MORGANTOWN – The table was laden with healthy – but tasty – foods: hummus, a fruit and veggie tray, vegetable soup, broccoli cheese soup, dilly beans and corn flake-breaded chicken breast nuggets.
All were prepared by Belinda Nicholas — to whom we’ll refer by her first name in this story, since everyone else does, often when she’s not even around — wearing her blue and gold polo shirt emblazoned with WWBS.
That stands for “What Would Belinda Say?” — the club’s motto.
The smells made tummies rumble, but first Belinda called on them to share the progress and accomplishments.
Belinda is family nutrition outreach instructor for WVU Extension’s Family Nutrition Program, working with adults. The gathering on Thursday morning was a reunion for the program’s first 15-week FARMacy WV class for Monongalia and Preston counties.
Extension operates FARMacy in 20 counties. It’s for people with diabetes, with A1C levels above 7, Belinda said. It blends diabetes education with instruction in good eating. The FARM part of the name is key. Local farmers supply fresh produce for the students to take home.
Belinda ran programs in Kingwood and Morgantown, and students from both came to Thursday’s reunion at Extension offices at Mylan Park.
She talked to them about the significance of gathering at this season. “From Halloween until Feb. 14, we are having a time of our lives. Which we should not have the time of our lives. We should live like we have diabetes every day.”
It’s easy to forget that. And when they’re tempted, she said, and pointed to the imprint on her shirt: “What would Belinda say? I would say you’re a diabetic.”
One of the attendees called her a firecracker, and that was an obvious understatement for an enthusiastic force of nature who is all at once teacher, cheerleader, counselor and the little angel of conscience on everyone’s shoulder when they’re not in class.
As Bear Lyons put it, “She’s the best. You kind of got that feeling, if you’re going to eat something bad, she’s right there watching you.”
Belinda – a diabetic herself – directed the conversation to one student’s fondness for a chain restaurant that has particularly delectable rolls. “Don’t those rolls say goodness and happiness, eat me,” she said. But they fill you up with empty carbs that shoot up the blood sugar.
Sharing around the table, the student with a fondness for steak said he’s learned to cut back his portions. “It doesn’t bother me at all.”
Another lowered his sugar level to 110-120 and his A1C 5.0. The CDC explains that A1C is a blood test that measures your average blood sugar levels. Normal is below 5.7. Diabetic 6.5 or above.
One woman said she’s lowered hers from 9 to 7.
Lyons told the group, “I think it was very successful for me.” He’s lost more than 20 pounds, is in the gym every day, and sees that exercise or a brisk walk lowers his sugar level when it climbs after eating.
Belinda reinforced that. “If your sugar is high, walk.” And if you can’t walk – for herself, she hates going out in the cold – she showed them a chair exercise simultaneously flexing the legs and arms, which raises the heart rate and helps lower the sugar levels.
After they ate, Belinda talked with them about the food she’d prepared. While the dishes were tasty, she uses no salt. Salt leads to water retention, which spells problems for a diabetic. She said use lemon instead – the acid satisfies the salt craving.
And when you’re at a restaurant or a gathering with all kinds of foods you shouldn’t eat, don’t deny your condition to avoid calling attention to yourself and your food requirements. “I didn’t want anybody to know I was a diabetic. I tried to hide it as much as I could.” And that meant she would eat wrong, spike her sugar, and go home half dead.
As others were still eating, Lyons told us about what he learned in the 15 weeks. “I really believe that diabetes is like a three-legged piano stool: medication, exercise and diet. If you don’t do all three, you fall off.” He’s found he benefits the most from exercise for lowering his blood sugar, though his daily insulin shots also play an important role.
Statewide, Belinda told us, FARMacy is designed to increase access to locally grown produce for adults in rural, underserved communities who live with chronic illness and nutrition insecurity. Patients are referred by their provider or insurer. Once enrolled, they receive $25 worth of fresh produce each week, and are encouraged to participate in nutrition and culinary instruction classes facilitated by Extension’s Family Nutrition Program.
Students’ before- and after-program clinical measures (A1C, blood sugar and so on) are collected, along with survey data regarding their nutrition behaviors.
So far, FARMacy has enrolled 750 students, with a completion rate of nearly 90%. By supporting local farmers, it has infused more than $450,000 into the local food economy.
As the gathering wrapped up. Belinda said that while the 15-week Mon and Preston programs were her first, she’s been with Extension 25 years, and she wants to offer more FARMacy programs locally.
“I want to make a change. That’s all I want to do is make a change in people’s lives.”
Email: dbeard@dominionpost.com
