Why I create Bilingual Healthy Resources for our community

 I’ve been diagnosed as pre-diabetic, and I’m doing my best to stay healthy without relying on medication. But every time I search for meal plans or menus, I struggle to find anything that reflects my Puerto Rican culture. I want to eat with sabor and tradition-without compromising my health. 

The Puerto Rican diet is rich in ingredients that are naturally diabetic friendly but it often comes down to how dishes are prepared and portioned. 

Beans, root vegetables like yuca, batata,ñame and yautía are nutrient rich and filling.  Fresh herbs and sofrito are flavored packed without sugar or fat   We have bacalao or grilled fish; the lean protein with heart’s benefits. 

On the other corner, we have the common pitfalls. White rice and tostones are delicious but can spike blood sugar. 

We celebrate the holidays with tembleque and coquito which are high in added sugars. 

We then have the chicharron, Salchichas and some frituras that can be high in saturated fat. 

I started to make some changes. They say changes are good. That is so wrong when it’s about food. But it has to be done. I am now using brown rice for the arroz con gandules and the tostones are now done in the air frier. I have switched to olive and/or avocado oils over vegetable oil   And I now sweeten with tropical fruits like guava or mango instead of processed sugars.

The BIG lesson here is:  You don't have to give up your culture - just adapt it.  Find Puerto Rico recipes that are diabetic friendly.  

The big lesson here is:  You don’t have to give up your culture—you just adapt it.