Diabetic patients learn about healthy eating by growing vegetables

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Edward Hospital patient Lynn Engel waters the Edward Hospital healing garden on Friday at the Naperville Garden plots. Terence Guider-Shaw~For Sun-Times Media

Did you know

8.3 percent of the U.S. population — 25.8 million children and adults — have diabetes, but 7 million of them have not been diagnosed. Complications might include high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease, neuropathy and amputation.

Source: American Dietetic Association, www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/diabetes-statistics

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Updated: November 16, 2011 1:37AM

Edward Hospital is giving diabetes patients a hands-on lesson in managing their disease.

In May, patients of Edward Medical Group and the Diabetes Center broke ground on a vegetable/herb garden. Tending to the plants provides patients with exercise and access to fresh, healthy food for a more balanced diet.

Nurse Julie Losasso came up with the idea for a garden after reading “The Jungle Effect,” a book by Dr. Daphne Miller about the healthy eating habits of populations around the globe with low levels of chronic disease.

Losasso, a health coach for Edward Medical Group, said self-management is critical for people with diabetes, a chronic metabolic disorder in which the body does not produce enough insulin or resists the hormone’s effects.

“We can talk, talk, talk, but they are the ones who have to do it day to day,” Losasso said.

About 10 patients have agreed to help out with the plot at 811 S. West St., which was provided free of charge by the Park District.

Learning by doing

One of those people is Lynn Engel, 53, who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes two years ago. Engel visits the garden three times a week to weed, prune and water the plants.

“I’m having a great time,” she said. “I think it’s a great program. It’s very helpful. This is just one of very many ideas they’ll put forth to help people realize that you can live with something like this and be healthy at the same time.”

The plot, which is 19 feet by 30 feet, will soon overflow with beans, tomatoes, spinach, chard, herbs, onions, cucumbers and squash.

“We tried to do all the colors of the rainbow because that’s what we teach our patients, that they should be eating all colors of fruits and vegetables,” Losasso said.

The plan is for patients to take home the harvest, and in late summer or early fall, the hospital will hold cooking demonstrations to teach them tasty and healthy recipes.

Engel already has snipped off herbs, such as dill and basil, and added them to a soup and salad.

Labor of love

Several organizations were involved in making the garden happen along with the Park District. Home Depot gave supplies, and Bonnie Plants and Eastview Greenhouse donated seeds.

Betty Wickman, dietician and certified diabetes educator at the Diabetes Center, contributed her expertise in gardening. She often walks over to the garden with other educators on their lunch break to water and watch over the budding vegetables.

“It’s kind of a labor of love; we’re not getting paid for this,” Wickman joked.

In addition to the experience of gardening, she enjoys chatting with other gardeners.

“There’s a lot of camaraderie out there,” she said. “It can really be a social thing if you start talking to the other people.”

Although the core group of patients is small, Wickman is optimistic that more will help out next year.

“We’ve been so fortunate that we’ve all really pitched in, and I think everybody’s been very enthusiastic, and the hospital has been really supportive,” she said.

While this garden is for diabetes patients, Wickman emphasized that a balanced diet is the cornerstone for controlling high blood pressure and cholesterol. She hopes that investing time and energy into the garden and seeing plants bloom will inspire patients.

“If you can start to make a connection with vegetables, that’s really important from a nutritional point of view,” she said. Patients can “see that this is something that they can commit to, and it’s something that with a little time and a little effort you can reap a lot of benefits.”