Glenda Nischuk knows how diabetes can affect people.
“Most people have this idea that [it’s] a life sentence,” she said.
Nowadays, more and more people have to grapple with the disease. According to Diabetes Canada, over 3 million Canadians have diabetes while another 5 million show prediabetes symptoms. Those numbers are expected to grow in the next decade.
Nischuk, who works as a nutritional consultant practitioner, is coordinating a program to help people roll back the clock on diabetes.
“There [are] many lifetstyle things that can turn [diabetes] right around,” she said.
Nischuk is hosting the Diabetes Undone program at the Better Living Centre in Yorkton this October. The Yorkton Seventh Day Adventist Church is sponsoring the program.
Diabetes Undone is a series of video lectures focused on minimizing the effects of the disease. It educates students on how to lower and manage their blood sugar levels, and how to create a healthy diet. The program says, if it’s followed correctly, it can reverse a prediabetes or diabetes diagnosis. Dr. Wes Youngberg and Brenda Davis, RD, teach the course through the videos.
Better Living is hosting an information session on Sept. 28 on the program. The course begins on Oct. 10 and runs on Tuesday and Thursday nights until November.
The class is open to anyone. People with diabetes, prediabetes, or no diabetes are encouraged to attend.
“It’s a life-changing class,” Nischuk said.
Nischuk organized the Diabetes Undone program earlier this year in March. They had 30 participants, who gave the program a positive reception.
“We had one gentleman whose sugars were 18 and in one month they were down to six,” she said.
Participants are allowed to bring a partner with them to the classes. Guests can attend the program free of charge. Nischuk said dieting is easier when you have a loved one who understands what you’re going through.
“There’s a lot of group support, which is important,” she said.
Better Living offers other avenues for health education. They host a monthly “Healthy Eating Club.” Nischuk also would like to host cooking classes in the future.
“We’re trying to...improve the health of our community,” she said. “We’d like to better [it].”
The deadline to apply for Diabetes Undone is Oct. 6. It cost $129 to enroll. People can register at the Better Living Centre in person.
