesterday, "there's more to being diabetic than just meals."

Chris Smith, a.k.a. "The Diabetic Chef," will be giving cooking tips at San Joaquin Community Hospitals' Day of Hope tomorrow. The event is focused on diabetes education.

If you want to go, the event is from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Pacific Health Education Center at 1524 27th St. Tickets are $10. RSVP by calling 326-4105.

Look for a more in depth story offering cooking and food tips for diabetics in the newspaper in the next week.

Chef offers diabetics hope for the holidays

BY EMILY HAGEDORN, Californian staff writer
e-mail: ehagedorn@bakersfield.com

Holiday feasts for diabetics -- not so much fun.

But at least one chef is trying to change that.

According to Chris Smith -- "The Diabetic Chef" -- people with diabetes can eat anything, even holiday goodies, as long as they keep three things in mind: moderation, variety and portion control. And when it comes to the treats and feasts, Smith has a few recipes in mind to make the dishes healthier and full of flavor.

Smith, a gourmet chef with Type 1 diabetes, will be sharing tips, doing cooking demonstrations and giving out recipes Wednesday at San Joaquin Community Hospital's Day of Hope, an annual event centered on diabetes education.

"There's this lost art. It's called cooking," he said. "I want to teach America how to cook healthy again."

Diabetes -- a disease characterized by high levels of blood sugar -- affects roughly 21 million Americans, or 7 percent of the U.S. population, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Smith, a contributor to "Diabetic Living," was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 24 and a student at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.

Smith, who became a reluctant expert on how diet affects blood sugar levels, stayed with the culinary arts. And because of the disease, he's more cognizant of the foods he eats, he said.

His situation also led him to fill a niche: a diabetic focus to eating.

"Right in front of me is this population starving for really good-tasting food," he said.

Smith's recipes focus on making dishes low in fat and sodium, he said. They can be made in 30 minutes or less, and all ingredients are found in the local supermarket.

For the Day of Hope, he will demonstrate how to make acorn squash soup and a chicken dish that can be served on Thanksgiving.

"I purposely do not wear a chef's hat," he said. "We're not here to intimidate."

Along with cooking tips, new medicines and ways to monitor blood sugar will be discussed, said Dr. Victor G. Ettinger, chief of the division of endocrinology at Kern Medical Center.

"For a layperson, they probably haven't heard of much of this," Ettinger said.

Much of the day will be spent dispelling misconceptions, such as the thought that diabetes has to take over your life, said Barbara Smith, director of San Joaquin Community Hospital's Buck Owens Wellness Resource Center, which provides diabetes education, among other things.

"Diabetes is progressive. You've got to take control," Barbara Smith said. "As we educate people, the light turns on, and they're back in control."